to kill me as thou killedst a man (nafs) yesterday?'
[Suratu'l-Qasas (xxviii) 18]. 'Your creation
and your resuscitation are but as (the creation and
resuscitation) of one soul (nafs)' [Suratu Luqman
(xxxi) 27]. 'It is He who hath produced you from
one soul (nafs)' [Suratu'l-An'am (vi) 98].
'Every soul (nafs) (is) given in pledge for that
which it shall have wrought, except the companions of
the right hand' [Suratu'l-Mudaththr (lxxiv)
41]. This last passage might at first sight seem
to make or suggest a distinction between the man
and the soul, but that there is no desire
in the words to distinguish between the higher and the
lower elements of man's nature is clear when we
compare them with the following verse from another Sura.
'Every man (imri'in) (is) given in pledge for
that which he shall have wrought' [Suratu't-Tur
(Iii) 21].
Similarly, in those passages which speak of every soul
tasting or experiencing death, there can be no doubt
as to the sense in which the word 'nafs' is
used. It stands simply for man or person.
'No soul can die unless by the permission
of God, according to (what is written in) the book containing
the determinations of things' [Suratu Ali 'Imran
(iii) 139]: and again in the same Sura verse 182, 'Every
soul shall taste of death, and ye shall have your rewards
on the day of judgement.' There are, indeed, many
passages in which 'nafs' is thus used to express
man in his whole nature.
On the other hand, there are some passages in which
the word 'nafs' is apparently employed in a
somewhat different sense; it appears to be used to denote
more especially the seat of intelligence, desire, and
passion. 'They follow no other than a vain opinion,
and what |
