The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 2
2 إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةً بِالسُّوءِ ! Essence of Islam-III This means that it is a characteristic of Nafs-e-Ammārah that it incites man to evil-which is contrary to his excel- lence, and goes against his moral condition-and seeks to lead him to undesirable and sinful ways. Thus, to be drawn towards intemperance and evil is the natural state which dominates man until the moral state takes over and he begins to be guided by reason and understanding. Un- til that happens, he continues to follow his natural in- stincts in eating, drinking, sleeping, walking, anger and emotion etc. When, under the direction of reason and un- derstanding, he begins to control his natural states and creates a balance, it is at this point that the three states cease to be natural and come to be known as moral, as we shall elaborate later. The Second Source: The Self-Reproaching Self The source of moral state, according to the Holy Qur'an, is Nafs-e-Lawwāmah [the self-reproaching self. ] Allah says in the Holy Qur'an: ولَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ التَّوَّامَةِ 2 This means that: 'I call to witness the self which re- proaches itself over misdeeds and all acts of intemper- ance. ' Nafs-e-Lawwāmah [the self-reproaching self] is the sec- ond source of human states; it gives birth to moral condi- tions and, at this stage, man is emancipated from his resemblance to animals. In the above verse, Nafs-e- Lawwāmah has been called to witness for the purpose of 1 Yūsuf, 12:54 [Publisher] 2 Al-Qiyāmah, 75:3 [Publisher]