نَفْسٌ

The soul; the spirit; the vital principle; synonym رُوحٌ: (S, M, A, Msb, K:) but between these two words is a difference [which must be fully explained hereafter, though ISd says, that it is not of the purpose of his book, the M, to explain it]: (M:) in this sense it is feminine: (Msb:) plural [of pauc.] أَنْفُسٌ and [of mult.] نُفُوسٌ. (M, Msb.) You say, خَرَجَتْ نَفْسُهُ [His soul, or spirit, went forth]; (Aboo-Is-hák, S, M, Msb, K;) and so جَادَتْ نَفْسُهُ. (Msb.) And a poet says, not Aboo-Khirásh as in the S, but Hudheyfeh Ibn-Anas, (IB,)

نَجَا سَالِمٌ والنَّفْسُ مِنْهُ بِشِدْقِهِ

وَلَمْ يَنْجُ إِلَّا جَفْنَ سَيْفٍ وَمِيءْزَرَا

i. e., [Sálim escaped when the soul was in the side of his mouth; but he escaped not save] with the scabbard of a sword and with a waist-wrapper. (S.) In the same sense the word is used in the saying. فِى نَفْسِ فُلَانٍ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ كَذَا وَكَذَا [but this seems rather to mean, It is in the mind of such a one to do so and so]. (Aboo-Is-hák, M.) Some of the lexicologists assert the نَفْس and the رُوح to be one and the same, except that the former is feminine, and the latter [generally or often] masculine: others say, that the latter is that whereby is life; and the former, that whereby is intellect, or reason; so that when one sleeps, God takes away his نفس, but not his روح, which is not taken save at death: and the نَفْس is thus called because of its connexion with the نَفَس [or breath]. (IAmb.) Or every man has نَفْسَانِ [two souls]: (I'Ab, Zj:) نَفْسُ العَقْلِ [the soul of intellect, or reason, also called النَّفْسُ النَّاطِقَةُ (see رُوحٌ)], whereby one discriminates, [i. e., the mind,] (I'Ab,) or نَفْسُ التَّمْيِيزِ [the soul of discrimination], which quits him when he sleeps, so that he does not understand thereby, God taking it away: (Zj:) and نَفْسُ الرُّوحِ [the soul of the breath], whereby one lives, (I'Ab,) or نَفْسُ الحَيَاةِ [the soul of life], and when this quits him, the breath quits with it; whereas the sleeper breathes: and this is the difference between the taking away of the نفس of the sleeper in sleep and the taking away of the نفس of the living [at death.] (Zj.) Much has been said respecting the نَفْس and the رُوح; whether they be one, or different: but the truth is, that there is a difference between them, since they are not always interchangeable: for it is said in the Qur'an, 15:29 and xxxviii. 72,] وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِى [And I have blown into him of my spirit.]; not مِنْ نَفْسِى: and [v. 116,] تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى [to be explained hereafter]; not فِى رُوحِى, nor would this expression be well except from Jesus: and [lviii. 9,] وَيَقُولُونَ فِى أَنْفُسِهِمْ [And they say in their souls, or within themselves]: for which it would not be well to say فِى أَرْوَاحِهِمْ: and [xxxix. 57,] أَنْ تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ [That a soul shall say]; for which no Arab would say أَنْ تَقُولَ رُوحٌ: hence, the difference between them depends upon the considerations of relation: and this is indicated by a tradition, in which it is said that God created Adam, and put into him a نَفْس and a رُوح; and that from the latter was his quality of abstaining from unlawful and indecorous things, and his understanding, and his clemency, or forbearance, and his liberality, and his fidelity; and from the former, [which is also called النَّفْسُ الأَمَّارَةُ, q. v., in article أمر,] his appetence, and his unsteadiness, and his hastiness of disposition, and his anger: therefore one should not say that نَفْسٌ is the same as رُوحٌ absolutely, without restriction, nor رُوحٌ the same as نَفْس. (R.) The Arabs also make the discriminative نَفْس to be two; because it sometimes commands the man to do a thing or forbids him to do it; and this is on the occasion of setting about an affair that is disliked: therefore they make that which commands him to be a نفس, and that which forbids him to be as though it were another نفس: and hence the saying, mentioned by Z, فُلَانٌ يُوءَامِرُ نَفْسَيْهِ (tropical:) [Such a one consults his two souls, or minds]; said of a man when two opinions occur to him. (TA.) [بِنَفْسِى فُلَانٌ is an elliptical phrase sometimes used, for بِنَفْسِى فُلَانٌ مَفْدِىٌّ, which see in article فدى.]

