Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols within social contexts. In the Quran, semiotics examines divine symbols, signs, and verses within the text, seeking to uncover deeper meanings and the connections between signs and divine messages. As a contemporary approach to literary criticism, semiotics provides a coherent framework for textual analysis. Its foundation lies in discovering the semantic relationships of the text through interpretation based on the reader’s literary competence, offering a systematic mode of reading that does not stop at the surface of the text or its literary phenomena, but continually seeks what lies beyond appearances. This study undertakes a semiotic reading of the concept of nafs in the Holy Quran, asking which texts or discourses the semiotic categories and connotations of the word nafs are related to, and how understanding those texts and discourses contributes to decoding its meaning. A descriptive-analytical method has been employed to address this question. The findings reveal that a semiotic analysis of nafs in the Quran uncovers profound and multifaceted implications—ranging from the physical to the spiritual, the individual to the collective—and highlights semantic gradations between good and evil, tranquility and anxiety.