In Sufism, the term ‘nefs’ is commonly used to describe the feelings, thoughts, desires, ambitions, and other sources that lead individuals towards actions and behaviors disapproved of by religion, which are not in accordance with Allah’s pleasure. It has been stated that one must engage in a lifelong struggle with it.
The nafs constantly appears on the path to God and tries to obstruct and hinder progress. The hadith widely accepted within Sufi circles, ‘He who knows his own self, knows his Lord,’ frequently expresses this truth. Indeed, it is accurate to say that ‘Sufi life is a never-ending struggle with the nafs and an attempt to bring it into accordance with Allah’s pleasure.’ It should be noted immediately that the nafs we are referring to here is the ‘nafs-i emmâre,’ which commands every kind of evil, and most nafs fall within this category. That is, most people carry a ‘nafs-i emmâre’ and cannot progress beyond it. As is known in Sufism, the nafs is ranked in degrees, with the nafs-i emmâre being at the lowest level and condemned. Those above it have been deemed worthy of praise according to their degrees.
Abdülkâdir Geylânî also emphasizes the importance of constantly struggling with the nafs, considering it the source of all evil, resisting its negative desires, opposing it, and standing firm against it. According to him, “The nafs is the head of affliction, the source of shame, the treasure of Iblis, the place where all evil originates. It cannot be known except by God. It is in the attribute that God has described it. To fear it is to be secure from it. Its loyalty is a lie. Its sincerity is hypocrisy in the eyes of those who possess truth. There is no greater affliction than being together with it. The servant must be careful in everything mixed with the nafs-i emmâre and invited by it, must oppose it, wage war against it, and refrain from accountability and contemplation. It never invites to God.”
In another place, he describes it as follows, emphasizing the importance of never being sure of it: “The nafs is filthy, it is filth. It is the origin of every perverse desire, wild passion, and pleasure that comes between man and God. Even if a servant attains the station of abdality (the rank of being a prophet’s price) and truthfulness, as long as his soul resides in the body of Adam’s son, there is no security from the evil of the nafs.”
It is a reality that human beings will carry this nafs throughout their lives and be together with it throughout their lives. It is not possible to be freed from it as long as life continues. Therefore, what is incumbent upon him is to know his own self well, restrain him from his pleasures, and give him what he deserves.
Abdülkâdir Geylânî compares the nafs to a wild animal, saying, “Do not lift the struggle stick over the nafs, do not be unaware of its disasters, do not be unaware of the sleep of a wild animal.” For “It appears as if that wild animal is sleeping, but in reality it is watching for its prey. That wild animal is the nafs.”
The importance of struggling with the nafs is great. Because “the penalty for compliance with the nafs is hell, and the reward for struggling with it and not complying with it is paradise.”
Hallâc al-Mansûr, when asked to give advice upon his execution, said: “My advice to you is your own self. For if you cannot ride him, he will ride you.”
Abdülkâdir Geylânî also includes disbelief in God among the causes of disobedience (hidden disbelief) and particularly emphasizes that there are two ways for the mind to be freed from worldly preoccupations in prayer: one is to eat halal food free from doubt, and the other is to oppose the nafs when it tends towards prohibited acts.
Salvation and knowledge of God come through knowing the nafs and opposing its rebellious desires. “If you want salvation, oppose your own self and comply with your Lord. If the nafs obeys God, obey it; if it disobeys, oppose it. The nafs is a veil to knowing people. People are an obstacle to knowing the Creator. As long as you stay with the nafs, you cannot know the people, and as long as you stay with the people, you cannot know God,” said Abdülkâdir Geylânî, once again emphasizing that not only the nafs is a barrier, but also an unsuitable environment.
The nafs and the people are two obstacles for man on the path of knowing God. Sometimes a person frees himself from the nafs and encounters the obstacle of the people; sometimes he tries to free himself from the people and encounters the obstacle of the nafs. Therefore, the seeker must always consider these two together and take precautions accordingly. When man abandons the people, he will see that his own nafs is the enemy of his Lord.
Abdülkâdir Geylânî, who particularly emphasizes the importance of opposing the nafs, has also touched upon some important aspects of knowing and struggling with it from time to time. Firstly, committing sins is a clear indication of the existence (dominance) of the nafs in man. The opposite of this, namely obedience, is evidence of spiritual powers dominating the nafs.
In other words, satisfying desires is an indication of the presence of the nafs, and avoiding them is an indication that the nafs has disappeared, its dominance has ended, and it has been brought under control. Therefore, a believer should avoid desires and benefit from them not according to desire or need, but in proportion to God’s decree.
One of the ways to know the nafs is as follows: “The nafs has two states from its own perspective. It is either in well-being or in affliction. If it is in a state of affliction, it becomes impatient, complains, shows dissatisfaction, and objects to God. With this state, it knows neither patience, nor acceptance, nor compliance. Rather, it is ill-mannered, commits disbelief against God.
If the nafs is in a state of well-being, it means that it is greedy, spoiled, subservient to desires and pleasures. In this state, whenever he attains one desire, he wants another. He belittles whatever he possesses, tries to attribute flaws and shortcomings to them, and seeks what is better and superior. He turns away from his own destiny. Man is in a long (empty) fatigue. The nafs does not be content with what it has. It constantly gathers sorrows and falls into destructive places for a long fatigue. There is no limit or end to the desires of the nafs, whether from this world or the hereafter. Therefore, it has been said that ‘the most severe punishment for man is to seek what he does not have.’”
Abdülkâdir Geylânî states that there are two ways and two stages to struggling with the nafs: one is to partake of the world no more than necessary, – which is the right of the nafs – to refrain from pleasure, perform obligatory acts, and be preoccupied with abandoning all kinds of sins, open and hidden. The other is to act according to the inner command. This is God’s command. Because He finds fault with his servant in matters that have no ruling in Sharia either for acceptance or rejection. If a person is sincere in his religion and tries to comply meticulously with His commands and prohibitions, Allah will inspire him with solutions to the problems he encounters in daily life.
Therefore, man should not be on God’s side against his own nafs, but should stand with its enemies, shake his sword against this most ruthless enemy, and wage war.
In fact, the nafs has not only been created with the attribute of accepting evil; it is also equipped with a device to accept good and beauty. Allah has inspired both piety and disobedience into the nafs. The entire struggle is to cleanse it from bad habits and customs that it has taken on due to the influence of bad environment and life. Otherwise, when the nafs melts and comes to fruition, it becomes a heart. Then the heart turns into a secret, and the nafs lies at the foundation of these. It is then that a voice comes from God, “Do not kill your own selves, indeed Allah is Merciful (very compassionate) to you” (An-Nisa, 4/29), indicating that it is time to change the ways taken against the nafs when the nafs is cleansed of impurities and the heart is nourished with the remembrance of God. This address is a message from God when the nafs is cleansed of impurities and the heart is nourished with the remembrance of God.
In Sufism, it is a matter of bringing the nafs to the path and benefiting from it, and there is no thought of ever freeing it or killing it. A clear example of this is Abdülkâdir Geylânî. After years of struggle with his own nafs, he married four wives and lived among the people, striving to find solutions to their problems. In short, he has continued his social life after the struggle.
For him, “The work of Sufis is to melt the nafs, body and desire, and to become spiritually dead (manen ölü) and spiritually non-existent (manen fânî).”
Sufis know that “Without command with desire, doing something is obstinacy, hypocrisy, fragmentation and annihilation. The opposite of this, namely doing something without nafs and desire, is compliance and beneficence.”
When asked by a person: