The Twenty-Eighth Flash

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH SUBTLETY

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحٖيمِIn the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

This section concerns a subtle meaning contained in the verse

اِنَّ النَّفْسَ َلاَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوۤءِIndeed, the soul constantly inclines toward evil. — The Qur’an 12:53.

which means, “Indeed, the nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. continually incites toward evil,” and in the hadithA report of the sayings, actions, or approvals of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh).

اَعْدٰى عَدُوِّكَ نَفْسُكَ الَّتِى بَيْنَ جَنْبَيْكَYour greatest enemy is your own soul, which lies within you.

which means, “Your most harmful enemy is your own nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits..”

Whoever loves and approves of himself without having purified his nafs-i ammārahThe aspect of the soul that incites a person toward evil and harbors negative traits and desires. cannot truly love anyone else. Even if he outwardly displays affection, his love is not sincere; in reality, he loves only the benefit and pleasure he derives from that person.

Such a person constantly seeks to be loved and admired. He refuses to acknowledge his faults as his own. Instead, like a lawyer pleading his own case, he defends himself and argues for his innocence. Through exaggeration, and at times even falsehood, he praises himself and declares himself free of blame, going so far as to glorify and exalt himself as though he were sanctifying his own person.

To the extent that he does so, he is struck by the warning of the verse:

مَنِ اتَّخَذَ اِلٰـهَهُ هَوٰيهُThe one who has taken his own desires as his god.

His self-glorification and desire to be loved produce precisely the opposite effect: they make him disagreeable and drive others away from him. Moreover, he loses ikhlāsSincerity in worship, seeking only the pleasure of Allah and avoiding the pursuit of fame or status. in his deeds for the Hereafter and taints them with riyāDisplaying piety to impress others rather than seeking Allah’s pleasure; the opposite of ikhlās..

Overcome by the feelings and desires of his nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits., which neither foresee the ultimate outcome nor consider the consequences, but are enslaved by immediate pleasures, he falls under their sway.

Deceived by the false judgement of misguided desires, he sacrifices a year of freedom for a single hour of pleasure and ends up in prison. For a single minute of pride or revenge, he condemns himself to ten years of imprisonment.

Like a foolish child who sells the ‘Juz AmmaThe 30th and final section of the Qur’an, beginning with Sūrah an-Naba (78) and ending with Sūrah an-Nās (114).’ he has learned for a single sweet, he sacrifices his good deeds, precious as diamonds, merely to gratify his feelings, satisfy his appetites, and indulge his desires.

Thus, he turns deeds that should bring him gain into loss, exchanging them for worthless pleasures, no more precious than glass, and the gratification of his selfish desires.

اَللّٰهُمَّ احْفَظْنَا مِنْ شَرِّ النَّفْسِ وَالشَّيْطَانِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ الْجِنِّ وَاْلاِنْسَانِ“O Allah, protect us from the evil of the soul and Satan, and from the evil of the jinn and mankind.