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Three Principal Stages of Nafs: The Inciting Nafs (Nafs-I-Ammara)
Three Principal Stages of Nafs: The Inciting Nafs (Nafs-I-Ammara)
Nafs
Nafs is an Arabic word (cognate of the Hebrew word "Nefesh" ) which occurs in the Qur'an and means self,
psyche,[1] ego or soul. In its unrefined state, "the ego (nafs) is the lowest dimension of man's inward existence, his
animal and satanic nature."[2] Nafs is an important concept in the Islamic tradition, especially within Sufism and the
discipline of gnosis (Irfan) in Shia Islam.
Nafs
Characteristics of nafs
In its primitive state the nafs has seven heads that must be defeated:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Nafs
Notes
[1] Nurdeen Deuraseh and Mansor Abu Talib (2005), "Mental health in Islamic medical tradition", The International Medical Journal 4 (2), p.
76-79
[2] Chittick, William (1983). The Sufi Path of Love. State University of New York Press. p.12. ISBN0-87395-724-5.
[3] Shah, Idries (2001). The Sufis. London, UK: Octagon Press. pp.394395. ISBN0-863040-20-9.
[4] Frager, Robert (1999). Heart, Self and Soul. Quest Books. pp.5488. ISBN0-8356-0778-X. An imprint of the Theosophical Publishing
House.
[5] Schimmel, Annemarie (1975). Mystical Dimensions of Islam. University of South Carolina Press. pp.112114.
[6] Kabbani, Hisham. "Jihad Al Akbar" (http:/ / www. sunnah. org/ tasawwuf/ jihad004. html). . Retrieved 17 January 2010.
[7] Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne (2008). The Kitab Al-Luma Fi L-Tasawwuf Of Abu Nasr Abdallah B. Ali Al-Sarraj Al-Tusi: Edited For The First
Time, With Critical Notes And Abstract (1914) by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson. Kessinger Publishing.
[8] Nicholson, Reynold (1990). Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi. Warminster: Gibb Memorial Trust. ISBN0906094275.
[9] Nicholson, Reynold (2008). The Kashf Al-Mahjub: The Oldest Persian Treatise On Sufism (1911). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN0548941068.
[10] Al-Haqqani, Shaykh Adil; Kabbani, Shaykh Hisham (2004). The Path to Spiritual Excellence. Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA).
pp.102103. ISBN1-930409-18-4. See google book search (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=mzpV0QnOVxsC& pg=PA103&
dq=one+ is+ pleased+ with+ whatever+ comes+ from+ allah& cd=2#v=onepage& q=one is pleased with whatever comes from allah& f=false)
References
The three rules of Abbas Bin Abdul Muttalib and the section on Characteristics of nafs are translations from the
Persian text Shahid ul Wojood, written two hundred years ago.
External links
The Light Within Me: Al-Islam.org (http://www.al-islam.org/lwm/)
Qur'an Search: Al-Islam.org (http://www.al-islam.org/quran/)
(http://www.jerrahi.org/writings_english/cities.htm)
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/