The use of “time” in the cinema of Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr transforms their films from mere dramatic narratives into a kind of “search for truth.” In Islamic philosophy, time is seen as a manifestation of divine decree and existence; beyond being merely a “clock” or “chronological” phenomenon, it also reflects the “continuity of creation” and the experience of “human consciousness.” Therefore, Tarkovsky’s film “Mirror” (Zerkalo) and Béla Tarr’s film “The Turin Horse” (A torinói ló) stand out as examples that intensely reveal both the worldly and metaphysical dimensions of time. In the following sections, I will try to focus on the use of time in these two films and possible parallels we can draw with the understanding of time in Islamic thought. ⸻
- Main Aspects of the Concept of Time in Islamic Philosophy
In Islamic philosophy (especially among early theologians, Peripatetic philosophers, and Sufis), the understanding of time is shaped around several dimensions:
Absolute Time (Divine Time) and Relative/Human Time: In the presence of Allah, time is not a limited and mechanical structure. The creation of existence and human destiny are evaluated within this eternal-everlasting reality. However, human perception in the world is mostly based on a sequential (linear) and sectional time experience.
Worldly Transience and Afterlife Dimension: In Islamic mysticism and philosophy, the transience of worldly time is emphasized. Therefore, the metaphor "worldly life is like a dream" is often used. The flow of time is seen as a test, a trial process; true eternity is only experienced when a connection with divine truth is established, in the afterlife dimension.
Moment (Dem) and Continuous Creation: Especially among Sufi thinkers, the idea that every "moment" is recreated by Allah, that existence is in a constant state of renewal, is important (Ibn Arabi, Rumi, etc.). This idea of continuous creation also implies that time can be experienced not as linear but rather as "cyclical" or as "momentary continuity."
This perspective can transform “time” in art and cinema from merely a tool used to advance the story into a deeper area of inner contemplation. 2. Tarkovsky and “Mirror”: Memory and Metaphysical Dimension of Time 2.1. Fluid Time of Memory
Tarkovsky’s “Mirror” has a non-linear narrative that moves between the director’s own childhood memories, his relationship with his mother, the historical traumas of Soviet Russia, and dream sequences. The film is based on a structure where time intersects and often overlaps across the planes of “memory,” “dream,” “reality,” and “imagination.” This situation is similar to the Islamic thought approach that “the world is like a dream” or that “truth can be experienced through different levels.”
For instance, characters suddenly transitioning to childhood scenes, then returning, or our sudden viewing of war segments shows a break from chronological flow. This can be aligned with a perspective that doesn’t separate “past” and “present,” seeing the past as always infused into the present moment. In Islamic philosophy, fully comprehending the “moment” (dem) means realizing the relativity of past and future. 2.2. Spiritual Depth and Sense of Timelessness
Natural elements like water, fire, and wind are frequently repeated in Tarkovsky’s cinema. Their transformation into a kind of “spiritual symbol” is a quest to point to the “eternal-everlasting” reality behind the world we perceive moment by moment. Specifically in “Mirror,” dreamlike transitions and poetic monologues break linear time, immersing the viewer in a sense of “timelessness.”
This situation bears similarity to the desire to turn towards “absolute truth” (Haqq) in Islamic metaphysics. Because these scenes where time seems “suspended” or “frozen” in cinema make one feel that the director aims, even momentarily, to exit the worldly flow and transition to a broader existential dimension. The doctrine of “recreating every moment” in Islamic thought also nurtures an intuition that opens a door to eternity within the moment. 3. Béla Tarr and “The Turin Horse”: Stagnation and Recurring Transformation 3.1. Slow Cinema and Extension of Time
Béla Tarr’s “The Turin Horse” progresses with long sequence shots and an almost monotonous repetition pattern around an extremely minimal story. The film focuses on six days of a father-daughter and a horse in a bleak landscape. Days are repeated with almost identical actions – drawing water, cooking potatoes, feeding the horse, etc. This “slow cinema” approach asks the audience to show “patience” sensually and mentally, to notice small changes within routine repetitions.
