The Lantern of
Guidance
Chapter 3
Section 2
Discussion
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Apercu
Ma’refat (Cognition) of Nafs
(Psyche)
The word Nafs in Arabic has
two meanings. One means essence or nature of something, how something’s
reality is. However in Sufism the meaning of Nafs is the ensemble of
the Latif (Indivisible Subtle & Non-material) components &
faculties that may be called animal spirit or natural spirits
(instincts), and the Noor (Divine Light) was shone upon this Nafs
whereupon became the lofty human spirit and this Noor (Divine Light)
empowered the Nafs with inspirations (instincts) for both evil as well
as righteousness as was said in the Nass (Verbatim Lection) of the
Majestic Words, “By the Nafs, and the
proportion and order given to it; And its enlightenment (inspiration)
as to its wrong and its right” (Koran, [91:8-7]). (If you listen
to what Allah swore by in previous
verses to the latter you hear, “By
the Sun and his (glorious) splendor; By the
Moon as she follows him; By the Day as it shows up (the Sun's) glory;
By the
Night as it conceals it; By the Firmament and its (wonderful)
structure; By the
Earth and its (wide) expanse” Please note that these are all
vast, complex,
ancient and intricate creations and then afterwards the Nafs is brought
up—and Allah
knows best—perhaps to indicate the vastness, complexity, intricacies
and time immemorial
age of the Nafs! In the discussions that follows and the other chapters
on
Nafs, Soul & Heart keep in mind that we are reading about a
creation as
vast as the cosmos!)
The intent behind this
definition of Nafs is the rational explanation of the shameful acts of
human being that cause him to bring forth excuses. The attributes of
the Nafs are like the Chameleon, from moment to another assumes a
different color. Every moment a different shape imaged upon the water
waves, and each breath Nafs schemes a new trick afresh.
As a prerequisite, cognition
of the Nafs is related to the cognition of the Divine, therefore
knowing Nafs is an Ishaarat (Paradigm) hinting at knowing ‘It’.
To reach to the bottom of Nafs’s cognition is impossible, the same as
in full understanding of the Divine. As it is difficult to understand
the Nafs, it is equally impossible to manage its affairs. As was said
by the Commander of The Believers, Imam Ali, “I & my Nafs are
nothing but a shepherd herding his sheep i.e. gathers them from one
side yet they are scattered from another”. (Simply understand that your
Nafs is like a herd of sheep and there is not much you can do about it)
Nafs is coined with names such
as Ammarah (Depraved inciting towards evil), Lawwamah (Accusing &
Blaming) and Motma’in-nah (Serene)
each describing different attributes and characteristics of the same
Nafs (these are not separate Nafs). In the beginning when the fief of
the human being is under the liege of the Nafs’s overwhelming power, it
is called Nafs Ammarah (Depraved inciting towards evil). In the middle
period when the personal desires govern the human being and the Nafs
follows the desires’ dictate like an absolute imitator, yet still much
room is left for deviance & indulgence, therefore the Nafs blames
itself (Because it feels it is the slave of the desires, an imitator of
the wishes). Towards the end when the protesting & detesting
(against the Lord’s Edict) are uprooted, motions of disobedience &
strife are becalmed by the Toma’ninah (Serenity),
and the Nafs is tamed by the Divine Fiat and Nafs’s detesting (against
man’s fate & decree) are transformed to Redha (Contentment), this
state & characteristic of the Nafs is called the Motma’in-nah (Serene).
In the beginning when the Nafs
is firmly residing within the natural instincts’ incubator, perpetually
pulls down the Rooh (Soul) and the Qalb (Heart) from the lofty exalted
realm of the Divine to its lowly incubator and perpetually adorns
itself to lure the human eye while in the midst the middleman is the
Satan offering a helping hand to embellish and adorn the Nafs evermore,
thus (Satan) making the Nafs the decoy-bird to entrap the Rooh (Soul)
& the Qalb (Heart), humiliating & belittling the Rooh and with
such cunning trickery to sully the pure & pristine Qalb.
Sahl Abdullah has said, “For
(every) Nafs there is a Serr (Secret) and this secret has not been
revealed to anyone except for the Pharaoh therefore, “Saying, "I am your Lord, Most High"”
Koran ([79:24]). For Nafs there are seven terrestrial Hijab (Veils) and
seven extraterrestrial Hijab i.e. if the person buries his Nafs under
the terrestrial veils (avoiding the desires & lusts) then his heart
soars aloft (some extraterrestrial veil is removed, thus closer to the
Divine Nearness) and once he completely buries his Nafs indeed his Qalb
(Heart) reaches the Divine Throne.” (Please see another
translation from Tusi’s book)
Abu Yazid said, “When the
person’s Nafs dies he is wrapped in the cerecloth of mercy and buried
in the grounds of benevolence, but when his Qalb (Heart) dies he is
wrapped around the cerecloth of curses and buried in the grounds of
punishment (Final unfavorable Judgment)”.
Junaid said, “The Nafs Ammarh
(Depraved inciting towards evil) invites towards exclusively many
deaths and the followers of the lusts are immersed within the
afflictions riddled by accusations of heinous crimes”.
And the proverb says, “The strong is not the one who
conquers the people, indeed the strong is the one conquering his Nafs”.
There are some schools of
thought that consider Nafs and Qalb (Heart) the same, since they see
within Nafs positive traces of goodness e.g. Toma’ninah (Serenity)
& Redha (Complacence) which are believed to be the attributes of
the Qalb (Heart). They suspected that there is no difference between
the Nafs and Qalb (Heart), therefore Nafs Ammarah (Depraved inciting
towards evil) is another type of Nafs by itself. But they are unaware
that the same Nafs Ammarah (Depraved inciting towards evil) disrobed
the gown of Ammarah (Depravation) and enrobed the garment of Toma’ninah
(Serenity)
and Redha (Complacence) thus camouflaged itself the same as the Qalb
(Heart). And each time Nafs dyes itself with the color of the Qalb
(Heart), Qalb imbues itself with the color of the Rooh (Soul) in order
to plainly differentiate itself.
End.
Apercu
Human Being is shaped by a
molecular mold within which is
poured the Nafs (Psyhe) and the Rooh (Soul). Nafs being the obverse and
yet
inseparable side pulling down towards the lowly characteristics while
the Rooh
(Soul) is pulling up towards the Divine Sublimity. And the Qalb
(Heart), an
opportunist that takes side with the winner of this match. If the Nafs
(Pyche)
wins then Qalb (Heart) is filled with the love & desires of the
vanity and if
the Rooh (Soul) wins again the Qalb (Heart) is filled with love except
that of
the Divine.
Nafs (Psyche), in contrast to
our corpuscular form, is an
indivisible subtle and non-material entity that continues to exist even
after
the body has turned into dust.
Today thanks to the progress
of the Genomic
sciences Mankind
understands that its molecular mold is not much different than that
of a worm
or a fly!? Therefore the modern Dervish carefully squints to search for
traces
of the Divine Light that transformed human being to be the paramount
most
notable member of the creation.
Understanding
the Nafs (Psyche) is the preamble to Ma’refat
(Divine Gnosis). As with the case of the Divine, the cognition of the
Nafs
(Psyche) is searchlessly bottomless. The Dervish rests at peace
understanding
that management of the Nafs (Psyche) is even more difficult than
understanding
the Nafs, therefore Dervish behaves like a shepherd and his flock the
ever
scattering herd of his Nafs (Psyche). Other than this simple notion of
shepherd
& flock, Dervish knows not much else surrounding the Nafs (Psyche)
or how it can be
managed.
©
2004-2002, Dara O. Shayda
