The human soul: identity, understanding, and the growth of a life

Hearts should be like fountains. The scholars and philosophers of the age are like pools, gathering a cup from here and a cup from there to fill their reservoirs, but some hearts are like springs that become purer and more abundant the more they flow.

Write all that We have revealed unto thee with the ink of light upon the tablet of thy spirit. Should this not be in thy power, then make thine ink of the essence of thy heart.

Know thou that every soul is fashioned after the nature of God, each being pure and holy at his birth. Afterwards, however, the individuals will vary according to what they acquire of virtues or vices in this world.

As to your question concerning the reality of the soul, it is a divine sign and a heavenly essence which all the learned have failed to comprehend and all the wise have been powerless to understand. It is the first entity to speak of God, its Creator, to turn towards Him, to hold fast unto Him, and to bow down before Him.

… Such a soul is the leaven that giveth rise to the world and the crafts and visible things therein, through the command of the True Sovereign and the True Educator. Observe ye the leaven, how it requireth a leavening agent - and pure souls are the leaven of the world.

Relatively to the plant, the reality of man, his power of hearing and sight, are all supernatural, and for the plant to comprehend that reality and the nature of the powers of man's mind is impossible. In like manner for man to comprehend the Divine Essence and the nature of the great Hereafter is in no wise possible. The merciful outpourings of that Divine Essence, however, are vouchsafed unto all beings and it is incumbent upon man to ponder in his heart upon the effusions of the Divine Grace, the soul being counted as one, rather than upon the Divine Essence itself.

The human spirit, which distinguishes man from the animal, is the rational soul, and these two terms---the human spirit and the rational soul---designate one and the same thing. … But the human spirit, unless it be assisted by the spirit of faith, cannot become acquainted with the divine mysteries and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, bright, and polished, is still in need of light. Not until a sunbeam falls upon it can it discover the divine mysteries.

Miss B.: What is the difference between soul and spirit?

Abdul Baha: They mean the same. It is one reality. The names are different.

Question. Do you teach of the subconscious mind? Is it the spirit that answers your questions, or is it the subconscious mind?

Answer. In the human being there is conceived a perfect reality which according to various terminologies has received different names.

Concerning thy question about the soul and spirit: by soul is meant the human reality which is oriented toward the contingent world and which possesses human characteristics in the world of man. This is termed the human natural spirit in which all people share. From this perspective, spirit and soul are one. However, the spiritual human reality is that which acquires the outpourings of divine grace and benefits from the effulgences of the Sun of Truth. That is the divine spirit which is specific to the people of faith, and those below them are deprived of these divine breaths and are considered dead in the estimation of the people of truth....

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As to ... whom thou hast mentioned, it behooveth him to seek only the divine bounties and subjects which lead to the real knowledge of the invisible (world of God), through the mediation of the Holy Spirit. Then he will perceive the reality of the triune powers in man, through his innate perception. For, verily, the sign of these triune powers which exist in mankind are spirit, mind, and soul. The spirit is the power of life, the mind is the power which apprehendeth the reality of things, and the soul is an intermediary between the Supreme Concourse (or Spiritual World) and the lower concourse (or material world).

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The human spirit (ruh-i insani), in other words the rational soul (nafs-i natiqa), in the world of existence is the intermediary between things corporeal ('disengaged' mujarradat) and delimited worldly things (mutahayyizat); that is to say, between realities spiritual and things corporeal.

This human spirit, which is the rational soul, encompasses all things, discovers all things, and comprehends all things. It is this that brings forth the mysteries of being from the invisible plane to the visible.

… But when spiritual people speak of the spirit, they do not mean this spirit. They mean that eternal spirit, that life of faith, that spirit of which Christ says man must be baptized with it, and until he is baptized with that spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

Now these "spirits" are not reckoned as Spirit in the terminology of the Scriptures and the usage of the people of the Truth, inasmuch as the laws governing them are as the laws which govern all phenomenal being (i.e., all existences belonging to the phenomenal or material universe, called "the world of generation and corruption"), in respect to generation, corruption, production, change and reversion, as is clearly indicated in the Gospel where it says: "Let the dead bury their dead;" "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit"; inasmuch as he who would bury these dead was alive with the vegetative, animal and rational human soul, yet did Christ--to whom be glory!--declare such dead and devoid of life, in that this person was devoid of the Spirit of Faith, which is the Kingdom of God.

