Question No. 3593 10 September 2026 Official answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) verified Content level: Intermediate

What is the difference between real time and conventional time?

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Dear questioner, Master Ali Saei

Tracking code: #Q-3593

Hello,
What is the difference between real time and conventional time—the time we measure with clocks?
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ

Subject category: Theology and Creed Epistemology

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Real time depends on the divine will, whereas conventional time is measured by clocks and human-made divisions. Units such as seconds, minutes, and hours have no bearing on the reality of time; they were devised solely to organise worldly affairs.

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural Center

We need distinguish existence, temporality, and temporal qualities.

The existence of time pertains to volitional time, while temporal existence pertains to a time determined by measure, which may have various qualities and divisions. (الله یعلم)

Time in the material world has its own distinctive properties. In the solar system, and here on Earth, by reference to the cosmic clock—which is coordinated with the movements of nebulae, galaxies, planetary systems, stars, and planets—the duration of one complete rotation of the Earth has been divided into 86,400 parts, each designated a conventional second. This has no connection to the reality of time.

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What is the difference between real time and conventional time?

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

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