The Perfect Man as the Prototype of the Self in the Sufism of Jami

Abstract

particular dimension of JmlI's concept of the which we wish to explain. The first and most common term which conveys the meaning of self is nafs, which in the Arabic dictionary is also translated as soul, psyche, spirit, mind, life, person, etc. In the context of J~mi's technical terminology it can probably best be rendered as soul. It usually refers to the animating principle of the body, the intermediary between the bodily constitution and the spirit, or to the immortal aspect of man's being which can be perfected through the spiritual life. It may also refer simply to the individual consciousness, and as such is nearly equivalent to and'iyyah (I-ness or ego), a term, however, which J5mi rarely employs. Man's nafs or soul possesses potentially a