There is still another power which is differentiated from that of the soul and mind. This third power is the spirit which is an emanation from the divine bestower; it is the effulgence of the sun of reality, the radiation of the celestial world, the spirit of faith, the spirit His Holiness the Christ refers to when he says, "Those that are born of the flesh are flesh, and those that are born of the spirit are spirit."

… This spirit of faith is the flame of reality, the life of humanity and the cause of eternal illumination. It inspires man to attain the virtues and perfections of the divine world.

Soul is the human will to live temporally.

Spirit is the Divine Will to live forever.

Salvation is the quickening of soul into Spirit.

All souls are alike in essence or quality as created.

Spirit is the highest and supreme development of the soul. Soul is the material or outer self--the Mind. is the action of the Soul's powers. The Body is the physical covering or medium in which Mind acts and functions. At death everything but Spirit is destroyed and becomes extinct.

The soul is a link between the body and the spirit.

Be it known that to know the reality or essence of the soul of man is impossible, for in order to know a thing, one must comprehend it, and since a thing cannot comprehend itself, to know one's self in substance or essence is impossible. As the comprehender cannot be comprehended, man cannot know himself in reality or essence. In order to obtain knowledge of any reality, or soul of man, the student must study the manifestations, qualities, names and characteristics of man. This much can be stated, that the reality of man is a pure and unknown essence constituting a depository, emanating from the light of the Ancient Entity -- God.

Spirit in man is the perceiving soul, able to understand the realities of things and predominating over all things else. The spirit of faith endows man with the capacity to love God and to know God. If the spirit of man, his perceiving soul, be confirmed by the spirit of faith so that it loves and knows God, and if it be guided by the guidance of God, and if the divine attributes be manifested in it, then there is a living soul which attains to eternal life.

Man is not human by virtue of his body; man is human by virtue of his spirit. … It is the spirit that makes man heavenly; it is the spirit that makes man recipient of the Holy Spirit's breaths; it is the spirit that discovers the realities of things; it is the spirit that has produced all these effects; it is the spirit that has established all sciences; it is the spirit that bestows eternal life; it is the spirit that unites different nations; it is the spirit that brings together East and West; it is the spirit that makes the human world divine. Therefore, those souls who are recipients of the power of the spirit are the cause of life to the world.

Moreover, the animal perceives sensible things but cannot perceive conceptual realities. For example, the animal sees that which is within the range of its vision, but cannot comprehend or conceive that which lies beyond it. Thus it is not possible for the animal to comprehend that the earth has a spherical shape. But man can deduce the unknown from the known and discover hidden realities.

For instance, Christopher Columbus from information based upon known and provable facts drew conclusions which led him unerringly across the vast ocean to the unknown continent of America. Such power of accomplishment is beyond the range of animal intelligence. Therefore, this power is a distinctive attribute of the human spirit and kingdom.

… But the reality of Divinity is indivisible, and each individual of humankind cannot be a part of it as is often claimed. Nay, rather, the individual realities of mankind, when spiritually born, are emanations from the reality of Divinity, just as the flame, heat and light of the sun are the effulgence of the sun and not a part of the sun itself. Therefore, a spirit has emanated from the reality of Divinity, and its effulgences have become visible in human entities or realities.

Through this power it becomes the discoverer of the realities of things and attains the progress of the human world.

… Humans comprehend the realities of things while animals are ignorant. Through the power of will, humans uncover the hidden realities of beings while animals have no share or portion of human reality.

In short, man has a power which encompasses and perceives things both seen and unseen, by which he is distinguished from the animals; which enables him to perceive things which are purely intellectual realities.

… The power which perceives in the realm of mind, which penetrates to the essence of all things, is the intellectual power, the perceiving soul. All the arts, sciences, industries, and inventions were once in the invisible world- were hidden mysteries; but the intellectual power of man has revealed them -has brought them forth from the invisible to the visible world.

"So it is evident that man has a spirit which is above other beings. That power can discover the mysteries of nature, the earth and the heavens. It can be in the East and organize vast enterprises in the West. These prove that in man there is a power greater than nature."

The light of the spirit illumines the world of existence and release it from the clutches of materialism.

The ears can hear the voice in a limited distance, the vision of the eyes similarly is circumscribed but the spirit sees the East and the West; while in the West it organizes important affairs in the East; while on earth it discovers heavenly satellites; it unfolds the mysteries of phenomena; it goes under the earth and brings into the light of day the geologic secrets.

