Topic: Self (Nafs)

Important Words:

قتلتم (you slew) is derived from قتل which means: (1) he killed; (2) he attempted to kill; (3) he rendered a person like unto one killed (see also 2:62).

نفساً (a person) has been used here as نکرة i.e. in an indefinite or undefined form. It may, according to the rules of the Arabic language, refer either to an unimportant person that need not be named, or to a very important personage; for sometimes a word used as نکرة denotes a sense of greatness (Mutawwal).

فادارءتم (differed among yourselves) is derived from درأ meaning, he repelled it or he thrust it back. ادارءتم is originally تدارءتمmeaning: (1) you repelled one another by casting blame or responsibility on one another; (2) you disagreed or differed among yourselves (Aqrab & Lane).

تکتمون (you concealed). See 2: 34.

Commentary:

See under next verse.

4:126.

See 2:63.

Important Words:

بلی (nay) is used for تصدیق (confirmation) and generally follows a question. It must be followed by a clause in the affirmative, whether the question which it follows is in the negative or affirmative. Thus in English it may either be rendered as yes or nay, as the case may be, but not as no (Aqrab & Lane).

اسلم (submits) is derived from سلم which means, he was or became safe and secure, or he escaped. سلم من العیب والآفة means, he became safe or free from defect and evil. اسلم which is both transitive and intransitive means: (1) he embraced Islam; (2) he resigned or submitted himself; (3) he paid in advance. اسلم وجھه لله means, he submitted or resigned himself wholly to God, or he devoted his entire attention to God, or he resigned himself to God (Lane & Aqrab).

وجھه (himself). وجه means: (1) face; (2) the part of a thing visible to the sight of a looker on; (3) the thing itself; (4) direction; (5) object and motive; (6) deed or action to which a man directs his attention; (7) the desired way; (8) favour or countenance as in فعل ذالك لوجه الله i.e. he did it to obtain the favour or countenance of God (Aqrab).

محسن (doer of good) is derived from حسن meaning, he or it became good or beautiful. احسن الیه means, he did good to, or bestowed a favour on him. احسن الشیء means, he rendered the thing good or beautiful. احسان means, the doing of good; act of goodness; sincerity. الحسنی (feminine of الاحسن) means: (1) success or victory; (2) best thing; (3) the view or vision of God; to see God (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The verse is important and explains a fundamental truth. In refutation of the claims of Jews and Christians to the monopoly of salvation, the Quran mentions the fundamental principle that for salvation it is not of any avail to be a Christian or a Jew, but that it lies in اسلام which signifies absolute surrender to God’s will and unqualified compliance with His word. He who secures this secures salvation; mere profession of a faith is not enough. The word محسن (the doer of good deeds), as also hinted under Important Words above, has been explained by the Holy Prophet as follows:

ان تعبد الله كانك تراہ فان لم تكن تراہ فانه یراك

i.e. "you may become a محسن only if you pray to or worship God in such a spirit of reality and certitude that you feel that you are seeing Him (and that God also is seeing you); or (with a lower degree of certitude) that you at least feel that God is seeing you." محسن also means, one who does good to God’s creatures. Thus according to Islam, salvation lies, (1) in اسلام or absolute submission to the will of God; and (2) in true worship of God offered with a perfect degree of certitude; and (3) in doing good to one’s fellow beings.

It is a distinctive feature of Islam that it makes its followers realize the presence of God and continued contact with Him a reality, and thus enables them to establish a true and permanent connection with Him even in this life. This is really the beginning of salvation. The Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement has explained this verse in the following beautiful words:

"The verse alludes to the three important stages of perfect goodness, i.e. (1) فنا (self-annihilation); (2) بقا (regeneration); and (3) لقا (union with God). The words اسلم وجھه لله (submits himself completely to Allah) teach that all our powers and organs and whatever belongs to us should be surrendered to God and devoted to His service. This state is known فناء or death which a true Muslim must bring on himself…The second clause وھومحسن (and is the doer of good) alludes to the state of بقا or regeneration, for when a man is quickened by the love of God and all his movements become subservient to His will, his self dying entirely within him, he is, as it were, granted a new life which may be called بقا or regeneration. He lives for God, and through Him he lives for his fellow beings…The concluding words, (he) shall have his reward with His Lord. No fear shall come upon such, neither shall they grieve, describe the third or the final stage—the stage of لقا or union with God. It is the highest stage of knowledge, certainty, trust and love. The reward of one’s sincerity and devotion is not obscure or doubtful. It is certain, visible, and, as it were, tangible. In this stage man is so sure of the existence of God that he may be said to be actually seeing Him. No fear of the future darkens his faith. The dead past is buried and the living present has no sorrow for him. Every spiritual bliss is present. Such a state is termed لقا or union with God" (A’inah).

