نَفْسِهِ itself in Arabic

ثُمَّ إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَجَدَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ خِفَّةً فَخَرَجَ بَيْنَ رَجُلَيْنِ

Then the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, felt a lightness within his self, so he went out between two men.

نَفْسِهِ his self

A noun, 'self', with a possessive 'his' attached at its end; the suffix reaches back to the Prophet as the owner. One word thus carries the noun and whose it is.

From Prayer During Illness

لِأَنَّهُ إِنْ كَانَ قَارِئًا بِنَفْسِهِ فَبِجَهْدِهِ أَنْ يَتَهَجَّى الأَسْمَاءَ وَالمُتُونَ

Because if he is reading by his own self, then by his effort that he spell out the names and the texts.

بِنَفْسِهِ by his own self

Three pieces: the prefix bi- 'by/with', a noun for 'self', and -hi 'his', combining into the idiom 'by himself / on his own'. The preposition forces the 'of'-style ending, and the whole fixed phrase stresses that he does the reading unaided.

From Humility Over Fame

فَرَحِمَ اللَّهُ امْرَأً جَعَلَ لِنَفْسِهِ خِطَامًا وَزِمَامًا

May God have mercy on the man who made for his self a bridle and a rein.

لِنَفْسِهِ for his self

The li- prefix marks the beneficiary ('for'), with a reflexive 'himself' attached. The preposition governs the genitive, so it reads 'for himself', the man acting on his own self.

From Patience and the Human Self

وَيَسْتَقِلُّ كَثِيرُ الْمَعْرُوفِ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ

And he regards much good deed from his self as little.

نَفْسِهِ his self

A noun meaning 'self/soul' in the genitive after its preposition, with a '-hi' (his) fused on, giving 'his own self'. The suffix turns it reflexive, marking the deeds as his own rather than another's. It closes the humble-man contrast: his own good he counts as little.

From On Reason and Temptation

وَمَنْ يُوَقِّ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمْ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

And whoever restrains the stinginess of his soul, those are the successful.

نَفْسِهِ his soul

This noun bears a 'his' owner ending and is the owned-of term: 'his soul'. The suffix points back to the 'whoever', so it is each person's own soul whose stinginess is meant.

From Charity and Stinginess

كَمَا قَالَ حَنْظَلَةُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ نَافِقٌ حَنْظَلَةُ

As Hanzala said about his self: Hanzala is a hypocrite.

نَفْسِهِ his self

This noun carries a 'his' owner ending and sits in the genitive after the preposition; the suffix points back to the speaker, giving 'about his own self'.

From Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness

فَقَالَ لَقَدْ أَضَاقَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الْمَرْعَى،

He said, "Indeed, the pasture has become too narrow for him."

نَفْسِهِ his self

A reflexive 'self' noun ending in -hi 'his', so it fuses 'self' with its owner. The -hi points back to the man, and sitting after the preposition it takes the genitive ending, reading 'upon his own self'.

From Permissible Laughter and Conduct

وَرُبَّمَا قَالَ الْعَالِمُ الْمَحْضُ لِنَفْسِهِ

And perhaps the pure scholar said to his self:

لِنَفْسِهِ to his self

The li- prefix is a preposition of direction ('to'), putting its noun into the genitive and marking the addressee of the speech. The noun carries -hi ('his'), so the phrase names the scholar's own self as the one he speaks to, the inner audience of his resolution.

From Preparing for Death and Repentance

وَإِنَّمَا يَعْرِفُ الزِّيَادَةُ مِنَ النُّقْصَانِ الْمُحَاسِبُ لِنَفْسِهِ

Only the one who holds himself accountable can distinguish increase from decrease.

لِنَفْسِهِ for his self

The 'li-' fused at the front links the holding-to-account to its object; with this agent-noun it marks whom the reckoning is of, here turned reflexively onto the self. It governs the reflexive noun after it into the 'of'-style ending, so 'accountant for himself' means one who calls his own soul to account.

From Preparing for Death and Repentance

والتهوع بالتسهيل، وأتى بكل خلاف ونادى على نفسه أنا أبو فلان فاعرفوني فإني عارف بالسبع

He put on an ostentatious display of making things easy, entered every dispute, and cried out about his self, "I am the father of so-and-so; recognize me, for I know of the seven."

نَفْسِهِ his self

A reflexive noun 'self' with 'his' attached, in the genitive because the preposition before it governs it. Together they mean 'about himself' - the boasting is self-directed. The attached possessor points back to the proclaimer, and Arabic uses this 'self'-noun-plus-pronoun where English would say 'himself'.

From Sincere Worship