Nevertheless the spirit of man is powerful; for the spirit of man can soar in the firmament of knowledge, can discover realities, can confer life, can receive the divine Glad-Tidings. Is not this greater than making a salad?"

When man allows the spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then does he contain all Creation; because man, being the culmination of all that went before and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower world within himself. Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the soul, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of Creation.

The human spirit is the rational soul, that is, the one that perceives the realities of things, discovers them and encompasses them. It has brilliant effects, radiant lights, penetrating power and perfect ability, distinguished in all its conditions and concept from other spirits. It is baptized by water and spirit.

Such gatherings belong to the study and the investigation of spiritual facts... The spiritual power has gathered us together. Our aim is to discover the realities of phenomena. When we ponder over the reality of the microcosm, we discover that in the microcosm, or the little man, there are deposited three realities. Man is endowed with an outward or physical reality.

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The soul is the Sanctuary of God; Reason is His Throne.

And know thou that, verily, the Lord who "doeth whatsoever He willeth" will assist thee in proof and argument and will enable thee to speak the praise of the Merciful One and will make thee a sign of knowledge.

Know that the soul which is common to all men cometh forth following the commingling of things and after their maturation, as thou dost observe in the germ: once it hath developed to its predestined stage, God manifesteth the soul that was latent within it. Thy Lord, verily, doeth what He willeth and ordaineth what He pleaseth.

The rational soul is endowed from the beginning with individuality; it does not acquire it through the intermediary of the body. At most, what can be said is that the individuality and identity of the rational soul may be strengthened in this world, and that it may either progress and attain to the degrees of perfection or remain in the lowest abyss of ignorance and be veiled from and deprived of beholding the signs of God.

"Individual consciousness is realized after birth."

'Abdu'l-Baha replied: "Individual consciousness is realized after birth here. This is the matrix world for the soul, even as the womb was the matrix world for the body or vehicle. - Birth into consciousness of another world begins here, a world for which this physical and material one is but the preparation and foundation."

The soul is in an abstract power and its manifestation depends upon the development and preparation of that body. A poor mirror reflects poorly. The more the body is prepared the more the soul can manifest. The more the body evolves the more the soul can manifest. The spirit has no identity before incarnation and has no previous knowledge because it is a quality.

The spirits of men proceed from God by emanation, in the same way as the discourse proceeds from the speaker and the writing from the writer; that is, the speaker himself does not become the speech, any more than the writer becomes the writing: the connection is rather one of emanational procession. … The procession of human spirits from God is therefore an emanational procession. When it is said in the Torah that God breathed His spirit into man, this spirit is even as speech that has emanated from the true Speaker and taken effect in the reality of man.

Praise sanctified from mention and utterance befits and is worthy of the peerless Beloved Who, with a single breath from the Most Exalted Pen, adorned sheer nothingness with the garment of existence, and after bringing into being and manifesting all contingent things and created beings, set apart man for Himself, breathed His spirit into him, and deposited within him the gems of His mysteries and the wonders of His lights.

The creation is an emanation of light of the eternal Light. The description of the Logos (Soul of the world) as effulgence of light also goes back to ar-Razi. From the throne of the Glory of the Creator His Light shines on the Soul emanated from Him (Soul of the world, Logos) and is then further reflected on the individual soul, so that it too would reflect it and look back in longing to its divine origin in Him!"

But the evolution of spirit continues until reason, the mental powers, and the emotional capacities are evolved in it. These are not produced by entities which pass from body to body, but by the universal or World Spirit of man. The results of each individual life-experience go to the general enrichment of humanity. As a hundred lamps may be lit from a single flame, so the one World Spirit illumines the minds of countless men. Without this spirit, man's body, like the lamp, is lifeless matter.

The human spirit refers to the rational soul by which humans are distinguished from animals. It is not from the realm of physical elements but rather from spiritual substances that are not subject to corruption.

The human spirit, which is the rational soul that distinguishes man from animal, is not of the physical elements but rather of spiritual substance that is not subject to corruption. It is tormented when veiled from God, its Lord, and prevented from beholding its Creator and perceiving His signs in the worlds of souls and horizons. It has the power to comprehend all things and encompasses the realities of all contingent beings as they are, should it turn to the center of guidance among the concourse of creation; otherwise it descends into the depths of ignorance and blindness and falls to the lowest levels of error and misguidance.

