Knowledge and self identity

“We will show them Our signs in the world and in themselves, that the truth may be manifest to them.”
(Surah No. 41, Fussilat, Verse No. 53)

The key to the knowledge of Allah:
Dear brothers and sisters, knowledge of the self is the key to the knowledge of Allah. We know that nothing is nearer to one than oneself, and if you don’t know yourself, how can you anything else? If you say, I know myself, meaning your outward shape, body, face, limbs, and so forth, such knowledge can never be a key to the knowledge of Allah. Real self-knowledge consists in knowing the following things: What are you in yourself, and where have you come from? Where are you going, and for what purpose have you come to in this green world, and of what does your real happiness and misery consists?
The first step to self-knowledge:
The first step to self-knowledge is to know that you are composed of an outward shape, called body, and an inward entity called the heart, or soul. Here, heart does not mean the piece of flesh situated in the left side of our chests, but that which uses all the servants. In truth it does not belong to the visible world, but to the invisible. It is the knowledge of this entity and its attributes which is the key to the knowledge of Allah.
The role of the knowledge of soul:
The knowledge of the soul plays a more important part in leading to the knowledge of Allah than the knowledge of our body and its functions. The body may be compared to a steed and the soul to its rider; the body was created for the soul, the soul for the body. If a man knows not his own soul, which is the nearest thing to him, what is the use of his claiming to know others?  It is like a beggar who has not the ability for a meal claiming to be able to feed a town.

Md. Moshiur Rahman