لطفا منتظر باشید ...
The Soul:
Between Spirit and Clay
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
This essay is a brief tafsir(explanation) of the first verse of the
fourth chapter of the Qur'an. This verse, and other similar verses touch
upon the nature of the nafs (frequently translated as 'soul') of humans
and relates this to the creation and organization of humanity as a whole.
In this essay this particular verse is used as a starting point to examine
the Qur'anic concept of nafs (soul). In doing so it also touches upon the
meaning of 4:1 in the context of the succeeding verses of this chapter
(sura) of the Qur'an.
Tafsir (Sura 4:1)
004.001 "O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you
from a single nafs, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them
twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence God,
through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs
(That bore you): for God ever watches over you."
This verse begins by addressing all mankind, in contrast to other
verses which address specific groupings among mankind (e.g., "O you who
believe", "O men of Faith", "O Children of Israel", "O men of
understanding", "O people of the book" etc.). Certainly those verses that
address specific groupings of human beings also carry advice and lessons
for those outside these groupings. But let's assume that Allah does not
choose words randomly, but rather chooses in order to disclose specific
meanings and to indicate specific import. What follows then, in this
verse, is a discourse which affects all human beings - which provides
information about human nature and the human condition in general. And
which provides principles that can be applied to humanity in
general.
In this verse, Allah refers to himself as Guardian Lord.
Lordship not only denotes a relationship of authority but also one of
guardianship, of caregiving, safeguarding and of providing for those over
whom you have authority. This association of Allah as one who safeguards
or one who is a guardian (which is almost a parental relationship)
reflects the theme of the upcoming verses which deal with human
guardianship over those in our hands - over orphans, and family members.
As well, this first verse deals with the creation of humanity as a family
with ties of familial relationship with one another.
The verse then
says: "Who created you from a single nafs (sometimes translated as soul or
being)". Here it is talking about the creation of Adam and then of Eve
(Hawa) who is created of like nature. And from them are created the rest
of humanity.
According to tafsir "Al-Mizan" (Tabatabai), the word
nafs indicates that by which a human is human - in other words that
essential part of the very being of a human that makes him what he is. It
is that which defines "human". Elsewhere in the Qur'an, Allah speaks
clearly of the creation of Adam - using the name "Adam". In this
particular verse, however, and in some similar passages He does not speak
of Adam by name although it is clearly Adam who is the subject. If we
assume that Allah never uses words without a reason, perhaps it is
worthwhile to dwell for a moment on the word nafs (which is used instead)
and its meaning and content when it used specifically to describe the
creation of humanity, of all mankind.
Elsewhere, the Qur'an
says:
38:71,72 Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I am about to create
man from clay: When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and
breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto
him."
Two things happen here. First God creates man from clay - a substance
of this earth, of this material world. Second, he breathes His Spirit into
man and since this Spirit comes from God we can assume it to be of a very
high, noble substance - at the opposite end of the spectrum from clay. So
where does nafs enter into this equation?
The Spirit, which derives
from God, is a reality that possesses all the Divine attributes. It
represents a direct manifestation of God. Remember, it is only after this
Spirit is breathed into Adam that God orders the angels to prostrate
themselves before Adam. It is only after this receiving of the Spirit that
Adam is given knowledge of the names of all things. The Spirit then
manifests in some way the attributes or names of God. It is luminous,
alive, subtle, unseen, knowing, unified etc. The body on the other hand
has many parts and is overcome by darkness, ignorance, inanimate matter,
and a lack of divine attributes. So spirit and body have no common measure
- One is from God who is Unique, who is One. The other is from the
material world which is characterized by multiplicity and
dispersion.
The nafs, however, is the meeting point of the Spirit
and the body. The nafs is characterized by opposing characteristics. It is
both luminous and dark, high and low. It is a mixture of the two sides. It
possesses all the divine attributes present in the Spirit in a watered
down manner. Mulla Sadra (in "The Wisdom of the Throne") refers to the
soul by the Qur'anic phrase "...it is the junction of the two seas...."
(18:59) The sea of the spirit and the sea of the material world. The
Qur'an says: "And it is He who has made the two seas to flow freely, the
one sweet that subdues thirst by its sweetness, and the other salt that
burns by its saltiness....And it is He who has created man from the
water...." (25:53-54). The material world is the visible world or the
manifest world (the world of the salt sea that burns). The non-manifest
world is the unseen world, the world of the Spirit (the sweet sea that
quenches thirst). The human nafs is a microcosm containing characteristics
of both these worlds, created from the "water" of both of these
worlds.
So the nafs is a barzakh, a meeting place where the world
of matter and the world of Spirit can come together. Since the nafs
contains both light and dark, humans should strengthen the luminous or
"spirit" aspect of the nafs. Since "the spirit is one reality while the
body has many parts" any movement towards Spirit represents a movement
towards integration and unity. Any movement towards man's bodily or clay
aspect represents a descent toward dispersion and multiplicity. If the
Spirit aspect dominates then order and correct proportion will be given to
all of man's existence - the body won't be denied its due, but all things
will attain the correct proportion. Sura 91 says:
"By the soul and the order and proportion given it...truly he
succeeds that purifies it, and he fails that corrupts
it."
The Qur'an speaks of three levels of nafs or three phases involved in
the purification of the nafs. These are the nafs that "commands to evil"
(12:53), the "nafs that blames" itself, and the "nafs at peace with
itself".
The Qur'an also tells us that the nafs is one of the
places where God discloses himself to man. It says:
41:53 "Soon will We show them our Signs on the horizons, and within
their own nafs, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the
Truth."
