Chapter Twelve: That the Principal Organ of the Soul Is the Heart

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to himself when he says: I — and pure intellect (al-ʻaql al-ṣāfī) testifies that this is nothing but one single thing (1); and nature likewise bears witness to the same.

Anger is a psychic state (ḥāl nafsānīyah) by which harms are repelled, and appetite is a psychic state by which what is beneficial is drawn toward that which suits it. Now the repeller knows what it is repelling, and likewise the attractor knows what it is attracting; and it is known that the one who knows these acts as they issue forth is the very one that apprehended them before disposing over them — and that is nothing other than the one soul (al-nafs). Which is what was sought.

Man is a body possessed of soul (mutanaffis), sentient, moving by choice; and it is known that the sentient thing is the moving thing and is the thing that chooses. And choice [19], if it be an attracting, is appetitive, and if a repelling, is irascible (2).

Chapter Twelve

On the principal organ of the soul being the heart

We say: the body is a body compounded of the four natures, yet what predominates in its temperament (mizāj) is the fiery and the airy — as is known from its increase through heat and its dissolution through cold. But the Creator, exalted be He, composed the organs out of the earthy and the heavenly (3) parts, and created the spirits out of the airy and the fiery; and because of the subtlety of the vaporous (20)

parts He placed them at the centre of the aforementioned organs. And the heart is what is found with these attributes, and that is evident. Hence the masters of the art of anatomy said (1): “The heart is the first of the organs in coming to be and the last of them in passing away” — and well did they say it. Therefore it is the principal organ.

The body comes to be and is generated from heat, and heat grows stronger in fuller measure [20] when it is gathered in a single place; and it is known that its gathering is in the heart. Therefore it is the principal organ.

The animal soul is sentient and moving by choice; and this soul is bound to the spirit that is in the heart, since it is sentient and moves by will. So it has become clear that the heart is the mine of perception (idrāk) and of the motive faculty (al-quwwah al-muḥarrikah), and not the brain, as Jālīnūs claimed.

Sensation and motion come to be (2) through heat and are annulled through cold; and the heart is hot while the brain is cold. Therefore the heart is the mine of sensation and motion, and not the brain.

Man points to himself when he says: I — and that pointing is toward his heart (3). So it is known that the real man is the one dwelling in the heart.

The heart is placed at the centre of the body, in such a way that the faculties may be conveyed to all the body's regions, like a king seated at the centre of his lands so as to bestow benefits upon them equally. Therefore the heart [21] is the principal organ, and not the brain (21)

The word that issues forth indicates that it is modelled upon the rational soul (al-nafs al-nāṭiqah). For the word is from voice, and voice comes to be by means of the breath (nafas); and the outlet of the breath is completed by the heart, since the heart renews its relief from heat by the exchange of breath, and for this reason expels what is hot and draws in what is cold. And since voice is completed by the heart, and the word by voice, and since the existence of the rational soul is made manifest in abundance (1) by the word that issues forth, it is known that the instrument of the rational soul is the heart and not the brain.

Testimonies of the holy books to this thesis: “And the Lord hardened the heart of Firʻawn” (2). And Dāwūd said: “Why has the sinner angered God, exalted be He, and his heart has spoken that He will not take vengeance” (3). And he said: “A man with his neighbour, with two inverted hearts” (4) [22]; and “The wicked one says in his heart that there is no god” (5); and “He utters the truth in his heart” (6); and “The commandments of the Lord gladden the heart” (7); and “Thou hast granted him his heart's desire” (8); and “His heart shall live for ever” (9); and “My heart has turned back and my strength has forsaken me” (10); and “My heart is my murmuring” (11)

— Notes —

[19] 1) In the original: shayʼ wāḥid.

[19] 2) In place of “ghaḍūb” say “ghaḍabī”.

[19] 3) In the original: wa-al-samāʼīyah.

[20] 1) In the original: qālū.

[20] 2) In the original: yūjad.

[20] 3) Dropped in the original: qalbihi.

[21] 1) Say “khuṣūṣan” in place of “bi-al-wāfir”.

[21] 3) The Book of Exodus 14:8

[21] 3) The Book of Psalms 10:13

[21] 4) The Book of Psalms 11:3

[21] 5) Ps. 13:1

[21] 6) Ps. 14:2

[21] 7) Ps. 18:9

[21] 8) Ps. 20:3

[21] 9) Ps. 21:27

[21] 10) Ps. 37:11

[21] 11) The word “hadhīdh” is colloquial.