(assumed tropical:) A thing's self; (S, M, A, K, TA;) used as a corroborative; (S, TA;) its whole, (Aboo-Is-hák, M, TA,) and essential constituent: (Aboo-Is-hák, M, A, K, TA:) plural as above, أَنْفُسٌ and نُفُوسٌ. (M.) You say, رَأَيْتُ فُلَانًا نَفْسَهُ (assumed tropical:) I saw such a one himself, (S,) and جَاءَنِى بِنَفْسِهِ [or, more properly, حَاءَنِى هُوَ بِنَفْسِهِ (see, under the head of بِ, a remark on that preposition when used in a case of this kind, redundantly,)] He came to me himself. (S, K.) And وَلِىَ الأَمْرَ بِنَفْسِهِ [He superintended, managed, or conducted, the affair in his own person]. (K, in article بشر, &c.) And حَدَّثَ نَفْسَهُ [He talked to himself; soliloquized]. (Msb, in article بلو; &c.) And قَتَلَ فُلَانٌ نَفْسَهُ (assumed tropical:) [Such a one killed himself]: and أَهْلَكَ نَفْسَهُ (assumed tropical:) made his whole self to fall into destruction. (Aboo-Is-hák, M.) And hence, (TA,) from نَفْسُ الشَّىْءِ signifying ذَاتُهُ, (M,) the saying mentioned by Sb, نَزَلْتُ بِنَفْسِ الجَبَلِ (assumed tropical:) [I alighted in the mountain itself]: and نَفْسُ الجَبَلِ مُقَابِلِى (assumed tropical:) [The mountain itself is facing me]. (M, TA.) [Hence also the phrase] فِى نَفْسِ الأَمْرِ [meaning (assumed tropical:) in reality; in the thing itself]: as in the saying, قَلَّلَهُ فِى نَفْسِهِ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ قَلِيلًا فِى نَفْسِ الأَمْرِ (assumed tropical:) [He held it to be little in his mind though it was not little in reality]. (Msb, article قل.) The words of the Qur'an, 5:116,] تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِكَ mean (assumed tropical:) Thou knowest what is in myself, or in my essence, and I know not what is in thyself, or in thine essence: (Bd, K:) or Thou knowest what I conceal (M, Bd, Jel) in my نفس [or mind], (Bd, Jel,) and I know not what is in thyself, or in thine essence, nor that whereof Thou hast the knowledge, (M.) or what Thou concealest of the things which Thou knowest; (Bd, Jel;) so that the interpretation is, Thou knowest what I know, and I know not what Thou knowest: (M:) or نفس is here synonym with عِنْد; and the meaning is, تَعْلَمُ مَا عِنْدِى وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا عِنْدَكَ; (K, * TA;) [i. e., Thou knowest what is in my particular place of being, and I know not what is in thy particular place of being; for] the adverbiality in this instance is that of مَكَانَة, not of مَكَان: (TA:) but the best explanation is that of IAmb, who says that نفس is here synonym with غَيْب; so that the meaning is, Thou knowest غَيْبِى [my hidden things, or what is hidden from me, and I know not thy hidden things, or what Thou hidest]; and the correctness of this is testified by the concluding words of the verse, إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الغُيُوبِ [for Thou art he who well knoweth the hidden things]: (TA:) [and here it must be remarked that] العَيْبُ, which occurs afterwards in the K as one of the significations of النَّفْسُ, is a mistake for الغَيْبُ, the word used by IAmb in explaining the above verse. (TA.)

(assumed tropical:) A person; a being; an individual; synonym شَخْصٌ; (Msb;) a man, (Sb, S, M, TA,) altogether, his soul and his body; (TA;) a living being, altogether. (Mgh, Msb.) In this sense of شخص it is masculine: (Msb:) or, accord to Lh, the Arabs said, رَأَيْتُ نَفْسًا وَاحِدَةً (assumed tropical:) [I saw one person], making it feminine; and in like manner, رَأَيْتُ نَفْسَيْنِ ثِنْتَيْنِ (assumed tropical:) [I saw two persons]; but they said, رَأَيْتُ ثَلَاثَةَ أَنْفُسٍ (assumed tropical:) [I saw three persons], and so all the succeeding numbers, making it masculine: but, he says, it is allowable to make it masculine in the singular and dual., and feminine in the plural: and all this, he says, is related on the authority of Ks: (M:) Sb says, (M.) they said ثَلَاثَةُ أَنْفُسٍ, (S, M,) making it masculine, (S,) because they mean by نفس “ a man, ” (S, M,) as is shown also by their saying نَفْسٌ وَاحِدٌ: (M:) but Yoo asserts of Ru-beh, that he said ثَلَاثُ أَنْفُسٍ, making نفس feminine, like as you say ثَلَاثُ أَعْيُنٍ, meaning, of men; and ثَلَاثَةُ أَشْخُصٍ, meaning, of women: and it is said in the Qur'an, [iv. l, &c.,] اَلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ (assumed tropical:) [who created you from one man], meaning, Adam. (M.) You also say, مَا رَأَيْتُ ثَمَّ نَفْسًا (assumed tropical:) I saw not there any one. (TA.)

