The soul is the first perfection of the body: Ibn Sina defined the soul (Al-Nafs) as "the first perfection of a natural organic body, insofar as that body potentially possesses life." The word "perfection" here means what makes a thing complete and real. The soul is what makes a body a living body in the first place.
Unpacking the definition: "First perfection" means the soul is the primary organising principle — not a secondary action like walking or breathing. "Natural organic body" means the soul works through a physical body with organs, where each organ serves a specific function in the life of the whole. "Potentially possesses life" means the body alone, without the soul, has only the potential for life; the soul actualises that potential and transforms possible life into real life.
Mulla Sadra's deeper answer: Mulla Sadra went deeper: the soul is "bodily in its origination, spiritual in its subsistence" (Jismaniyyat al-Huduth wa Ruhaniyyat al-Baqa'). It begins with the body — it is born together with the body — but as it develops, it becomes increasingly independent of the body, until it can subsist on its own. Your soul grows like a child grows: it starts completely dependent, and ends up standing on its own feet.
Three degrees of soul: There are three degrees of soul. The vegetative soul (Nabatiyya) belongs to plants: it gives growth, nourishment, and reproduction. The animal soul (Hayawaniyya) belongs to animals: it adds sensation and movement. The rational soul (Natiqa) belongs to humans only: it adds the grasp of universals, self-reflection, rational will, and direct self-knowledge.
The rational soul is different in kind: The human soul does not just do more of what animals do. It grasps universal concepts — "justice", "triangle", "being itself" — which apply to all cases everywhere. It can reflect on itself: it knows that it knows. It can choose by reason, not only by desire. And it knows itself directly, without needing the senses.
Example
A plant, a cat, and a child all grow — but the child also asks, "Why am I growing? What am I?" The plant has a vegetative soul, the cat has an animal soul, but only the child has a rational soul that can turn around and look at itself. That self-looking is what makes the human soul unique.
Key Terms
- Al-Nafs (النفس) — the soul; the first perfection of a natural organic body
- Jismaniyyat al-Huduth wa Ruhaniyyat al-Baqa' (جسمانیت الحدوث و روحانیت البقاء) — "bodily in origination, spiritual in subsistence"; Mulla Sadra's description of the soul
- Natiqa (ناطقہ) — the rational soul; possessed by humans only
- Nabatiyya / Hayawaniyya (نباتیہ / حیوانیہ) — the vegetative soul (plants) and the animal soul (animals)
Quran or Hadith
None used in this topic.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A ladder with three steps — the bottom step a plant ("Nabatiyya — growth"), the middle step an animal ("Hayawaniyya — sensation and movement"), the top step a human ("Natiqa — reason and self-knowledge") — with an arrow showing the soul rising from the body towards independence.
- The soul is the first perfection of the body: it is what makes a body a living body.
- Mulla Sadra: the soul is bodily in its origination but spiritual in its subsistence — it begins with the body and grows beyond it.
- There are three degrees of soul: vegetative (plants), animal (animals), and rational (humans only).