In regard to the phenomenon of death, know that the soul of man is sanctified and independent from material existence. It has no need to enter or exit, ascend or descend, penetrate or commingle, for these are the properties of bodies, not of souls. Therefore, the soul of man does not enter into this corporeal frame, but rather it has a connection to it.

It cannot be said that the subtle spirit hath entered into and penetrated the body, for the former is immaterial while the latter is bound by the constraints of time and space. Egress and regress, ascent and descent, setting and rising, dissolution and composition are properties of the body, not the spirit.

The spirit of man has two means of action. Sometimes it acts through an intermediary. For instance, the spirit of man sees through the intermediary of the eye, hears through the ear, walks with the help of the legs and smells with the nose.

This great power must evidently be differentiated from the physical body or temple in which it is manifested. Observe and understand how this human body changes; nevertheless, the spirit of man remains ever in the same condition. For instance, the body sometimes grows weak, it becomes strong or stout, sometimes it grows smaller or may be dismembered, but there is no effect upon the spirit.

Mutilation of the body brings no harm to the soul. This is one of the proofs of the immortality of the soul, for death consists of the change and dispersion of the members and elements of the body. As a bodily change does not bring about change in the soul, it is evident that the soul is unchanging and imperishable.

But the inner and essential reality of man is not composed of elements and, therefore, cannot be decomposed. It is not an elemental composition subject to disintegration or death. A true and fundamental scientific principle is that an element itself never dies and cannot be destroyed for the reason that it is single and not composed. Therefore, it is not subject to decomposition.

But the Spirit of God, the heavenly bestowal, is one reality, and in all ages - the prophetic ages - that reality has been, and that reality is, changeless; is not to be decomposed, for it is not composed.

Know thou that the purpose of this tradition is to demonstrate the distinction and difference between the human spirit and the earthly body. When he says "I saw a man," he refers to the body, and the answerer wished to make known to the questioner the perishing of the lower body and the endurance of the higher spirit.

Man possesses two kinds of life. One is the life of the body; the other is the life of the soul. The bodily life of man is the life of the animal.

For example, while the man is alive he is able to strike, to beat, to kill but you sleep with him in the same room. But when he is dead, [science] teaches us that he belongs to the mineral kingdom.

It is not the body which feels pain or trouble but the soul.

The soul is always active--it travels even where man is asleep.

As to your fourth question concerning the state of souls after their departure from the body, know that the soul is one of the abstract realities, and abstract reality is sanctified beyond time and space, for time and space pertain to the physical world and to that which occupies space. How can abstract reality, which hath neither body nor form, be confined by time or space? It transcendeth both. It is spirit, not matter--a heavenly grace, not earthly dross.

Concerning the condition of the human soul after its ascension from the material world: the essence of the human soul is clarified from material substances and purified from the embodiment of physical things. It is exclusively luminous; it has no body; it is a dazzling pencil of light; it is a celestial orb of brightness....

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The power of consciousness is also thus recognized. After death the condition is one which cannot be clearly explained in words. It is one of comprehension, understanding which involves all other things - feeling, etc.

Asked about the difference between soul and spirit, He replied:

"The spirit results from the union of body and soul; this spirit becomes immortal, always remaining with the soul and forming for it, after death, a sort of ethereal body."

And as the whole universe is reflected in our spirit, we perceive from this that our spirit (Ruh) is a reflection of the Creative Spirit and thus partakes of the infinity of space and the endlessness of eternity.

O my sons and daughters: Our spirit, which neither is conceivable nor can be explained, shares the infinity of space and boundless eternity with its Creator, that means: the human spirit, the weak reflection of the Divine Spirit, the Creative Spirit, has part in the immortality of the Creator: our spirit is immortal. - Ya Sahibu'z-Zaman Allah-u-Abha." - ('Abha = the All-Glorious is among the Baha'is the Greatest Name of God.

The spiritual senses are numberless. They are Perfections and Favors of GOD. The Spiritual Powers are the means of conveying to all the Spiritual Bounties vouchsafed to man.

To the animals other than man, the attainments of man are inconceivable, just as inconceivable as the next plane above and beyond this is now inconceivable to us. For there we shall find new powers, new senses, as far transcending those we now have as these transcend the powers of those on the planes below us."

And when they concealed their faces from this lower horizon, they shone forth like brilliant stars from the horizons of the Abha Kingdom, and ran to the private chamber of the Truth, attaining the joy of meeting.