These "signs" manifest themselves in man's nafs. A person who purifies
their nafs to the appropriate degree will witness these signs within their
own selves and will also see the outward universe for what it truly is - a
manifestation of God. So the world of the Spirit, of the unseen, can
become perceptible to man through the purified nafs so that he can witness
spiritual realities through the locus of the nafs. Because the purified
nafs is a point of God's self-disclosure to man, the Prophet (s.a.) said
in a famous hadith: "He who knows his nafs, knows his
Lord."
Elsewhere where the Qur'an speaks about the creation of
mankind from a single nafs, it calls to witness the "people of
understanding", again underlining the importance of the nafs - its crucial
and central role as the joining place between the unity of God's Spirit
and the multiplicity of the material Universe.
6:98 "It is He Who hath produced you from a single nafs: here is a
place of sojourn and a place of departure: We detail Our signs for
people who understand."
The nafs is what makes humans human. It unites two disparate worlds in
one location and through this makes it possible for man to draw near to
God. It is with the unique nature of this nafs that God created the first
human and then its mate of a similar nature, and from these two come all
other human beings, all carrying this nafs with all its latent potential
within themselves. This is the nature with which mankind has been created
- as a creature capable of knowing God through fulfilling the capabilities
God has placed within him.
The verse then goes on to say:
"...reverence God, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and
(reverence) the wombs (That bore you)...."
We are asked to do two things here. One is to reverence God. The other
is to reverence the wombs. Because of the manner in which these two are
linked, this places a powerful emphasis on the respect due to the wombs
through which we are born. It is God who informs us of the rights and
obligations due to one another, it is He who sets out the order,
precedence, and organization of these rights and duties and it is our
reverence of God that will cause us to respect and fulfil these rights,
obligations and duties.
Reverencing the womb is to be mindful of
familial relationships and the rights due to those from whom you come and
also to be aware of the fact that it is through the creation of the wombs
that God has created you and all other human beings after the first two.
The womb is the locus of human creation in this world. Even Prophet
Isa/Jesus (a.s.) was created by God casting His Word into a woman's womb -
so a human womb was used by Allah for the creation of one of His unique
Prophets. Because of this immense respect for the womb, Islam fosters a
powerful respect for mothers within its hierarchy. The reverence for wombs
is a reminder to be aware of from where you came. This can also be related
in a larger sense to the first part of this verse where the first human
emerges, in a sense, from a cosmic womb. "...reverence your Guardian-Lord,
who created you from a single nafs,". We are asked to be mindful of womb
relationships - to remember from where we emerged as an individual. And we
are asked to be mindful of our creation by Allah - and to remember from
where we emerged as a human being.
Before man emerged into this
world - God asked all the human souls "Am I not your Lord? And they
replied, 'Yes! Of this we bear witness!' " (Sura 71) The Qur'an reminds us
of this pact and asks us, while we are in this world to remember this
witness and just as we have to be mindful of the wombs in this world so
also we must be mindful of that place from which humans emerged as humans.
Just as we are not to cut ourselves off from ties to the womb from which
we were born, we should not cut ourselves off from our creation by
God.
The verse closes with the words "...for God ever watches over
you." which seals the seriousness of this verse and implies that God
guards over man with respect to what has been disclosed in this verse with
a special concern. So mankind's essential unity and familial relationship
between all its members and mankind's relationship with the cosmic "womb"
from which the first man was created is underlined with a strong warning
in these last words "...for God ever watches over you." As for the orphans
spoken of in the next verse - they are those who, in this world, have,
through no fault of their own, been cut off from the wombs which bore
them. So a special mercy is due to them and a special regard to the
preservation of their rights is necessary. Their guardian is God, twice
over, since they have no guardians in this world.
P.S. Clay and spirit are both manifestations of God since all
existent things are a manifestation of God. Clay represents the left
hand of God or, in other words, the attributes of God that distance man
from God - sternness, wrath etc. while Spirit represents the right hand
of God or those attributes that draw one near to God - mercy, love,
kindness etc. Since Adam was created with the two hands of God he
manifests all the attributes of God - those of distance and those of
nearness. The nafs is where these two sets of attributes mingle and
since "one can only know things through their opposites" (light through
darkness, sweet through salt etc.), the nafs is the focal point of all
human knowledge about God. The intellect also shows this division
between distancing attributes and attributes that draw one near. When
God created the intellect He asked it to turn its face towards him and
it did and He asked it to turn its face away from Him and it obeyed. So
the intellect also faces in two directions - one that faces God
(nearness) and one that faces away (distance).
P.P.S. The
treatise on rights (translated in "The Psalms of Islam" - William
Chittick) by the Prophet's grandson, details the rights of mothers: "The
right of your mother is that...she carried you where no one carries
anyone, she gave to you of the fruit of her heart that which no one
gives to anyone, and she protected you with all her organs. She did not
care if she went hungry as long as you ate, if she was thirsty as long
as you drank, if she was naked as long as you were clothed, if she was
in the sun as long as you were in the shade. She gave up sleep for your
sake, she protected you from heat and cold, all in order that you might
belong to her. You will not be able to show her gratitude, unless
through God's help and giving success.
Bibliography
Chittick, William. 'Imaginal Worlds'. State University of New York
Press, 1994.
Mulla Sadra. Morris, James (translation). Wisdom of the Throne.
Princeton; Princeton University Press. 1981.
Shaykh al-Mufid. Kitab al-Irshaad. Iran; Ansariya Publication.
Zayn al Abideen. Psalms Of Islam. London; Mohammadi Trust. 1988.
Qur'an.
Irshaad Hussain
