Concepts And Symbols Defining Nafs

Abstract

Since the beginning of mankind, nafs and its related istilahs are constantly depicted side by side with it. In pre-Islamic and post-Islamic literature, lust has been described as a vice that encourages people to go astray. In religious and mystical sources, nafs is highlighted in order to educate a person, to encourage him to perfection, while in classical literature, the same goals are embodied as various concepts and symbols. At the very beginning, after the creation of Adam and Eve, the soul was instilled into their bodies. Perhaps this is why Allah tests them and requires them not to eat a fruit in paradise (in some sources it appears as wheat). But lust and the devil judge the minds of the two creatures and cause them to be expelled from paradise.