No: No one ever returns here, for this world is a school were the soul of man learns its first lessons in spirituality, and if he leaves this place without having learned his lessons sufficiently, the time is past and the opportunity lost; for the evolution of God's plans waits not for man. When one enters the other world, he sees and knows so much that is now hidden that this world seems but a dark and narrow prison from which he has escaped.

Life is eternal, but the individual human consciousness is not inherently so. It can only gain immortality by uniting with the pure Divine Essence. This union man may reach by a pure life and love for God and his fellows.

This seed may be likened to the perfect soul; the souls of men in general are as the leaves and the flowers.

When the man who is spiritually sagacious and possessed of insight views the world of humanity, he will observe that the lights of the divine bounty are flooding all mankind, just as the lights of the sun shed their splendor upon all existing things. … This human plane, or kingdom, is one creation, and all souls are the signs and traces of the divine bounty. In this plane there are no exceptions; all have been recipients of their bestowals through the heavenly bounty.

Moreover, it is necessary that the signs of the perfections of the spirit appear in this world, that the realm of creation may bring forth endless fruits and that this body of the contingent world may receive life and manifest the divine bounties. So, for example, the rays of the sun must shine upon the earth and its heat must nurture all earthly beings; if the rays and heat of the sun were not to reach the earth, it would remain idle and desolate and its development would be arrested. Likewise, were the perfections of the spirit not to appear in this world, it would become dark and wholly animalistic. It is through the appearance of the spirit in the material body that this world is illumined.

For example, no matter how much the physical body of man is trained and developed, there will be no real progression in the human station unless the mind correspondingly advances. No matter how much man may acquire material virtues, he will not be able to realize and express the highest possibilities of life without spiritual graces. God has created all earthly things under a law of progression in material degrees, but He has created man and endowed him with powers of advancement toward spiritual and transcendental kingdoms.

As we have before indicated, this human reality stands between the higher and the lower in man, between the world of the animal and the world of Divinity.

… Man is selfish; They sever him from self and desire. Man is haughty; They make him meek, humble and friendly. He is earthly; They make him heavenly. Men are material; the Manifestations transform them into divine semblance.

The soul that lives in the material world is dark for in the material world there is aggression, struggle, greed, vice and transgression. If the soul remains in this station, and moves along these paths it will receive no uplift, but if it becomes the recipient of the world of mind, its darkness will be transformed into light; its tyranny into justice, its ignorance into wisdom and its aggression into loving kindness. There will be no more struggle for existence and man will become free from egotism. He will be released from the material world and become the embodiment of justice, the personification of the virtues.

Man is the only creature who can receive reward, because he has the power of choice--whether he will show forth love or withhold it. He has the power to choose immortal life or to reject it, while the animals have no qualities that are immortal.

Question. What becomes of the spirit of a murderer?

Answer. Human spirits are manifested in physical molds or bodies. One spirit may be imperfect; that is to say, it may be imbued with qualities and characteristics of a baser nature; it may be ignorant, inadvertent, immoral, evil, contaminating, tyrannical. These vices are the retribution of this spirit.

By the same measure is the human spirit, which is the greatest divine gift. If illnesses afflict the spirit then it is obvious how difficult its treatment is.

The pure in spirit have, through this bounty from the All-Merciful, ascended from the depths of nothingness to the highest heights of being, while those defiled with the dust and limitations of the contingent world have withered and languished in the lowest of the low.

These verses of the Torah have therefore numerous meanings. We will explain one of them and will say that by Adam is meant the spirit of Adam and by Eve is meant His self. For in certain passages of the sacred scriptures where women are mentioned, the intended meaning is the human self.

But the prison which in divine terminology truly merits this name is the prison of self and passion. We beseech God for power and strength that through His assistance we may emerge from this dark, crushing prison and enter the boundless expanse of justice and righteousness.

This development, in its primary degree, pertaineth to the human person - that is to say, they must first establish the edifice of the heart upon His Name's firm and mighty foundation, and thereafter occupy themselves with inner and outer edifices.

For that pure spirit is an effulgence from the divine bounties and possesses all human perfections. This pure spirit is like a light hidden and concealed within a lamp, and when ignited by the fire of the love of God, its rays become manifest in the realm of existence.

Oceans can never allay this Leviathan's burning thirst, and this Phoenix of the undying fire can abide nowhere save in the glow of the countenance of the Well-Beloved. Therefore, O brother! kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of thy heart, and guard it with the globe of understanding, that the breath of the infidel may extinguish not its flame nor dim its brightness.

Spirituality is the possession of a good, pure heart. When the heart is pure, the Spirit enters, and our growth is natural and assured.

Spirit is universal. Man is created in a potential degree of Spirit. Growth is from the mental station into the Spiritual, something like the development from soldier to Commander. God Himself cannot compel the soul to become spiritual. The exercise of a free human will is necessary. We can point the way and furnish the example. We should do little things as well as great things for the Love of God. We should love people because they are God's creatures.

When these perfections shine forth like brilliant lights from the horizon of the soul and such joy and spirituality are attained, every joy and perfection is in the shadow of compulsion.

The strength of body and physical might can at most overcome a hundred men, but the power of spirit and vigor of soul can capture and possess whole worlds.

Verily, We say: The soul is gladdened by goodly deeds and profiteth from the contributions made in the path of God.

God, in His Bounty, has given us a foretaste here, has given us certain proofs of the difference that exists between body, soul and spirit.

O Generous One! We beseech of Thee that which leadeth to eternal life and everlasting existence.

O my Lord! Thou seest the drop seeking the ocean of Thy grace and the sea of Thy bounty, and the atom seeking the effulgences of the sun of Thy generosity and munificence.

But there is no doubt that spirit and soul seem to have been interchanged in meaning sometimes; soul and mind have, likewise, been interchanged in meaning, no doubt due to difficulties arising from different translations. What the Baha'is do believe though is that we have three aspects of our humanness, so to speak, a body, a mind and an immortal identity - soul or spirit. We believe the mind forms a link between the soul and the body, and the two interact on each other.

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The best, most perfect, and clearest of these is that spirit is an abstract substance separate from matter in essence but not in act. It will not be hidden from the wise that this definition, insofar as it is a definition by negation, fails to elucidate the reality of the essence of the thing described. … Yet it remains in need of matter in all acts, and inseparable from it in all conditions, for it is unimaginable that matter be stripped from it. No act can issue from spirit except through matter, and it is inconceivable that an effect could be produced by spirit save through the instrumentality of matter.

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In brief, existence hath one signification, but its manifestations, appearances, and attributes vary in every grade and station. As for the kinds of spirit, these are fixed realities each having its own specification and individualization, particular perfections and attributes, which distinguish one from another. They differ with respect to their essential qualities and what they signify. The mineral spirit, therefore, cannot be compared to the plant spirit, because the latter is the power of growth. The animal spirit, also, is a specialized reality distinct from all besides itself through its attributes and significations, for it is the power of sense perception and volitional movement.

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One questioned Him about spirit and matter. The Master replied: "This question may be answered in two ways, philosophically as well as spiritually. Philosophically, the answer is easy because in philosophy the spirit is energy and all matter is endowed with energy; and this power is inseparable from matter, as in electricity. In other words, matter is a vehicle for spirit but the transformation of matter does not involve the extinction of that power because transformation and transference are in the properties of matter. Immaterial beings or realities, however, are protected and preserved and their essential power remains unaltered. The manifestation or appearance of the spirit varies due to changes in matter and bodies. This, however, does not mean that spirit itself is subject to extinction." (Mahmud's Diary, 17 Oct. 1912, p.335) [alternative translation:] One of those present asked about the relationship between spirit and matter. `Abdu'l-Baha replied: 'This question has two answers: one is philosophical and the other is divine. The philosophical answer is easy because in philosophy 'spirit' is defined as a force belonging to every material thing which cannot be dissociated from it. For example, the power of electricity, or to use another expression, the 'spirit of instruments', is material, but through the transformation of matter the destruction of that force is not required, since transformation and transferal are among the concomitants of material things. As for immaterial realities and spirits, they are inviolable and impregnable, for these fundamental powers are eternal, and it is through the transformation of bodies and corporeal forms that the manifestation of spirit is diversified. It is not possible for spirit itself to become annihilated.'

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...He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed (nafakhtu) into him something of His spirit.

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Concerning the unity of soul (nafs) and spirit (ruh): when the soul is affected by the breath of the Holy Spirit, it will be united with the spirit, like the unity of the mirror and the sun. Its brilliant luminosity will reflect in this pure mirror.

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By the soul is meant the reality of man that is inclined towards the contingent world, and is associated with the worldly aspects of human life. … So in this sense, the spirit and the soul are one and the same. But the heavenly spirit is that reality of man that is derived from the outpourings of divine Grace, and blessed by the splendours of the Sun of Truth. The heavenly spirit is confined to true believers.

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