3:119; 4:140, 145.

Important Words:

نفسه (His punishment). نفس is the noun-infinitive from نفس (nafusa) which literally means, it was or became loved and highly esteemed. نفس به (nafisa) means, he was tenacious or niggardly of it. نفس means, the soul; the spirit; the mind; the body; a person or being; a person’s or being’s self; brother or relative, or one belonging to one’s own religion; purpose, will or desire; punishment, etc. (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

With the advent of political power to Islam, as promised in the preceding verses, the contracting of political alliances became necessary for the Muslim State. The verse under comment embodies the guiding principle that no Muslim state should enter into any treaty or alliance with a non-Muslim state which should in any way injure, or conflict with, the interests of other Muslim states. The interests of Islam should transcend all other interests.

The phrase, in preference to believers, means: (1) that Muslims should not form friendly relations with disbelievers in preference to believers, shunning the latter and seeking the former; (2) that they should not form any connection with disbelievers in a way that may harm the interests of Muslims. They are, however, free to contract friendly relations with such non-Muslims as are friendly to them, according to the exigencies of time and circumstances (60:9, 10).

The verse also instructs Muslims to be on their guard against the plots and machinations of disbelievers. The expression, except that you cautiously guard against them, refers not to the power of the enemy but to his cunning against which Muslims should always be on their guard.

The clause ویحذرکم الله نفسه rendered as And Allah cautions you against His punishment, may also be translated as "and Allah cautions or warns you concerning Himself", meaning that if you do not faithfully accept the guidance of God, and make friends with disbelievers in preference to believers, you will lose God, Who will in that case have no connection with you.

8:66.

Commentary:

The words, Fight therefore in the cause of Allah, do not mean that the command to fight is related to the Holy Prophet alone. If that had been the case, the second clause in the verse would have read as لا تکلف الا نفسك (illa nafsuka), i.e. none is made responsible except thyself, and not as لاتکلف الانفسك (illa nafsaka), i.e. Thou art not made responsible except for thyself, as in the verse. What the verse means is that every Muslim, not excluding the Prophet, was individually answerable to God. But the duty of the Holy Prophet was twofold: (1) to fight, and (2) to urge his followers to fight. He was, however, not answerable for them. He was only to communicate to them the divine behests, and if they disobeyed, they themselves were answerable for it. The commandment making jihad obligatory on Muslims had already been revealed (4:78).

The clause, It may be that Allah will restrain the might of those that disbelieve, means that God will bring into existence such circumstances as will make war cease of itself, or that the enemy will fail to exert his power to the full and will finally collapse. Thus we see that at the Battle of the Ditch and at the Fall of Mecca providential circumstances helped the Muslims.

Commentary:

As stated in the preceding verse, the words I do not hold my own self etc., were uttered by Joseph. The verse thus constitutes a striking commentary on the purity and nobility of mind of God’s Prophets and His Elect. Joseph, as stated above, had demanded an enquiry to be held about the imputation made against him. In this verse he disclaims any intention to establish his own purity or attribute any good to himself by that enquiry. His object, he says, is to show by this means that God does not allow the machinations of dishonest people to succeed against His Prophets and also that no one can tempt into sin those to whom God gives His protection. Joseph declares that he had caused this inquiry to be made, not to make a show of his own purity but to indicate that nobody can lead astray the man whom God Himself protects from evil. As for himself, he admits in the verse that human nature alone—unaided by Divine mercy, which manifests itself through revelation, religious law and Divine grace—cannot protect itself from evil. Man, by nature, is apt to fall into evil and it is God’s connection alone which can lead him to the right path.

