Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 101
101 reality. T hose t hings which can make a man angry are the same kind s of things which can make a woman angry. The type of b ehavior that a man dislikes is the same type of behavior a woman will not like. The kinds of feelings found in men are found in women as well. So as far as the human soul is concerned, the same soul is found in men as is found in women. Generally , people translate this [verse] as : ‘ O people ! O bserve righteousness towards God Almighty , W ho has created you from one man. ’ B ut this interpretation is wrong. In the Arabic language, ‘ n afs’ does not mean man at all. ‘ Nafs’ means ‘ a being ’, which is used in relation to both men and women alike. ‘ Nafs ’ means something which ‘breathes’ and a man breathes as well as a wom a n does. There is a word in Arabic called ‘tanaffus’ [derived from ‘ n afs ’] which mea ns ‘to breathe in. ’ In Urdu, the expression used is , ‘ T here is a problem with my tanaffus [breathing] ,’ f or instance , due to a cold, cough, or asthma. Asthma is also referred to as ‘zeeq - un - nafs’ which means ‘ D ifficulty in breathing. ’ So ‘nafs’ actually connotes ‘breath ing ’ b ut then the meaning of ‘ nafs ’ also comes to refer to ‘ T hat which breathes. ’ So, God Almighty says: ٰٓﻳ َﺎ ُّﻳ َﻬ ﺎ ا ﻟ َّﻨ ﺎ ُس ا َّﺗ ُﻘ ۡﻮ ا َر َّﺑ ُﻜ ُﻢ ا lَِّ ۡی َﺧ َﻠ َﻘ ُﻜ ۡﻢ ِّﻣ ۡﻦ َّﻧ ۡﻔ ٍﺲ َّو ا ِﺣ َﺪ ٍۃ (Holy Qur’an Ch. 4: V. 2) ‘O people ! M en and women, make your God a shield for yourselves; and to save yourselves from all kinds of ills and mischief, seek the protection of the One Who has created you from a breathing being, that is, from a single type of entity. ’ Now, there is no mention of a man here, n or is there a mention of a woman, as all men and women possess the same kind of capa cities. Th ere is no separate thing. َّو َﺧ َﻠ َﻖ ِﻣ ۡﻨ َﻬ ﺎ َز ۡو َﺟ َﻬ ﺎ [ …created its mate, ] (Holy Qur’an Ch. 4: V. 2) A nd then He created many pairs of this kind. َﺧ َﻠ َﻖ ِﻣ ۡﻨ َﻬ ﺎ