COSMOLOGY
OF THE SELF
By:
Shaykh
Fadhlalla Haeri
Chapter
Two
The
Self (Nafs)
The
Nafs (Self) in the Qur`an
The
nafs is by far the most important element in the cosmology of
existence. It contains within it the worlds of the heart, the
intellect, the drives and the witness. We have seen how it evolves
from the original self, the fitra, from the fusion of heaven
and earth. It is the core of experiential possibilities, but within
it is the far greater reality of the ruh. The totality of
these worlds within the nafs are described in the Qur`an in
eleven clearly defined batches of ayat or verses.
Allah
tells us, first of all, that we are all created from one nafs,
one self. This, as we have seen, means that we all share a basic
original design. God then tells us that He created from this one
self its opposite, or pair, which means the duality represented by
man and woman. Existence is based on opposites: for every manifested
reality, every experience, every feeling, there is its opposite. If
this was not so, we would not understand or experience the meaning
of anything. We only understand wetness because we also know what
dryness means, day because of night, health through illness, good
because of bad, and so on.
One
set of ayat in the Qur`an relates to the nafs guiding
itself, with Allah’s permission, towards right action. These
verses show us that guidance comes from within. "And there
are signs within your souls" (Qur`an 21:51). God tells us
that no nafs experiences faith and trust except by God’s
decree, that is, by His permission and design. There is another ayat
that states: ‘Say that you are not the originator of any good
or bad (outcomes) for yourselves’ (Qur`an 7:188). In other
words, everything comes to us from Allah; we merely filter it
through to ourselves, with the option that we accept it or reject it
as an experience. In another verse we are shown the inner technology
to cope with what we are given in this world : ‘If you keep to
the correct path of supplication and prayers, giving alms to the
needy and spending in the way of Allah, you will find whatever you
give of yourselves with Allah’ (Qur`an 2:262). Whatever we
do with good intention registers with God.
There
are also numerous ayâh that show us how the nafs may
misguide itself. Allah tells us that within the nafs there is
an inclination to find attractive whatever state it happens to be
in. Indeed, if this tendency was absent in us, we would find it
impossible to live with ourselves. If, for example, when angry, this
anger seems acceptable to a part of the nafs. It is further
justified by one saying, ‘This is how I am,’ even though it is
irrational or aggressive. It provides the self with proof of its
existence. All of this is geared towards making this self legitimate
and giving it a reality. However unacceptable the anger or hysteria,
its manifestation means that it must be acceptable to someone. That
is why we need a teacher who can tell us which aspect of the self it
is. Otherwise we give ourselves excuses. The nafs will
misguide and deceive us if we allow it to do so. If, however, we
spend our time, energy, and wealth in the way of God, we are assured
victory over the nafs that misleads us.
The
Qur’an tells us, however, that our sacrifices and striving are
entirely for our own good; that Allah, who is Self-Sufficient, has
no need for any of our services. He says: ‘And He who
sacrifices and works hard is only doing so for his own soul’
(Qur`an 17:7). We are the needy ones who have to purify our
lower selves, to shed ignorance and arrogance, to be led by our
inner spirit. We need the recipients of our charity more than they
need us, in order to learn how to truly serve others, rather than
serve our own selfishness. With this guidance that is born out of
serving and spending in the manner of the prophets comes light upon
the dark nafs, like the break of dawn.
The
Qur`an contains within it several ayâh relating to a faculty
within the self that keeps a record of all its actions. In this way
the nafs earns what it does of its own accord and also gives
evidence against itself. Ultimately it will live and experience what
it has earned. It is as if we are being recorded within ourselves.
If we have hidden anything, we are told that in the next realm our
limbs and the cells in our bodies will relate our entire life story.
The
Qur`an also speaks of the nafs containing within it the
faculties to check its own mistakes, question its intentions and
provide the incentive to change. This applies equally to the
individual and the collective. A number of these checks and balances
come as trials and what we interpret as afflictions, although they
are meant to help us evolve and grow towards our higher potential.
Afflictions,
according to the Qur`an, are the result of our own actions that
are in turn prompted by the lower nafs. Allah says : ‘We
created man and we know what (evil) his mind and lower self suggest
to him. And I am closer to him than his jugular vein’ (Qur`an
50:16). The latter part of this statement is an allusion to the
unified self, which contains within it elements of the ruh,
spirit, and the Rabb, Lord, who is Rahman,
all-Merciful.
