Soul (ψυχή) often equated with life-force or breath.

"all things are full of gods" Aristotle, De Anima 411a7, quoting Thales

Heraclitus: the soul has a deep, unexplored structure and needs to be “kindled” like fire to become wise

Pythagoreans: soul is immortal and transmigrates (metempsychosis).

Empedocles and Anaxagoras introduce NOUS (mind) as a soul-like power.

No strict separation yet between physical and spiritual dimensions.

Soul (نَفْس, *nafs*) is a spiritual, immaterial substance.

Influenced by Aristotle, Neoplatonism, and Qur’anic revelation.

Avicenna: soul is simple, incorporeal, and individuated at creation.

Soul progresses through stages: vegetative, animal, rational.

Mystical traditions (e.g., Sufism) focus on purification of the soul.

Philosophical arguments for immortality and resurrection abound.

Soul is a lower emanation from Nous (divine Intellect), which in turn comes from the One (the ineffable source).

Soul is the mediator between the intelligible world (Nous, Forms) and the sensible world.

Soul is partly divine but also linked to matter, and some souls descend too far and forget their origin.

The ultimate aim is the return (epistrophē) to the One via inner purification, contemplation, and ascent.

ΤΟ ΕΠΙΜΕΛΕΙΣΘΑΙ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΕΠΙΜΕΛΕΙΣΘΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΨΥΧΗΣ / To care for oneself is to care for the soul.

ΟΥ ΤΑ ΧΡΗΜΑΤΑ ΥΜΑΣ ΠΟΙΕΙΝ ΑΛΛΑ ΤΗΝ ΨΥΧΗΝ ΩΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΗΝ ΕΙΝΑΙ / Care not for your bodies or your wealth so much as for the best possible state of your soul.

the concept of EPIMELESTHAI ("care for one's self / care for the soul) is key concept of classical philosophical tradition