Primordial nature or human primordial nature is among the Quranic issues through whose cognition not only man gains self-knowledge but also knowledge of God. The existence of God-given and non-acquisitive primordial nature in man leads to man’s knowledge of and inclination towards God the Almighty.
The present paper is an attempt to discuss the concept of primordial nature in the holy Quran and the traditions as well as in the viewpoints of Imam Khomeini, who was influenced by his teacher Ayatollah Shahabadi. In Imam Khomeini’s viewpoint primordial nature refers to the awareness and inclinations which are institutionalized in man. He mentions different natures and inclinations for man which lead man to primordial nature based on his origin, primordial nature based on monotheism… He maintains that some of these are the rules of primordial nature while some are its requirements. So long as the primordial nature is not subject to natural rules Imam Khomeini calls it non-veiled primordial nature. In this case it is among the faculties of reason. And if attention is paid to natural aspects and is subject to natural rules it is called veiled primordial nature which is among faculties of ignorance which will be a source of vice and evil.