The Concept of the Term Nafs within the Qur'an

The term nafs and its derivatives occur in the Qur'an 398 times, which provides the researcher with a vast wealth of material, but it is also worth mentioning that most of these occurrences are usage of the reflexive pronoun. Despite this, there are numerous verses that are of significance when discussing the nafs from the Qur'anic perspective and the following usages may be observed:

1. Nafs Signifying the Soul

This is evidenced via the Qur'anic description of the soul (ruh) being extracted from the body at death by the angels, who rip the souls of disbelievers from their bodies, ultimately causing their demise. The verse in question is Q. Surah Al-An'am, 6:93, in which the angels are said to stretch forth their hands to grip the souls and drag them outwards, the souls themselves being termed anfusakum. [1]

2. Nafs Signifying the Human Being

Once again, the Qur'an makes reference to the nafs with the meaning of the human being (insan) as a whole, including both the body and the soul. One of the verses which identifies this usage is Q. Surah Luqman, 31:28, in which the creation and resurrection of human beings is discussed and is described as being easy for God, as if it were only the creation/resurrection of a single person (nafsin wahidatin).

3. Nafs Signifying the Human Being's Power of Understanding

In this context, the word nafs signifies that the human being has the ability to comprehend and reason using his intellect to arrive at and perceive certain ideas and concepts. Not only this, but the Qur'an has also clarified that the human being may comprehend an idea until it becomes fixed in his mind to the extent that he reaches a level of certainty regarding the reality of this concept and it appears as fact, as far as he is concerned. The verse in question is Q. Surah An-Naml, 27:14, in which this level of certainty is described as having been reached and in addition, is attributed to the nafs (wa'stayqanathd anfusuhum).

4. Nafs Signifying the Heart

In addition to the intellectual implication of the term nafs in the Qur'an, there is also an implication that an emotional aspect also exists. Verses that imply such a meaning include Q. Surah Al-A’raf, 7:205 and Q. Surah Yusuf, 12:77, where both the attributes of remembrance (dhikr) and concealing a secret (sirr) are described as being actions of the nafs. It is also worth noting that both these qualities are considered actions of the heart, and therefore such verses indicate an intrinsic and fundamental link between the heart and the nafs.

5. Nafs Signifying an Inclination to Good and Evil

The duality of the nafs to incline towards good and evil as described in the Qur'an and its tendency to change between the two, is one of its outstanding characteristics.

Various verses indicate this, including Q. Surah Qaf, 50:16, Q. Surah Al-Qiyamah, 75:2 and Q. Surah An-Nazi'aat, 79:37- 41. Due to the importance of these qualities they will be examined in detail in the subsequent discussion, in which two other facets of the nafs will become clear: first, the qualities that the nafs itself manifests to which various verses allude, and secondly, the various states that the nafs experiences as described in a number of verses.