Indian path · level 1 · al-Ṣughrā · الدَّرْسُ 4 مِنْ 10

The five universals

Definition · al-kulliyyāt al-khams · pp. 9–11

الكُلِّيّاتُ الخَمْسُ

مسوّدة · بانتظار المراجعة

Persian text after the print of Kanpur 1279/1862–63 · translation by The Mantiqi, draft

About this text

al-Ṣughrā الصُّغْرَى

al-Sayyid al-Sharīf al-Jurjānī (d. 816/1413)

Text: Persian, transcribed by The Mantiqi from the lithograph, without its marginal glosses: Majmūʿa-yi manṭiq, Maṭbaʿ-i Alṭāfī, Kanpur 1279/1862–63, pp. 1–8 of the Ṣughrā, after the Kubrā View the scan
Lessons follow: al-Manṭiq al-manhajī li-l-mubtadiʾīn: al-Ṣughrā wa-l-Awsaṭ wa-l-Kubrā, Arabic version and arrangement by Muḥammad Anwar al-Badakhshānī (Jāmiʿat al-ʿUlūm al-Islāmiyya, ʿAllāma Banūrī Town), Islam Insight, Karachi 1420/1999, pp. 5–18. The lessons are The Mantiqi's own explanations in the order of this edition; its text is under copyright and is not reproduced.
Translation: The Mantiqi's own, into English and into vocalised Arabic; a draft. The Arabic is translated from the Persian, not taken from a printed Arabic version.
Review: Draft, awaiting review by Ustadh Muhammad Yusuf.

The text

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Persian original, Majmūʿa-yi manṭiq, Kanpur 1279/1862–63

چون کلی را نسبت کنی با افراد وی یا عین حقیقت افراد باشد چون انسان، آن را نوع خوانند؛ یا جزو حقیقت افراد باشد، پس اگر تمام مشترک است میان حقیقت آن افراد و ماهیتی دیگر، چون حیوان که تمام مشترک است میان انسان و دیگر حیوانات، آن را جنس خوانند، و اگر چنین نباشد آن را فصل خوانند، خواه مشترک نباشد چون ناطق و خواه مشترک لکن تمام مشترک نباشد چون حساس؛ و یا خارج از حقیقت افراد باشد، اگر خاص بیک ماهیت باشد آن را خاصه خوانند چون ضاحک، و اگر خاص نباشد آن را عرض عام خوانند چون ماشی.

When you relate a universal to its individuals, it is either the whole reality of the individuals, like man, and is called a species (nawʿ); or a part of their reality — then, if it is the whole of what is shared between the reality of those individuals and another quiddity, like animal, which is the whole of what is shared between man and the other animals, it is called a genus (jins), and if it is not so, it is called a differentia (faṣl), whether it is not shared at all, like rational, or shared but not the whole of what is shared, like sensing; or it is outside the reality of the individuals — if it belongs to one quiddity only, it is called a property (khāṣṣa), like laughing, and if not, a common accident (ʿaraḍ ʿāmm), like walking.

Arabic translation

وَإِذَا نَسَبْتَ الْكُلِّيَّ إِلَى أَفْرَادِهِ فَإِمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ عَيْنَ حَقِيقَتِهَا، كَالْإِنْسَانِ، وَيُسَمَّى نَوْعًا، أَوْ جُزْءَ حَقِيقَتِهَا، فَإِنْ كَانَ تَمَامَ الْمُشْتَرَكِ بَيْنَ حَقِيقَةِ تِلْكَ الْأَفْرَادِ وَمَاهِيَّةٍ أُخْرَى، كَالْحَيَوَانِ الَّذِي هُوَ تَمَامُ الْمُشْتَرَكِ بَيْنَ الْإِنْسَانِ وَسَائِرِ الْحَيَوَانَاتِ، سُمِّيَ جِنْسًا، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ كَذٰلِكَ سُمِّيَ فَصْلًا، سَوَاءٌ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُشْتَرَكًا كَالنَّاطِقِ، أَوْ كَانَ مُشْتَرَكًا لٰكِنْ لَيْسَ تَمَامَ الْمُشْتَرَكِ كَالْحَسَّاسِ؛ أَوْ يَكُونَ خَارِجًا عَنْ حَقِيقَةِ الْأَفْرَادِ، فَإِنْ كَانَ مُخْتَصًّا بِمَاهِيَّةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ سُمِّيَ خَاصَّةً، كَالضَّاحِكِ، وَإِلَّا سُمِّيَ عَرَضًا عَامًّا، كَالْمَاشِي.

Google Translate ↗pp. 3–4

The lesson

Compare a with the individuals it is said of, and there are five possibilities. If it is the whole of its individuals, like “man” for Zayd and ʿAmr, it is the (nawʿ). If it is part of their reality and not shared at all with other kinds, like “rational” for man, it is the (faṣl); a differentia that is shared, but not the whole of what is shared, like “sensing” for animal, is a differentia too, but of the .

If it is part of their and is the whole shared part between the thing and another kind, like “animal” for man and horse, it is the (jins). If it lies outside their reality and belongs only to individuals of one reality, like “laughing” or “writing” for man, it is the property (khāṣṣa). If it lies outside and does not belong to one reality only, like “walking” or “breathing” for animals, it is the (ʿaraḍ ʿāmm).

The key phrase is the whole shared part (tamām al-mushtarak): what two things share, such that nothing else they share in their lies outside it. Man and horse share being a substance, having three dimensions, growing, sensing and moving by will; “animal” sums all of these up and is the last thing they share. So “animal” is their whole shared part, and their .

The Ṣughrā also names the differentias by their nearness: the of the (“rational”) is the near differentia (faṣl qarīb), the differentia of the (“sensing”) is the far differentia (faṣl baʿīd).

Terms

النَّوْعُ al-nawʿ: species: the whole reality of its individuals
الفَصْلُ al-faṣl: differentia: the part of the reality that sets it apart
الجِنْسُ al-jins: genus: the whole part shared with other kinds
الخاصَّةُ al-khāṣṣa: property: outside the reality, belongs to one kind only
العَرَضُ العامُّ al-ʿaraḍ al-ʿāmm: common accident: outside the reality, belongs to many kinds
تَمامُ المُشْتَرَكِ tamām al-mushtarak: the whole shared part
الفَصْلُ القَرِيبُ al-faṣl al-qarīb: near differentia (of the species)
الفَصْلُ البَعِيدُ al-faṣl al-baʿīd: far differentia (of the genus)

Examples

الإِنْسانُ
species of Zayd and ʿAmr
النّاطِقُ
differentia of man
الحَيَوانُ
genus of man and horse
الضّاحِكُ
property of man
الماشِي
common accident of animals

اخْتَبِرْ نَفْسَك

3 questions on this lesson. With 6 out of 10 or more (two stars) the next lesson opens.

السؤال 1
“Laughing” said of human beings is…
السؤال 2
Why is “animal” the genus of man and horse, and not “body”?
السؤال 3
“Walking” said of animals is a common accident because it…

الدَّرْسُ التّالِي: Near and far genus

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