CHAPTER 12 The Connection of Actions to Psychological Attitudes You should know that actions are the outer manifestations of psy- chological attitudes,' and illustrations of them, which provide ways of grasping them. They are associated with them according to nat- ural convention. That is, the majority of people agree that actions express psychological attitudes due to a natural cause which is provided by the specific form. This is because when motivation seeks to produce an act and the soul complies, it (the soul) be- comes expanded and joyful, and if it refrains from doing it, it be- comes contracted and depressed. When this act is carried out, its origin, whether angelic or ani- malistic, becomes independent and stronger; while its opposite is deflected and becomes weaker. This is what is referred to in the Prophet's, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, say- ing, “The lower soul wishes and desires and the sexual organ ei- ther confirms that or denies it.”* You will not see any person who does not have acts and atti- tudes which reflect on him and express who he is, and their form is represented in order to disclose him. If a man were to describe someone else as courageous and was asked to illustrate this, he could only explain this by his mighty endeavors, If he were to describe someone else as generous, he would explain this by his freely spending dirhams and dinars. If a man wanted to summon up for himself the form of courage and generosity, he would be forced to imagine these actions, unless it should occur remarkably that “the original nature (fifra), according to which God, may He be exalted, created people”? had changed. If someone wants to acquire a trait which he doesn’t have, there is no way for him to do this except by being in situations where it ' Ab-hai’at al-nafsaniyya ‘as “psychological attitudes.” * This hadith was cited in the previous chapter. * Quran 30:30. attitudes of the soul (psyche), in that sense translated