All of us know that man enjoys a special and particular position among all living creatures, because his personality is composed of antagonistic powers. In one hand, rebellious sensual desires as well as animal instincts and inclinations invite him to insolence, aggression to the rights of others, sensuality and lechery, lie and treachery, and on the other hand, the powers of intellect and cognition, humanistic affections and conscience call him to philanthropy, chastity, honesty and virtue.
Struggle of these powers exists in all men and relative dominance of one of these factors causes men to be in completely different levels in view of humanistic values, and increases the distance of man's ascending and descending curve. Once he becomes superior to the nearest-stationed angels, and once he becomes more inferior to the most dangerous predator animals!
This fact is also deduced from several traditions. For instance, Imam Ali A.S. says:
«اِنَّ اللهَ خَصَّ الْمَلَکَ بِالْعَقْلِ دُونَ الشَّهْوَةِ وَ الْغَضَبِ، وَ خَصَّ الْحَیواناتِ بِهِما دُونَهُ وَ شَرَّفَ الاِْنسانَ بِاِعْطاءِ الْجَمِیعِ فَاِنِ انْقادَتْ شَهْوَتُهُ وَ غَضَبُهُ لِعَقْلِهِ، صارَ اَفْضَلَ مِنَ الْمَلائِکَةِ لِوُصُولِهِ اِلى هذِهِ الرُّتْبَةِ مَعَ وُجُودِ الْمُنازِعِ».
God granted to the angel only intellect, without lust and wrath, and gave to the animals only lust and wrath, without intellect, but ennobled man to granting all of these. So if his lust and wrath are controlled and ordained by his intellect, he will be superior to the angels, because he has achieved such station despite of existence of an opposing power.
But it should be noted that instincts and dispositions and lusts in an original, natural and balanced form not only are not harmful, but also will be essential means for continuation of life.
In other words, as no useless and idle limb is created in the structure of man's body, any incentive, instinct and disposition has a vital role in the structure of his spirit and soul, and only in case of deviation from normal condition and disturbance of the balance, they will appear dangerously and fatally.
For instance, who can deny the role of wrath in man's life? Suppose when the rights of a person are transgressed. If all of reserve powers of his body are not excited and mobilized thanks to the wrath, is it possible for him to defend his rights in a composure mood, in which he may not utilize more than one tenth of his reserve powers? But when this anger and wrath is deviated from its main path, and is not any more a powerful tool under control of intellect, it alters man into a fierce animal who does not recognize any boundary.
In addition, the role of man's moderate desire to wealth, rank and such like in more attempts for development and progress is as obvious as the destructive effect of mammonism and ambition that is extravagance in these desires.
Thus, as disturbance in corporeal balance is always accompanied with undesirable results called disease, disturbance in balance of spiritual powers and instincts and desires too is considered as a sort of mental disease, and ethics scholars call it heart-sickness.
This concept has basically originated from Holy Quran that has considered hypocrisy of a hypocrite as a disease, where it says:
فى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزادَهُمُ اللهُ مَرَضاً)
In their heart there is a sickness and God has increased their sickness (due to their evil deeds).
1- Naraghi, Jameossaadat 67/1
2- Cow sura (2), verse 10
