"But I absolve not my own soul. Surely the soul commands to evil, save whom my Lord may show mercy. Truly my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful." (12:53)
"And I swear by the blaming soul." (75:2)
"O thou soul at peace! Return unto thy Lord, content, contenting. Enter among My servants. Enter My Garden." (89:27-30)
These three verses from the Quran express the three stages of the human soul: the soul that commands to evil, the blaming soul, and the soul at rest.
As Nasr tells us in the commentary in the Study Quran, "The soul is said to have three levels: the soul at rest, which is command of its lusts and desires, and has attained certainty; the blaming soul, which strives to overcomes its lusts and desires; and the soul that commands to evil, which is at the mercy of its lusts and desires." Nasr, SQ p. 1513
"The blaming soul is considered the middle state of the human soul in the process of spiritual growth, between the soul that commands to evil and the soul at peace. It is called the blaming soul because it recognizes the shortcomings of the lower concupiscent soul and chastises it in order to transform it into the soul at peace, which returns unto the Lord content, contenting. Every soul is believed to be capable of recognizing its shortcomings, as expressed in a hadith, 'There is no pious or profligate soul but that it blames itself on the Day of Resurrection; if it has done good, it says, "How did I not do more!" And if it has done evil, it says, "Would that I had desisted!"'" (Nasr, SQ 1446)
It's difficult to read Nasr's description of the blaming soul without thinking of Mencius's description of the Heart of Shame. Essentially, you can't hope for intellectual or moral improvement without feeling shame. It's an interesting comparison, and a bit of an odd fit, since you're comparing the thought of a philosopher from Zhou China, the most secular of the ancient societies, with the Quran. This brings us back to the discussion we were having the other day about whether or not you needed religion to have a moral life, or even a moral discussion, and the presence of Mencius, and Confucius for that matter, would certainly lean in the direction that you don't.
I'll have a lot more to say about this later. I'm still processing it, but I wanted to lay out the three stages first.
"And I swear by the blaming soul." (75:2)
"O thou soul at peace! Return unto thy Lord, content, contenting. Enter among My servants. Enter My Garden." (89:27-30)
These three verses from the Quran express the three stages of the human soul: the soul that commands to evil, the blaming soul, and the soul at rest.
As Nasr tells us in the commentary in the Study Quran, "The soul is said to have three levels: the soul at rest, which is command of its lusts and desires, and has attained certainty; the blaming soul, which strives to overcomes its lusts and desires; and the soul that commands to evil, which is at the mercy of its lusts and desires." Nasr, SQ p. 1513
"The blaming soul is considered the middle state of the human soul in the process of spiritual growth, between the soul that commands to evil and the soul at peace. It is called the blaming soul because it recognizes the shortcomings of the lower concupiscent soul and chastises it in order to transform it into the soul at peace, which returns unto the Lord content, contenting. Every soul is believed to be capable of recognizing its shortcomings, as expressed in a hadith, 'There is no pious or profligate soul but that it blames itself on the Day of Resurrection; if it has done good, it says, "How did I not do more!" And if it has done evil, it says, "Would that I had desisted!"'" (Nasr, SQ 1446)
It's difficult to read Nasr's description of the blaming soul without thinking of Mencius's description of the Heart of Shame. Essentially, you can't hope for intellectual or moral improvement without feeling shame. It's an interesting comparison, and a bit of an odd fit, since you're comparing the thought of a philosopher from Zhou China, the most secular of the ancient societies, with the Quran. This brings us back to the discussion we were having the other day about whether or not you needed religion to have a moral life, or even a moral discussion, and the presence of Mencius, and Confucius for that matter, would certainly lean in the direction that you don't.
I'll have a lot more to say about this later. I'm still processing it, but I wanted to lay out the three stages first.
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