Nafs, Spirit & Heart
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ) said, “You are the clear book in which every letter Manifests a True Meaning.” Shaykh Kumayl ibn Ziyad an-Nakha’i ( r.a. ), accompanying Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) in the suburb of Kufa, a city of Iraq, asked, “Show me my nafs and help me to become aware of it.” Nafs is a singular term that has been translated as self, nature and also as ego. Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) replied, “Of which nafs are you eager to become aware?” “Is there more than one nufus ?” asked Shaykh Kumayl ( r.a. ). Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) explained, “Yes, there are four: nafs of growth; nafs of sensibility; nafs of pure intellect; and nafs of wholeness and Divinity. Each one of the nufus has powers and qualities of its own. The powers of the nafs of growth are energies of attraction, circulation, digestion and repulsion; its qualities are to increase and decrease. T...