Ibn Arabi's Map of the Soul, The Seven Levels of NAFS

TLDR;

Ibn Arabi's map of the seven levels of the self (Nafs) is presented, detailing the evolution of the ego-self from the commanding self to the perfected self. The journey involves moving from being driven by desires to aligning with divine will, ultimately dissolving the self into a state of pure consciousness. Each level has its characteristics, challenges, and potential for spiritual growth, with the ultimate goal of remembering one's true nature.

• The seven levels of the self (Nafs) are mapped out, detailing the evolution of the ego-self.
• Each level has its characteristics, challenges, and potential for spiritual growth.
• The ultimate goal is to dissolve the self into a state of pure consciousness and align with divine will.

Introduction [0:00]

Ibn Arabi mapped the human soul, revealing that the ego-self (Nafs) evolves through seven levels. Most people remain at the first two levels throughout their lives, unaware of the higher levels. Reaching level seven involves dissolving the self into a vast, all-encompassing state. The map helps individuals identify their current level, understand what traps them, and know what it takes to ascend.

Level 1: The Commanding Self (Nafs al-Ammara) [1:14]

This is the starting point where individuals are driven by desires and lack the ability to resist them. The self operates on pursuing pleasure, avoiding pain, dominating others, and protecting the ego at all costs. People at this level may lie, cheat, steal, and harm others without remorse, behaving well only when watched or under threat of punishment. They may appear religious but are transactional, seeking rewards rather than genuine love of Allah. The defining characteristic is unconsciousness of the self's mechanisms, reacting automatically without insight. Breaking out requires a shock or crisis that reveals the self.

Level 2: The Self-Accusing Self (Nafs al-Lawwama) [4:04]

This level marks the beginning of awakening, where individuals develop self-reflection and feel guilt when they do wrong. They experience internal conflict, struggling between selfish desires and condemning those desires. They sin, feel terrible, make resolutions, and break them, caught in a cycle of repentance and relapse. Many religious people are stuck here, sincerely wanting to be good but fighting a civil war within themselves. The psychology involves self-accusation, shame, and emotional punishment, which can become a comfortable identity. Breaking through requires shifting from fighting desires to understanding them, witnessing both the desire and the judgment of the desire as movements of the same Nafs.

Level 3: The Inspired Self (Nafs al-Mulhima) [7:05]

At this level, the internal warfare begins to quiet, and individuals develop discernment between what is truly beneficial and what only appears so. Intuition awakens, providing guidance from a source deeper than the conditioned mind. Self-mastery allows them to feel desires without immediately acting on them, creating space between impulse and action. Resistance to desires often strengthens them, while understanding dissolves them. The inspired self receives direct guidance that bypasses the rational mind, experiencing synchronicities as the universe responds to a consciousness aligned with divine will. The danger is spiritual pride, where seekers may become complacent and avoid the deeper ego death required by higher levels.

Level 4: The Tranquil Self (Nafs al-Mutmainna) [10:16]

This level is praised in the Quran, signifying genuine inner peace achieved through alignment. The Nafs has been disciplined to the point where it naturally wants what Allah wants, eliminating the split between duty and desire. Prayer, patience, and generosity become natural inclinations rather than external impositions. Reactivity ends, and responses come from a deep, calm center. The tranquil self has internalized divine attributes, manifesting them spontaneously. However, it is still a self with an "I" that exists and has characteristics.

Level 5: The Pleased Self (Nafs al-Radiyya) [13:13]

At this level, individuals stop having preferences about what happens to them, recognizing that whatever Allah wills is better than what they would have chosen. They are actively pleased with everything, even hardships, seeing them as gifts that accelerate spiritual development. They express authentic gratitude for difficulties, appreciating the divine wisdom in them. This is distinguished from false detachment, as human feelings remain, but underneath them is an unshakable pleasure in divine decree. They stop making dua for specific outcomes, trusting that divine will is always choosing what's best. The heart becomes completely flexible, molded into any shape without resistance.

Level 6: The Pleasing Self (Nafs al-Mardiyya) [16:46]

This level is the reciprocal of level five, where Allah is pleased with the individual. They become a pure instrument, with their actions no longer their own but the hands of Allah moving in the world. They act because action arises naturally from their state of alignment, like a tree producing fruit without trying. Every word, step, and breath is worship. They experience direct confirmation from Allah that He is pleased with them, sustaining them through trials. The paradox is that they have stopped trying to please Allah, yet Allah is pleased with them because their will and Allah's will are indistinguishable. They often hide their station to avoid activating ego, content to be invisible instruments of divine work.

Level 7: The Perfected Self (Nafs al-Kamila) [19:34]

This is where the map ends and mystery begins. "Perfected" means utterly surrendered, with the self becoming transparent to divine light. The person is al-Insan al-Kamil, the perfect human, a complete mirror in which all divine names reflect without distortion. The question "Who am I?" has been answered in a way that dissolves the question. They know themselves as a temporary form through which eternal consciousness experiences itself. They are simultaneously nothing and everything, fluid, formless, and responsive to the moment without fixed patterns. There is only one perfect human in each era who manifests this level completely, with others touching it temporarily or embodying aspects of it. Miracles become normal, and they heal through presence, but the defining mark is complete ordinariness, transcending all spiritual states and returning to simple being. This level cannot be achieved through effort but happens by grace when all efforting stops.

Identifying Your Level [23:23]

Ibn Arabi provides diagnostic questions to help individuals honestly identify their current level. These questions relate to motivations for worship, responses to difficulty, relationships with desires, and frequency of self-referential thoughts. The map is not a rigid hierarchy, and individuals can operate from different levels in different areas of life simultaneously. The goal is honest self-assessment and genuine aspiration, looking clearly at where you are without pretense or despair, understanding what keeps you there, and taking one step toward the next level.

Conclusion [26:41]

The seven levels are degrees of forgetting and remembering who you actually are. Level one is complete forgetting, and level seven is complete remembering, with every level in between being a gradual awakening from the dream of separation into the recognition of what you've always been.