Words, universals and the five universals

Conceptions · mabāḥith al-alfāẓ · pp. 22–23

مَبَاحِثُ الْأَلْفَاظِ

مسوّدة · بانتظار المراجعة

Arabic text after the print of Jakarta 1434/2013 · translation by The Mantiqi, draft

About this text

al-Sullam al-munawraq السُّلَّمُ الْمُنَوْرَقُ

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Akhḍarī (d. 983/1575)

Text: Arabic, transcribed by The Mantiqi from this print: Mutūn al-manṭiq wa-l-ḥikma: Īsāghūjī wa-l-Sullam al-munawraq, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, Jakarta 1434/2013, pp. 20–32 View the scan
Lessons follow: The lessons are The Mantiqi's own explanations, chapter by chapter of the text itself.
Translation: The Mantiqi's own; a draft.
Review: Draft, awaiting review by Ustadh Muhammad Yusuf.

The text

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Arabic original, Mutūn al-manṭiq wa-l-ḥikma: Īsāghūjī wa-l-Sullam al-munawraq, Jakarta 1434/2013

مُسْتَعْمَلُ الْأَلْفَاظِ حَيْثُ يُوجَدُإِمَّا مُرَكَّبٌ وَإِمَّا مُفْرَدُ

فَأَوَّلٌ مَا دَلَّ جُزْؤُهُ عَلَىجُزْءِ مَعْنَاهُ بِعَكْسِ مَا تَلَا

Words in use, wherever they occur, are either composite or single. The first is that whose part signifies a part of its meaning; the opposite of this is what follows.

p. 22

وَهْوَ عَلَى قِسْمَيْنِ أَعْنِي الْمُفْرَدَاكُلِّيٌّ اَوْ جُزْئِيٌّ حَيْثُ وُجِدَا

فَمُفْهِمُ اشْتِرَاكٍ الْكُلِّيُّكَأَسَدٍ وَعَكْسُهُ الْجُزْئِيُّ

The single, I mean, is of two kinds wherever it is found: universal or particular. What conveys sharing is the universal, like “lion”; its opposite is the particular.

p. 22

وَأَوَّلًا لِلذَّاتِ إِنْ فِيهَا انْدَرَجْفَانْسُبْهُ أَوْ لِعَارِضٍ إِذَا خَرَجْ

وَالْكُلِّيَاتُ خَمْسَةٌ دُونَ انْتِقَاصْجِنْسٌ وَفَصْلٌ عَرَضٌ نَوْعٌ وَخَاصْ

وَأَوَّلٌ ثَلَاثَةٌ بِلَا شَطَطْجِنْسٌ قَرِيبٌ أَوْ بَعِيدٌ أَوْ وَسَطْ

First, ascribe it to the essence if it is included in it, or to an accident if it lies outside. The universals are five, nothing missing: genus, differentia, accident, species and property. The first is of three kinds, no exaggeration: near genus, far, or in between.

pp. 22–23

The lesson

A word in use is composite (murakkab) when a part of it signifies a part of its meaning, like “Zayd stands”; otherwise it is single (mufrad). A single word is (kullī) when its meaning can be shared, like “lion”, and (juzʾī) when it cannot, like “Zayd”.

A , compared with what falls under it, is (dhātī) when it is included in their , and (ʿaraḍī) when it lies outside. The universals are five: (jins), (faṣl), (ʿaraḍ), (nawʿ) and property (khāṣṣ). The genus is of three ranks: near, like animal for man; far, like substance; and in between, like body.

Terms

الْمُرَكَّبُ al-murakkab: composite: a part signifies a part of the meaning
الْمُفْرَدُ al-mufrad: single
الْكُلِّيُّ al-kullī: universal: its meaning can be shared
الْجُزْئِيُّ al-juzʾī: particular
الذَّاتِيُّ al-dhātī: essential: included in the essence
الْعَرَضِيُّ al-ʿaraḍī: accidental: outside the essence
الْكُلِّيَّاتُ الْخَمْسُ al-kulliyyāt al-khams: the five universals

Examples

كَأَسَدٍ
“lion”: a universal, its meaning shared by many
جِنْسٌ قَرِيبٌ أَوْ بَعِيدٌ أَوْ وَسَطْ
the genus: near, far or in between

اخْتَبِرْ نَفْسَك

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

السؤال 1
Which example does the Sullam give of a universal?
السؤال 2
Which is NOT one of the five universals?
السؤال 3
A universal that lies outside the essence of what falls under it is…

الدَّرْسُ التّالِي: Words and meanings; request and report

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