The repetitive dimension of time in Islamic thought can be seen especially in worship rituals (five daily prayers, fasting, dhikr, etc.). Repetition, though it may seem monotonous, is actually a cycle that can gain different spiritual depth each time. The repetitions in “The Turin Horse” may seem oppressive and dark from the outside; however, the film enables one to confront a metaphysical desperation within that darkness. The unchanging external conditions, in a sense, prepare the ground for the soul to turn inward and ask its essential questions. 3.2. Theme of Apocalypse and Transience
Throughout the film, the weather continuously worsens, wind blows, and the outside world seems to face extinction. As time progresses, light gradually decreases; in the final scenes, lamps no longer light, and connection with the outside is lost. An atmosphere of a small “apocalypse” forms. This contains symbolism similar to the “end of time” (doomsday) approach in Islamic theology. The material existence of the world gradually loses its effect; humans reach both a psychological and metaphysical limit.
Tarr’s gloomy atmosphere makes the viewer feel the transience of the world and how helpless humans are when left alone. In Islamic thought, “worldly life” is ultimately a place of “exile” and “test”; human’s true salvation is related to gaining awareness and “wisdom” beyond the world. Although prayer or faith symbols are not explicitly processed throughout the film – Tarr’s secular style is well-known – the sense of time functioning as an inner “patience” test offers a deep experience that can open doors to this spiritual dimension. 4. Briefly Relating the Time Use of the Two Films to Islamic Philosophy
Non-Linear Time – Observation/Contemplation Experience: In "Mirror," a narrative where memories, dreams, and reality are superimposed allows the audience to experience "time" not as a linear line but as a whole. This aligns with the idea in Islamic mysticism that time is "cyclical in essence" or at least a "simultaneous" experience is possible. The notion that during contemplation (shuhūd), the servant can be cleansed of past and future concerns and meet the Truth (Haqq) "in the moment" can be felt in the dream-like atmosphere of Tarkovsky's cinema.
Repetition and Transience – Patience and Trial: The monotonous and dark repetitions of "The Turin Horse" show that even ordinary rituals in life can open to spiritual questioning, but whether the audience (and characters) have the patience and inner resistance for this is tested. The "test" dimension of time in Islamic philosophy and confronting our temporariness in this world parallels the great collapse atmosphere in the film. The increasingly darkening world visually depicts transience at its extreme point.
Spiritual and Metaphysical Emphasis of Time: Both directors use the concept of time to explore human's inner world rather than the dramatic structure of the film. This may bear similarity to the situation in Islamic philosophy where the "moment" is filled with spirituality. Water, flame, dream sequences in Tarkovsky; daily actions fixed with long shots in Bela Tarr lead to deep introspection in humans.
Tension Between Finitude and Infinity: In Islamic thought, time is a finite experience flowing in the shadow of absolute infinity (divine dimension). The ambiguous finale in Tarkovsky's "Mirror" and the final scenes of Tarr's "The Turin Horse" that are lost in darkness make this tension felt cinematically. The human's entrapment in time and simultaneously longing for beyond time is expressed with an aesthetic language in the films.
Conclusion
Though Tarkovsky’s “Mirror” and Béla Tarr’s “The Turin Horse” present two different styles regarding the use of time in cinema, both strive to make the audience experience a non-linear or extended/static time. This approach can offer content that overlaps with the understanding of time in Islamic philosophy at many points – especially the tension between “temporary world” and “eternal realm,” “recreation of every moment,” the relativity of past-future distinction, concepts like contemplation and patience. Such use of time in cinema invites viewers to confront not only the plot of the story but also its existential and spiritual dimensions.
Therefore, examining these films with a perspective that considers the dimensions of time in Islamic thought helps show that the directors designed cinema not just as a narrative tool but as an “inner experience” or “field of contemplation.” The intertwining of metaphysics and memory in Tarkovsky, and the gloomy wait in constantly repeating daily actions in Béla Tarr, allow dialogue with themes in Islamic philosophy such as patience, transience, and the search for transcendent truth. ⸻
Further Details on the Concept of Time in Islamic Mysticism
To provide more detail, in Islamic mystical literature, especially Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) and Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) extensively addressed the issue of “renewal of creation at every moment” (tajaddud al-amthal). According to this idea, Allah did not make the universe and the beings within it a one-time creation; on the contrary, He is continuously recreating them at every “moment.” Thus, time ceases to be a chronological-linear flow; each moment becomes a “beginning” with a completely new creation. Below you can find brief examples from the views of both Ibn Arabi and Rumi on this subject:
1. Examples from Ibn Arabi
1.1. “Futuhat al-Makkiyya” and Emphasis on “Continuous Creation”
In his masterpiece Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Revelations), Ibn Arabi interprets the verse from the Quran, “Every day He is upon some matter” (Surah ar-Rahman, 55:29). Based on this verse, he states:
“Existence is continuously and uninterruptedly renewed due to Allah being ‘upon a different matter every moment.’ The existence in the previous ‘moment’ does not remain exactly the same in the next ‘moment’; it is refreshed with a new one.”
