Tafsir of Ash-Shams 91:7

Surah Ash-Shams (The Sun): Verse 7

{وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا} (And [by] the soul and He Who proportioned it)

Regarding the Almighty's saying: {وَنَفْسٍ} (And [by] the soul):

1. If we interpret the soul (Nafs) as the physical body: Its perfection (Taswiyah) refers to the balanced arrangement of its organs, as confirmed by the science of anatomy.
2. If we interpret the soul as the governing faculty (Qūwah Mudabbirah): Its perfection refers to granting it numerous faculties, such as the hearing power, the sight power, the imaginative power (Mukhayyilah), the thinking power (Mufakkirah), and the perceptive power, as attested by the science of psychology.

If one asks: Why is the soul mentioned indefinitely (Nakirah)?

We reply: There are two interpretations:

1. It refers to a specific soul among all souls: This is the Holy, Prophetic Soul (Nafs al-Qudsiyyah al-Nabawiyyah). This is because in every multitude, there must be one principal leader.
   • The composite beings (al-Murakkabāt) are a genus containing species, and their leader is the animal.
   • The animal is a genus containing species, and its leader is humankind.
   • Humankind consists of various types and classifications, and their leader is the Prophet.
   • Since the Prophets were numerous, there must be one who is the absolute chief. Thus, the statement {طَحَاهَا وَنَفْسٍ} (He cleared it, and [by] a soul) points to that soul which is the leader of the world of composite beings by inherent preeminence (Riyāsah bi-dhāt).

2. It refers to every soul: The indefiniteness here implies multiplicity, similar to the meaning in the verse: {عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَّا أَحْضَرَتْ} (A soul will know what it has brought forth). This is because the types of animals are countless, known only to God, as He states after mentioning some animals: {وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ} (And He creates that which you do not know). Every species has a specific soul distinguished from others by the essential quality (Faṣl) that constitutes its essence, and the necessary properties linked to that essential quality. Who can encompass, even with a small portion of their intellect, the characteristics of the soul of an ox or a mosquito, let alone delve into the seas of the secrets of the Almighty?

As for the Almighty's saying:

! 7 < { فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا } . > 7 ! (And inspired it [to know] its wickedness and its righteousness.)