It
is because the original design for all of humanity is one that
problems arise when we ignore the spiritual basis of our being and
try to impose our personal designs on humanity. But even these
trials and afflictions provide us with a means to change ourselves
and our habits. Indeed the sufi path, the tariqa, is
all about change: we are constantly ploughing the fields of our nafs
and turning over the old soil to make it fertile for spiritual
growth. Hence the recommendation that patterns, habits and routines
should be broken. One has to change constantly to prevent oneself
from getting stale.
Trials
also bring with them important lessons in patience for those who
recognize God’s mercy and generosity in all things. God tells us: ‘Certainly
We will afflict you with fear and hunger, loss of property and
privation. But give the good news to the patient ones’ (Qur`an
20:155). When we are afflicted, we must ask Allah to show us
where the benefit and goodness lie in our apparently difficult
situation. This forms the basis for our personal contract with God.
If we know that everything that happens is from the Source of
Goodness, then we are given more and more. It also stands to reason,
however, that patience is not appropriate when faced with injustice
and outright wrongdoing. If it is possible to change a wrong to a
right, the situation demands action.
All
of this applies to the individual but on the wider social scale any
wrongdoing will affect us collectively. We all pay for the disorder
of the so-called ‘world order’, of democracy as a smoke screen
for injustice, of individual and national indebtedness. For advanced
beings like the prophet Musa (Moses) the price he paid for
society’s wrongdoing was relatively insignificant. When he and his
people were not allowed into Jerusalem for forty years, he stayed in
the wilderness. For him it was not so important where he was but
rather to serve his Creator and see His Mercy even in deprivation.
Yet
change for society as a whole is difficult to undertake in one go.
Cultures need repetition to develop traditions which give people an
illusory sense of continuity. Change, however, when and if it comes,
has to come from among individuals in a society, not for the sake of
results, but for ourselves. Our age is a time of spiritual anorexia,
when we cannot take the nourishment without rejecting it. However,
to denounce our age is to denounce the Merciful God. We have instead
to understand our time and the way out of it. The modern shaytan
is materialistic and abstract, and so God will give us remedies
which will be modern and contemporary to overcome modern sicknesses.
Other
categories of ayâh describing the nafs include those that
tell us that, within its own limitations, the nafs realizes
and cares about its own destiny, and will experience what it has
earned in its lifetime. Allah also tells us that every self will
taste death - separation from its body.
This
is a glimpse of the vast vista of the self in the Qur`an. Within
this entity called ‘you’ lie the seeds for the highest spiritual
unfolding and awakening given to any creature of Allah. Here also
lies the capability to destroy oneself. We need to learn how to
protect the original self, by not allowing the lower self to dictate
its whims and fancies. This is the reason why maintaining the shari‘a,
with its protective outer boundaries, is prescribed for us. We may
then safely proceed to develop our inner, original, pattern of the
self. It will then also become apparent how we are guided from
within at every stage as to what is wrong or right. This is not
because we want power or psychic abilities, but because this
immensity of the self is our true nature.
The
Forms the Nafs Takes***
If
the nafs is fulfilling its obligation, which is to evolve
towards knowledge of its One Source, then it reflects God’s plan
for all of us; it reflects our fitra. If, however, it has
been distorted as a reflector, then it takes on the myriad forms
that are classified below.
The
Commanding Self - Nafs al-ammara
If
the nafs is completely wayward and has lost touch with its fitra,
it is classified as nafs al-ammara. This is the totally
selfish, most egotistical of the selves, which, as the Qur’an
says, ‘commands to evil’ (Qur’an 12:53). It is the nafs
of the supremely self-centered three-year old child or the despot
who wants something and wants it instantly. This nafs will
not listen to reason nor rationality. It is purely whimsical.
The
Blaming Self - Nafs al-lawwama
Slightly
higher on the scale is the nafs whose conscience is pricked
because of its bad behavior. As a result, it blames itself for being
extreme and may be spurred into positive action in order to do
something about its dismal condition. This is the nafs al-lawwama,
the blaming self.
