expressions in which the word “self” appears to denote an attribute, as when they say, “So-and-so has a self,” “So-and-so has no self,” “Leave your self behind and come,” “Your self and your veil,” and the like. What they mean is blameworthy qualities, such as the passions people follow—lust, anger, and the like. Such usage is not a valid basis for interpreting the words of Allah and His Messenger, since it occurs only in the speech of later speakers.

The explanation, and Allah knows best, is that this resembles their saying, “So-and-so has a hand and a tongue,” meaning a hand that strikes and a tongue that speaks. They thus use the name of the thing itself while intending the quality commonly associated with it. When someone says, “Leave your self behind,” “He has a self,” or the like, he means the self as possessing a particular quality, namely a blameworthy one. This is like saying, “Hold your tongue,” “Restrain your hand,” or “He has a tongue and a hand.” They use such expressions in negation just as they do in affirmation: they deny that something is present because the quality commonly associated with it is absent, as when they say, “So-and-so has no