وَالنَّفْسُ كَالطِّفْلِ إِنْ تُهْمِلْهُ شَبَّ عَلَى حُبِّ الرَّضَاعِ وَ إِنْ تَفْطِمْهُ يَنْفَطِــمِ

18/6. And your nafs (desires) is like a child (infant), if you let him keep on drinking milk, he will come of age with the habit of drinking (milk). And if you wean it, it will stop.

Allaamah Buseeri Rahimahullaah provides a proof of his claim in the last couplet. There, he had briefly mentioned one proof for his claim, and in this line he offers a lucid and more detailed proof. A child is breastfed until the age of two.

Since it has formed a habit, it does not want to leave the breast milk after this period. If no attention is paid to weaning the child, then the child will remain desirous of this milk. It has been documented that some non-Muslim ladies breastfeed their children until the age of eight or nine years.  However, if an effort is made, then the child will be weaned.

The nafs-e-ammaarah is like this child. If from the beginning an effort is made to correct it by means of teaching and instruction, it is not left free and restriction is placed on its desires, then it will become straightened. If left to its own doing, its evil habits become firm. It is then extremely difficult to control it later. If a horse is left to roam wherever it wants, it will drop its rider in a valley of destruction from where it will be difficult to emerge.

Here, there is an indication that just as there is difficulty in weaning the child, so too there is some effort and difficulty in cleansing the nafs from its evil characteristics.

Scholars have written that Abu Dalaf had mentioned the same subject manner in the following manner:

و النفس راغبة اذا رغبتها  و اذا ترد على قليل تقنع

The desires of the nafs will continue increasing when you fuel it; when you habituate it to little, it becomes content.

Another poet states,

هي النفس ان تهمل تلازم خساسة و ان تنبعث نحو الفضائل تلهج

If this nafs is left unattended, it will become habituated to lowly things. If you encourage it towards virtuous qualities, it will become attached to it.

To Be Continued In Sha Allaah

مَوْلَاىَ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ دَائِمًا أَبَداً  عَلىٰ حَبِيْبِكَ خَيْرِ الْخَلْقِ كُلِّهِمِ