The
Inspired Self - Nafs al-mulhama
If
the nafs al-lawwama progresses farther along the path,
improving itself, becoming more tolerant and inspired, perhaps even
creative, it becomes what is known as nafs al-mulhama, the
inspired self. It develops a ‘live and let live’ attitude. It
says, ‘why not?’ or ‘It’s crazy - let’s do it!’
Everything goes, even the wildest ideas.
The
Certain Self - Nafs al-mutma’inna
When
the nafs al-lawwama is brought under control, it is on the
road to contentment, to becoming nafs al-mutma’inna. This
self is certain that it will come to faithfully reflect the fitra
in time, with diligence, commitment, honesty, companionship and
applying the right prescriptions. It will increase in its certainty
that it has come from beyond time; that it is only here to learn, to
experience and to be poised for that final, incredible journey out
of the prison of its body.
Allah
addresses the nafs al-mutma’inna in the Qur`an: ‘Oh
contented soul, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing. Enter
upon your state of being in adoration of Me; enter My Garden’
(Qur`an 89:29). In other words, God is telling this nafs
to enter into a zone of contentment that is within itself. The root
of contentment lies inside each of us so that we may recognize it
within creation and become instruments of contentment for others.
The
nafs encompasses this entire spectrum of all these stages; it
can be any of these classifications of the nafs or the
original nafs or self, the natural design given to each of us
by God. When we speak in general terms of the nafs we mean a
state in which we find ourselves at that time.
The
prevalent belief that we must renounce the nafs is only
partially correct. It is only the lower elements in the nafs
that are to be renounced. This is because the nafs is to the ruh
as the Rabb is to God. While Allah is the Source, the
Essence, completely beyond anything our intellects can conceive, the
Rabb defines His lordship over creation. Therefore we can
experience Rabb, but God in His Essence cannot be experienced
in the same way because He is the Giver of experience. In a similar
way, God is to Rabb what ruh is to nafs: the ruh,
like the Essence, is not something that we can understand. Rather,
like the visible portion of light that we see along the spectrum of
light, the ruh reveals itself to us only partially through
the nafs. If the nafs is in turmoil to the extent that
the ruh cannot accept, then people often resort to suicide,
thinking that breaking out of the shell of the body is the only way
they can find harmony - tawhid.
Grooming
the Nafs
For
the original self to evolve into a reality which is personal to each
one of us, the nafs must be educated. The most effective way
to attain the higher degrees of understanding is by learning the
ability to harness the two natural drives of attraction and
repulsion.
Every
self has within it these driving forces: to us everything is either
attractive or repulsive. All of our motivations are governed by
either the desire for, or repulsion towards a situation, value or
object. Whatever we do, whether with the body, mind or higher
faculties, is subject to this push/pull mechanism. It is inherent in
our nature. The word nafs is related to nafas,
breathing - inhaling and exhaling. Even on this biological level,
every organ in our body either takes in what is of use to it or
rejects the waste or excess. Whatever we are thinking of we find
either agreeable or disagreeable. If we smell a rose, we want to get
closer and closer still. While nature has programmed the body to
regulate itself to a certain extent, the nafs needs
education. This is where standards of conduct come to our aid and
regulate the nafs, until we become self-regulators, learning
what damages us and what elevates us. Eventually we find that, of
our own volition, we have fewer options, less choice. This is the
‘freedom of no choice’ that sincere seekers have. We are only
truly free from confusion once we are free of choices, when we know
there is only one true avenue open to us.
The
impetus that moves these two forces is known as the ‘driver’ (al-sa’iq).
The driver provides the nafs with the energy to make manifest
the respective compulsions of these two forces; that is, it gives
them reality. Allah says in the Qur`an: ‘Every self will come
to Us (on the Day of Reckoning) with its driver and its witness’
(Qur`an 16:89). Our undertaking as seekers on the path to
light is to understand and transform the inner motive, the starting
point, of these powers.
The
way to do this is to enhance the faculty of ‘witnessing’ within
us referred to in the ayat above. We need alertness to witness all
our actions and thoughts as they arise within us. It is of little
use to see how it all went wrong in retrospect, when it is already
too late to do anything about our mistakes.
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