How is it possible that we're able to view light through our eyelids, being awake compared to asleep?

Perhaps it is because when you close your eyelids but still attempt to “see” (by that I mean look around with your eyeballs) your pupil is still facing forward and thus the light penetrates through the thinness of the eyelid or any gaps left. But when we sleep, I believe our eyes roll back or sideways or someway such that the pupil is not actively pointing to the front, thus it does not take in any light. Also, at nighttime there is less ambient light anyways. These are just my non-ophthalmologist thoughts :)

Normally, when we’re asleep, the brain disrupts the connections between the sensory processing areas and the areas that control our conscious experience. Only strong sensations can override that block and reach awareness.

It’s not so much that we “see black” as that we don’t see with the eyes at all. Any visual sensations are generated by the brain itself.

I agree with dynamicduo, once i was almost falling asleep, but then suddenly woke up, i felt my eyes roll from behind to in front. Strange. haha. very hard for me to explain, but with that i inferred that when we sleep, our eyes roll to the back/side

Because they’re translucent?