This interpretation explains that Allah’s manifestations and act of creation are always “new” and “fresh,” without falling into repetition. Therefore, time is no longer seen as a mechanical and irreversible line divided into “segments,” but as a “chain of moments” that is constantly renewed. Ibn Arabi points out that through this continuous renewal, existence and the universe remain “always alive and changing.”
1.2. The Principle of “La Tekrar Fi’t-Tecelli”
One of Ibn Arabi’s famous sayings, “لَا تَكْرَارَ فِي التَّجَلِّي” (“There is no repetition in manifestation”), is based on the same approach. Each manifestation (Allah’s appearance, creation) is different from the previous one. This expresses the continuity of existence and the birth of brand new dimensions in the flow of time. When we speak of the “momentary continuity of time,” we refer to these new manifestations coming successively without interruption.
2. Examples from Rumi
2.1. The “Yesterday Remains in Yesterday” Approach in Masnavi
A theme frequently emphasized by Rumi in his Masnavi and other works is the idea that “each moment carries a reality different from the previous one.” He has a famous saying:
“Yesterday remains in yesterday, my dear; today it is necessary to say new things.”
This saying is often used metaphorically to mean “Today will not be the same as yesterday, let’s constantly seek renewal.” However, when viewed with its Sufi background, it explains that each moment is a new scene of creation in the presence of Allah, and therefore humans should also be renewed each moment and exist in a new dimension today, leaving yesterday behind.
2.2. “A New World is Born Each Moment”
In many parts of the Masnavi, Rumi defines the creation of the universe as an “ongoing process.” For example, this famous couplet summarizes this idea (the order of couplets may vary in different manuscripts, but the meaning remains the same):
“A new world is born each moment; A new soul awakens each moment.”
This expression emphasizes that Allah’s manifestations are constantly renewed and, consequently, existence experiences an uninterrupted process of “refreshment.” Time is not a dead background or a frame that fixes change, but an “eternal present moment” where creation is reconstructed again and again.
3. Summary and Context of the Topic
3.1. Renewal of Creation at Every Moment (Tajaddud al-Amthal)
- Both Ibn Arabi and Rumi (and Sufis in general), centering on the Quranic verse “He is upon some matter every day,” emphasize that the universe is not a static or self-left mechanism but is sustained through Allah’s continuous act of creation.
3.2. Cyclical or Uninterrupted Flow of Time
- This idea shakes the conventional understanding of “linear time.” Because existence does not have a part of an interrupted flow, but has an essence that is renewed “moment by moment.” Thus, from one perspective, it appears “cyclical” (like returning to the beginning at every moment), and from another perspective, it manifests as “momentary continuity” (a constant flow without pause).
3.3. Dimension of Experience and Awareness
- According to the Sufis, if a person can recognize this continuous renewal, they reach the realization of the “moment” in a spiritual sense. Then, freed from the shackles of the past and the anxiety of the future, they can meet divine truth “right now.” Rumi’s saying, “Today it is necessary to say new things,” while superficially appearing as a call for innovation, is in its inner meaning an invitation to be aware of this “creation renewed at every moment.”
Brief Summary
In Islamic mystical thought, particularly through Ibn Arabi and Rumi, the idea of “renewal of creation at every moment” presents a perspective different from the rigid division of time into “past, present, future.” In this perspective, the “moment” is not a fixed point but a center that is constantly renewed where creation continuously takes form anew. Therefore, time, instead of flowing on a straight line in the classical sense, is understood as an uninterrupted and always living process of becoming, with the mystery of “coming into existence anew at every moment.”
