Are the rūḥ (spirit) and the nafs (soul) one and the same, or are they two distinct entities?

People have disagreed about this. The majority say they are a single reality, while others hold that they are different. The sound conclusion is that the words rūḥ and nafs are applied to several meanings: at times their referents coincide, and at times they diverge.

The term nafs is used in various senses:
• It may mean the rūḥ; thus one says, “His nafs departed,” that is, his rūḥ, and the Exalted says, “Bring forth your nafs” ⦗1⦘.
• It may denote the very person or self; one says, “I saw Zayd himself with my own eyes,” and the Exalted says, “…then greet one another” ⦗2⦘.
• It may refer to blood; one says, “His nafs flowed,” and the jurists speak of “that which possesses flowing nafs (blood)” and “that which does not possess flowing nafs.” From this usage come the expressions nafasat for a menstruating woman and nafasa when she gives birth, hence the term nufasāʾ (post-partum woman).

Shaykh al-Islām said: