ABSTRACT
Love for objects and hence the pleasure derived from love is linked to the kinds of souls. Souls are divided into three kinds: a. vegetative soul (al-nafs al-nab!itiyya); b. animal soul (al-nafs al-bayawaniyya); and c. human soul (al-nafs al-insaniyya).72 The pleasure of the vegetative soul derives from eating and drinking, the pleasure of the animal soul derives from sexual intercourse and acts which are necessitated by anger, such as taking revenge and leading, and the pleasure of the divine soul (the human soul) derives from attaining divine knowledge, coming close to God, and love for Him. Since the faculties of the soul are different, the pleasures of man are also different. Moreover, the same pleasure, for instance sexual intercourse, may be caused by different motives. One person wants a child, and another just wants pleasure, while the gnostic uses this pleasure as a stepping stone to understand other pleasures which have spiritual affinity. In the last instance, this pleasure stops being external and becomes
one of the perfections. Here al-Dabbagh makes an important note: Looking at beautiful forms, such as flowers, does not always indicate love for the beautiful forms by virtue of themselves, but love for the sake of pleasure. It follows that beautiful forms are loved both by virtue of themselves and because they serve as a means to attain pleasure.73