(assumed tropical:) A brother: (IKh, IB:) a copartner in religion and relationship: (Bd, xxiv. 61:) a copartner in faith and religion. (Ibn-'Arafeh.) (assumed tropical:) It is said in the Qur'an, 24:61,] فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُمْ بُيُوتًا فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ And when ye enter houses, salute ye your brethren: (IB:) or your copartners in religion and relationship. (Bd.) And in verse 12 of the same chapter. بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ means (assumed tropical:) Of their copartners in faith and religion. (Ibn-'Arafeh.)

(tropical:) Blood: (S, M, A, Mgh, Msb, K:) [or the life-blood: in this sense, feminine:] plural [of pauc. أَنْفُسٌ and of mult.] نُفُوسٌ: (IB:) so called [because the animal soul was believed by the Arabs, as it was by many others in ancient times, (see Gen. ix. 4, and Aristotle, De Anim. i. 2, and Virgil's Æn. ix. 349.) to diffuse itself throughout the body by means of the arteries: or] because the نَفْس [in its proper sense, i. e. the soul,] goes forth with it: (TA:) or because it sustains the whole animal. (Mgh, Msb.) You say, سَالَتْ نَفْسُهُ (tropical:) [His blood flowed]. (S.) And نَفْسٌ سَايءِلَةٌ (tropical:) [Flowing blood]. (S, A, Mgh.) And دَفَقَ نَفْسَهُ (tropical:) He shed his blood. (A, TA.)

(tropical:) The body. (S, A, K.)

(assumed tropical:) [Sometimes it seems to signify The stomach. So in the present day. You say, لَعِبَتْ نَفْسُهُ, meaning He was sick in the stomach. See غَثَتْ نَفْسُهُ, in article غثى; and مَذِرَتْ مَعِدَتُهُ and نَفْسُهُ, in article مذر.]

(assumed tropical:) [The pudendum: so in the present day: in the K, article حشو, applied to a woman's vulva.]

[From the primary signification are derived several others, of attributes of the rational and animal souls; and such are most of the signification here following.]

(assumed tropical:) Knowledge. (A.) [See, above, an explanation of the words cited from ch. v. verse 116 of the Qur'an.]

(assumed tropical:) Pride: (A, K, TA:) and self-magnification; synonym عِزَّةٌ. (A, K.)

(assumed tropical:) Disdain, or scorn. (A, K.)

(assumed tropical:) Purpose, or intention: or strong determination: synonym هِمَّةٌ. (A, K.)

(assumed tropical:) Will, wish, or desire. (A, K.)

[Copulation: see 3, art رود.]

[(assumed tropical:) Stomach, or appetite.]

(tropical:) An [evil or envious] eye, (S, M, A, K, TA,) that smites the person or thing at which it is cast: plural أَنْفُسٌ. (TA.) [See 1, last signification.] So in a tradition, in which it is said, that the نَمْلَة and the حُمَة and the نَفْس are the only things for which a charm is allowable. (TA.) You say, أَصَابَتْ فُلَانًا نَفْسٌ (tropical:) [An evil or envious eye smote such a one]. (S.) And Mohammad said, of a piece of green fat that he threw away, كَانَ فِيهَا سَبْعَةُ أَنْفُسٍ, meaning, (tropical:) There were upon it seven [evil or envious] eyes. (TA.)

(assumed tropical:) Strength of make, and hardiness, of a man: and (assumed tropical:) closeness of texture, and strength, of a garment or piece of cloth. (M.)

-A2- Punishment. (A, K.) Ex. وَيُحَذِّرُكُم اللّٰهُ نَفْسَهُ, (K,) in the Qur'an, 3:27 and 28, meaning, And God maketh you to fear his punishment]; according to F; but others say that the meaning is, Himself. (TA.)

-A3- A quantity (S, M, K,) of قَرَظ, and of other things, with which hides are tanned, (S, K,) sufficient for one tanning: (S, M, K:) or enough for two tannings: (TA:) or a handful thereof: (M:) plural أَنَفُسٌ. (M.) You say, هَبْ لِى نفْسًا مِنْ دِبَاغٍ [Give thou to me a quantity of material for tanning sufficient for one tanning, or for two tannings, &c.]. (S.)