Nafs
Literary Nafs means how the
existence/nature of something
is, in case of Mankind it means self, persona, psyche. But for this
Nation (of
Sufism) Nafs means what is faulty within human being that revels in
shameful
& evil characteristics & actions. There are two kinds of these
unacceptable shameful & evil traits:
- Acquisition through sins &
disobedience
- Innate attitudes & characteristics
that are worthy of blame
And if the slave strives hard
to cure these faulty
characteristics he can push them away and this inhibition may become a
habit so
to speak.
First way of cleansing these
away is by means of avoiding
what has been forbidden by Allah and second way is by means of avoiding
bad
attitudes & characteristics e.g. arrogance, anger, envy, hate and
general
bad conduct.
The
worse trait of Nafs and the most difficult to cleanse
is either considering something about one’s Self is worthy of
admiration &
praise or assuming certain position of honor, power or loftiness for
one’s
Self. These are traits of Shirk (Polytheism).
Some of the proposed cures for
these faults of the Nafs are
subjecting one’s Self to hunger, thirst & sleeplessness in order to
reduce
the energies within that feed the evil of the Nafs. And these forms of
healing
are called “Forsaking The Nafs”.
People (Sufis) have believed
that probably (i.e.
conjectured) there is a Qalib (Divine Matrix or Mold)—that forms the
personalized & specifics of a human being—within which lies a
section where
the evil & shameful characteristics resides and another section
where the
Soul resides i.e. elegant, fine & good characteristics. And these
sections
are indeed entangled or inseparable (i.e. impact each other) therefore
as a
unit they form the human being. Just like the 5 senses constitute an
ensemble
of human sensations, Nafs & Soul are tied into a single unit of
human inner
existence with Nafs focusing on evil.
End.
Additional information:
Nafs is a Johar (An Essence
that subsists upon nothing other
itself except may need a location). Nafs is created though it is not
grown or
manufactured e.g. like plants or animals. It subsists upon itself
independent
of the rest of the universe (except the Divine) and cannot be killed or
destroyed. It moves within itself, contains discernable forms, owner of
characteristics (i.e. characteristics can fit within it or it is very
apt for
containing the characteristics), it can learn knowledge and
survives the
destruction of the body. (Source:
Zaadal Mosaferin)
Nafs is a loaned part of the
Qaleb (Divine Matrix &
Mold) (entrusted to the human being) similar to Soul however it takes
the
characteristics of the evil. (I guess the ‘loaned’ statement means man
has to
answer for it once it is returned back to the Creator)
Nafs’s characteristic is that
of anxiety & unrest and
only upon presence of falsehood & evil it becalms.
Nafs betrays & blocks all
loftiness (in terms of good
deeds) and all good deeds oppose the Nafs.
Human being for the most part
is made up of: Body, Nafs
& Soul.
There are six types of Nafs:
- Lawwama the accusing, “And I do call to witness the
self-reproaching spirit: (Eschew Evil)” (Koran [75:2]).
- Molhema the inspired ( I do not know
the research for this)
- Motma’innah The
Serene
- Ammarah The depraved, commanding, “"Nor do I absolve my own self (of blame):
the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow
His Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful."
(Koran [12:53]).
- Radhiyyah The Fulfilled, “"Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased
(thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him!” (Koran [89:28]).
- Mardhiyyah The Fulfilling, the same
reference as 5
(Source: Mostalahat Orafa)
Note: Nafs in positive
connotations like ”Motma’innah The
Serene” in best of my understanding is when the Soul the other part of
the
Qaleb (Divine Matrix & Mold) has more influence on the person so
the person
swayed away from the evil and at peace yet the Nafs constantly pulling
back
towards the evil at unrest. And in that case the word Nafs & Soul
are
interchangeable as in some translations of Koran we can notice. We do
not know
much or can understand little on these issues, “They ask thee concerning the
Spirit (of inspiration). Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by command of my
Lord:
of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you, (O men!)"”
(Koran [17:85]).
© 2004-2002,
Dara O. Shayda