on without entering into this question further at present.

Seeing then that man has this power of moral discrimination, and a certain freedom of will in choosing between good and evil, the next question we naturally ask is, Is there any bias in this choice? Or, we may put the question in another form and ask: Is the will of man as created, in itself or of its own nature, upright or evil?

In Suratu'n-Nisa' (iv) 32, we read, 'for man is created weak'. The reference here is not to the physical weakness of the new-born child, from which he passes to the strength of manhood, and then again to the weakness of old age. This physical weakness is spoken of elsewhere; thus we find in Suratu'r-Rum (xxxv) 53, '(It is) God who created you in weakness, and after weakness hath given (you) strength; and after strength He will (again) reduce (you) to weakness, and grey hairs: He createth that which He pleaseth.'

But in the former passage (iv. 32), it is moral weakness which is spoken of, and the verse teaches that by nature — by the direct creative act of God — mankind is morally weak. To assert that man's nature is weak is not, however, the same thing as to say that his nature is sinful. The latter expression implies that in the nature as a whole there is a bias to evil. Christianity teaches that this bias is the result of the fall affecting human nature which was originally created pure and upright, but which mankind since Adam's sin, has inherited in a vitiated or corrupted condition. The Qur'an does not go so far; or rather, it takes another turning on the road of investigation into the nature of human nature, and coming to another conclusion, says that man was created weak.

We must now consider a series of passages which speak of the soul or spirit (nafs); and we shall endeavour to see whether the Qur'an teaches anything about the weakness or corruption of the soul. As soon as we look at these passages, we find that the use of the word 'nafs' is very varied, so that we cannot say that what is affirmed of the 'nafs' always refers to the ethical or spiritual element in human nature.

At times the word is employed simply for emphasis, to express self, without implying any shade of distinction between the various elements which go to the making up of human nature. Thus, in Suratu'l-Ma'ida (v) 28, we find, Moses said, O Lord, surely I am not master of any except myself and my brother.' This use of 'nafs' is very clear in the following passage, where there can be no thought whatever of suggesting any distinction of 'elements' in the composition of the divine nature: ' He (Jesus) shall answer, Praise be unto Thee! it is not for me to say that which I ought not; if I had said so, Thou wouldest surely have known it: Thou knowest what is in me (ma fi nafsi), but I know not what is in Thee (ma fi nafsika)' [Suratu'l-Ma'ida (v) 116].

At other times the word 'nafs' is employed to express life. We have therein commanded them, that (they should give) life for life, eye for eye . . .' [Suratu'l-Ma'ida (v) 49; see also Suratu'l-Baqara (ii) 150].

The commonest use of the word in the Qur'an is, however, that in which it denotes the whole man without any implication of there being higher and lower elements in his nature. In this use it corresponds to the English man or person. The following may be noted as examples of this use of the word. 'O Moses, dost thou intend