The clause الا ما رحم ربی (save that whereon my Lord has mercy) is capable of three different interpretations: (a) save the نفس (soul or spirit) whereupon my Lord has mercy; in this case the particle ما stands for; نفس (b) save that man upon whom my Lord has mercy; in this case ما will be taken as meaning من i.e. that person; and (c) yes, but it is God’s mercy which saves whom it chooses; in this case the particle will be taken as مصدریة and the expression ما رحم would mean رحمة (mercy). These three meanings refer to the three stages in the spiritual growth of man. The first meaning refers to the stage when man has attained the stage of spiritual perfection. At this stage he is known by the name نفس مطمئنة (i.e. the soul at rest or the soul in peace). The second meaning is applied to man when he is yet in the stage of نفس لوامة (i.e. self-accusing soul) viz. when a man is struggling against sin and

his evil propensities, sometimes overcoming him and at others being vanquished. The third meaning applies to a man when his evil inclinations have the better of him. At this stage he is described by the term; نفس امارة (i.e. the soul prone to evil). All these kinds of نفس(soul) have been mentioned in the Quran (89:28; 75:3; 12:54) and have been fully discussed in the Teachings of Islam by Ahmad, the Promised Messiah.

7:15; 17:63; 38:80.

Commentary:

The preceding verses, like the relevant verses of chapters 2 & 7, refer to Adam and other Prophets in particular and to mankind in general. In reference to Adam and the Prophets, the breathing of the Divine Spirit would mean the descent of Divine revelation on men, and in reference to mankind in general, it would signify the perfection of the human soul. The words, the day when they shall be raised, will therefore, have different meanings in reference to the two classes of persons. When taken as referring to mankind in general the words would mean the time of the spiritual rebirth of man when, having attained that state of spiritual ascent, he not only becomes safe against spiritual fall but also contented and pleased with his Lord. In this sense, the protest of Satan mentioned in the present verse would mean that he should be granted respite to deceive and seduce man till the time of his (man’s) spiritual rebirth, when he joins the rank of the sincere servants of God and becomes immune from any further interference by Satan and his followers. This dialogue between God and Satan is, as hinted above, only an allegory or a metaphor.

That the words, the day when they shall be raised, signify the spiritual rebirth of man and not the Day of Resurrection after death, is confirmed by the fact that Satan asked for respite to be extended not to the day of death, but to the Day of Resurrection. As a matter of fact, there being no possibility of man being seduced by Satan after his death, Satan’s request to be allowed to tempt man up to the Day of Resurrection, which is to take place, after death, would be meaningless. It is thus evident that these words do not mean the actual Day of Resurrection after death but the day of man’s spiritual rebirth i.e. when he attains to the stage of نفس مطمئنة (the soul at peace) in his very life. In fact, Satan and his followers can tempt a man only so long as he does not attain to this very high state of spiritual development when he becomes immune against the onslaughts of Satan. When referring to Adam and his true Successors, i.e. the Prophets of God, the verse means that Satan and his followers are allowed to find fault with them and put all sorts of impediments and obstacles in their way till the day when they shall be raised, i.e. till the time when truth finally triumphs and the enemies of the Prophets are vanquished and many of them join the ranks of the Faithful. This time of the final victory of truth over falsehood or, in other words, of the Prophets over their adversaries, is here called the day of resurrection. See also v. 19.

Commentary:

The Quran has mentioned three stages of development of the human soul. The first stage is called النفس الامارة i.e. the uncontrollable spirit or the spirit prone to evil, when the animal in man is predominant.

The second stage is that of النفس اللوامة i.e. the self-accusing spirit, when man begins to be conscious of evil, that is, when his awakened conscience upbraids him for doing bad deeds and restrains his passions and appetites. In moments of weakness of the flesh, in this stage, he may falter or fall, but will not perish, every failure bringing with it a fresh reproach and repentance. The human in man gets the upper hand in him. It is the beginning of his spiritual resurrection. النفس اللوامةhas been cited here in evidence of the Final Resurrection. If man has no responsibility, if he has not to account for his deeds in an afterlife, why this pricking of conscience at the doing of an evil deed?

The highest stage of development of the human soul, however, is that of النفس المطمئنة i.e. the spirit at rest. At this stage the human soul becomes practically immune to failure or faltering and is at peace with its Creator.