4:20:29 
2024-08-28 
685
In our last discussion, we stated that the human soul possesses four distinct powers. They are: Intellect, Anger, Passion, and the Power of Imagination (al-quwwah al-wahmiyyah or al-amilah) 1. The thing we should notice now is that the purification and right training of every one of these powers will result in the emergence of a particular faculty in the human being.
The purification and rightward training of the Power of Intellect will result in the development of knowledge, and subsequently wisdom, in a human being. The purification of the Power of Anger will result in the emergence of the faculty of courage, and subsequently forbearance (hilm). The purification of the Power of Passion and desire will result in the development of the, faculty of chastity, and subsequently generosity. And the purification of the Power of Imagination will cause the emergence of the faculty of justice in a human being.
The moral virtues, therefore, are: wisdom, courage, chastity, and justice. The opposite qualities of these are: ignorance 2, cowardice, concupiscence (gluttony and lust), injustice and tyranny.
Wisdom means possession of an understanding of the objects of the world which concurs with the reality of things. The presence of courage and chastity means that the powers of anger and desire are entirely at the command of the intellect and completely free from the bondages of concupiscence and egoism. As for justice, it refers to the condition when the Power of Imagination is completely under the command of the Power of the Intellect. This implies the regulation of all the powers of the soul by the Power of Intellect. In other words, the presence of the faculty of justice in the soul necessitates the presence of the other three faculties of wisdom, courage and chastity.
An important matter must be pointed out here. In the view of Islamic ethicians, a person who has developed the four faculties within himself, is not praiseworthy unless the possession of these virtues benefits other people also. This is what reason tells us. That is, it tells us that purely internal and private virtues do not have much value, and their possessor does not deserve praise.
Notes:
1. The Power of Imagination is also called the "practical intellect", which is the counterpart of the "speculative intellect". The "speculative intellect" comprehends the notions of virtue and vice and gives advice and guidance. The "practical intellect" puts the directives of the "speculative intellect" into effect and follows its orders. The directive of the "speculative intellect" are always directed at the regulation of the powers of passion and anger in the human being .
2. Ignorance or Jahl, are here used in a wider-than-ordinary sense. "Jahl" here stands in opposition to "aql" (reason or "hikmah" (wisdom), not in opposition to "ilm" (knowledge).
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