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Concept
Nafs
Summary
Nafs (نَفْس) is an Arabic word occurring in the Quran, literally meaning "self", and has been translated as "psyche", "ego" or "soul". The term is cognate with the Hebrew word nephesh, נֶפֶשׁ. In the Quran, the word nafs is used in both the individualistic (verse 2:48) and collective sense (verse 4:1), indicating that although humanity is united in possessing the positive qualities of a nafs, they are individually responsible for exercising the agencies of the "free will" that it provides them.
Much of the popular literature on nafs, however, is focused on the Sufi conceptions of the term located within the sadr (the chest). According to the Sufi philosophies, the nafs in its unrefined state is "the ego", which they consider to be the lowest dimension of a person's inward existence — his animal and satanic nature. Nafs is an important concept in the Islamic tradition, especially within Sufism and the discipline of gnosis (irfan) in Shia Islam.
The word "nafs" is derived from the Arabic word "nafas", which means "breathing". In early Arabic literature, "nafs" refers to the "self" or "person". In Islamic theology, "nafs" refers to the soul, although it is sometimes confused with "ruh", which means "breath" or "wind", or "spirit". The concepts of "nafs" and "ruh" are similar to the biblical concepts of "nephesh" and "ruach".
The triliteral root nūn fā sīn (ن ف س) occurs 298 times in the Quran, in four derived forms:
once as the form V verb tanaffasa (تَنَفَّسَ)
once as the form VI verb yatanāfasi (يَتَنَافَسِ)
295 times as the noun nafs (نَفْس)
once as the form VI active participle mutanāfisūn (مُتَنَٰفِسُون)
The Quran affords much importance to the nafs of an individual, highlighting the agency of free will and intelligence, without which neither responsibility nor accountability can exist. The Quran does not attribute to the nafs any inherent properties of good or evil, but instead conveys the idea that it is something which has to be nurtured and self-regulated, so that it can progress into becoming 'good' and 'inwardly meaningful' through its thoughts and actions.
Official source
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