What is Nafs نَفْس self according to Quran?

Allah Kareem has created every human being with a good nature.The difference between self and nature is that our nature is always good and it never gets bad.  that the human nature can not be changed. Every human being is born on the nature of Islam and human nature does not change. What really changes is Nafs.

The Nafs has different states. Our Nafs adopts a wrong path and develops impurities then we cleanse our Nafs and it becomes pure again. Then again it becomes impure and we cleanse it again. The problem is with Nafs and not with human nature.

If any person has some issues with his temperament or with his behavior or he has some bad habits or has issues with his manners or he has developed some other problems with his character, so we can not assume that he is bad by nature. His nature is bad. We are not supposed to assume that. Nor we are allowed to assume that since his father was like that so he is like his father. We are not allowed to assume that. 

Neither we are allowed to assume that since he is from so and so ethnic background or he belongs to so and so race and the people belonging to that background or race are such and their temperaments are like this and that they are not good, they are very shrewd and so on. We are absolutely not allowed to do that. Every human being belonging to any race or nation or ethnic background is good by nature as created by Allah almighty.

Sometimes it so happens that the Nafs creates a challenge for us that either we get control over our Nafs or the Nafs gets control over us. Either we control our Nafs or the Nafs controls us. When the Nafs develops impurities and we do not cleanse it of impurities then the Nafs overpowers us. But when we keep cleansing our Nafs and are alert and keep watch over it and let us say

for example whatever desires and wishes you develop, so the person who evaluates and reviews his desires and wishes. Is this the right wish, is this a good wish? Is it good or bad? If it is good, then thank God but if it is not a good wish then I have to eliminate that desire and I have to purify myself.

So eliminating your bad desires is tazkiyah or cleansing the Nafs Tazkiya or cleansing is the process of removing impurities from one's self. Whatever improper desires have developed in one's heart or some bad intentions or a desire for showing off has developed, so to purify one's self from any impurities of heart is called tazkiyah or cleansing.

What actually happens is that our Nafs overpowers us. 

Our nature is not bad. No child is born with a bad nature.It is not fair to call a child an evil or a devil.Because evil means that he is born with an evil nature.Similarly it is not right to call him a devil.we are not supposed to doubt somebody's nature.To think that somebody is bad by nature.

No, his nature is not bad. He has a good nature. 

Because Allah has created the humans with a good nature. Every child is born a muslim by nature.What actually happens is that God almighty has given us the freedom and given us an opportunity in this phase of lives and we have the freedom and a right to choose. We have got the freedom to choose. We have the authority to choose whatever we want.

Choosing right or wrong is our choice. 

In Urdu it is called "ikhtiyar" i.e freedom to choose. I have the freedom to do right or wrong. When a person misuses his freedom of choice his Nafs gets impure. Similarly when a person develops bad intentions then as well his Nafs gets impure.So if we think about a person that he has a bad nature, in fact his nature is not bad. His Nafs has become sick. His Nafs has developed some problem.  

and 

we do not have the right to loose hope about anybody. We cannot lose hope about anybody in this world.

I will ask you a very personal question. 

do not give an answer, just think about it. Is there a person among your acquaintances about whom you have lost all hope that he can also be refined and can be guided. Don't answer this, just think about it. The situation in today's muslim society is that among the acquaintances of each one of of us we have not made a formal list but we have a picture of few of them about whom we have assumed thatso and so person can never be refined.

So and so person 

he will remain as he is. Such and such person is hopeless.

 Now when I mentioned about nature just now you must have realized that many times in the past we must have doubted his nature or his intent and thought his nature is like that and his intent is not good. There are three things about which we are not allowed to doubt in any circumstances.

The first is nature. 

The second is intent. And the third is potentials. The word potentials is sometimes used and you must have heard people saying that so and so has potential. So what does it mean in Urdu language? I will tell you. In Urdu we can say "imkani salahiyat" or someone's hidden capacity.

So there is something called ability or abilities 

and potential means hidden capacities which means that God must have hidden the seed of certain capability in him and only God knows if He has or has not. Because of that he can also learn. I am nobody to decide that he can never learn. So it is not proper to doubt someone"s nature or his intent or potentials. It is not fair.

So I was telling you 

that Allah has created all of us with a good nature and this is big favor from Allah. Just imagine that a person who has been created with a bad nature by Allah can you and me guide him. This is a very big favor from Allah that he has created every one, muslim or non muslim, do you know that non-muslims are muslims by birth.

Later their parents 

divert them to their tracks. You know that, right? So if Allah created someone originally with an evil nature then who are you and me to guide him. Then no power on earth could have guided him. The point is that all of us were originally created on nature and we were the right beings we were absolutely pure and Allah created us on good nature. 

Then we deviated and our Nafs developed problems.

So to resolve those problems there is aa way which is called tazkiyah or cleansing. 

It is called repentance. A person thinks about improving himself and becomes a better person. This is the whole process and should be adopted.