Indian path · level 2 · al-Mirqāt · Lesson 10 of 25
10
The proposition: kinds, parts and quantity
Propositions
القَضَايَا
Arabic text after the print of Deoband after 1336/1917 · translation by The Mantiqi, draft
About this text
al-Mirqāt المِرْقاة
Faḍl-i Imām Khayrābādī (d. 1243 or 1244/1828–29)
Text
Arabic: al-Mirqāt, with al-Shīrkūtī's gloss al-Mirʾāt (gloss not reproduced), checked against the Delhi print of 1286/1869 (Sayyid al-Maṭābiʿ); vowel marks added by The Mantiqi (draft), Kutub Khāna Iʿzāziyya, Deoband after 1336/1917 View the scan
القَضِيَّةُ قَوْلٌ يَحْتَمِلُ الصِّدْقَ وَالكَذِبَ، وَقِيلَ: هُوَ قَوْلٌ يُقالُ لِقائِلِهِ إِنَّهُ صادِقٌ فِيهِ أَوْ كاذِبٌ. وَهِيَ قِسْمانِ: حَمْلِيَّةٌ وَشَرْطِيَّةٌ؛ أَمّا الحَمْلِيَّةُ فَهُوَ ما حُكِمَ فِيها بِثُبُوتِ شَيْءٍ لِشَيْءٍ أَوْ نَفْيِهِ عَنْهُ، كَقَوْلِكَ: «زَيْدٌ قائِمٌ» وَ«زَيْدٌ لَيْسَ بِقائِمٍ»؛ وَأَمّا الشَّرْطِيَّةُ فَما لا يَكُونُ فِيهِ ذٰلِكَ الحُكْمُ، وَقِيلَ: الشَّرْطِيَّةُ ما يَنْحَلُّ إِلَى قَضِيَّتَيْنِ، كَقَوْلِنا: «إِنْ كانَتِ الشَّمْسُ طالِعَةً فَالنَّهارُ مَوْجُودٌ» وَ«لَيْسَ البَتَّةَ إِذا كانَتِ الشَّمْسُ طالِعَةً فَاللَّيْلُ مَوْجُودٌ»؛ فَإِذا حُذِفَ الأَدَواتُ بَقِيَ «الشَّمْسُ طالِعَةٌ» والنَّهارُ مَوْجُودٌ. والحَمْلِيَّةُ لا يَنْحَلُّ إلى قَضِيَّتَيْنِ، بل يَنْحَلُّ إمّا إلى مُفْرَدَيْنِ كقَوْلِكَ: «زَيْدٌ هو قائِمٌ»، فإنّكَ إذا حَذَفْتَ الرّابِطَةَ أعني «هو» بَقِيَ «زَيْدٌ» و«قائِمٌ» وهما مُفْرَدانِ؛ وإمّا إلى مُفْرَدٍ وقَضِيَّةٍ كما في قَوْلِكَ: «زَيْدٌ أبُوهُ قائِمٌ»، فإذا حَلَّلْتَهُ بَقِيَ «زَيْدٌ» وهو مُفْرَدٌ، و«أبُوهُ قائِمٌ» وهو قَضِيَّةٌ.
A is a statement that admits truth and falsehood. It has also been said: it is a statement of whose speaker it is said that he is truthful in it or lying. It is of two kinds, and . The categorical is one in which it is judged that one thing holds of another, or is denied of it, as when you say “Zayd is standing” and “Zayd is not standing”. The conditional is one in which there is no such judgement. It has also been said: the conditional is what resolves into two propositions, as when we say “If the sun has risen, it is day” and “It is never the case that, when the sun has risen, it is night”: if the particles are removed, there remain “the sun has risen” and “it is day”. The categorical does not resolve into two propositions. Rather, it resolves either into two [terms] (mufrad), as when you say “Zayd is standing” (Zayd huwa qāʾim): if you remove the copula, I mean “is” (huwa), there remain “Zayd” and “standing”, and these are two simple [terms]; or into a simple [term] and a proposition, as when you say “Zayd, his father is standing”: when you analyse it, there remain “Zayd”, which is simple, and “his father is standing”, which is a proposition.
الحَمْلِيَّةُ ضَرْبانِ: مُوجَبَةٌ وهي الّتي حُكِمَ فيها بثُبُوتِ شَيْءٍ لشَيْءٍ، وسالِبَةٌ وهي حُكِمَ فيها بنَفْيِ شَيْءٍ عن شَيْءٍ، نحوُ: «الإنْسانُ حَيَوانٌ» و«الإنْسانُ لَيْسَ بفَرَسٍ».
The is of two kinds: , in which it is judged that one thing holds of another, and , in which it is judged that one thing is denied of another, as in “Man is an animal” and “Man is not a horse”.
The is made up of three parts. The first is what is judged about, and it is called the (mawḍūʿ); the second is what is judged of it, and it is called the (maḥmūl); and the third is what signifies the link, and it is called the copula (rābiṭa). So in your saying “Zayd is standing” (Zayd huwa qāʾim), “Zayd” is what is judged about and the subject, “standing” is what is judged of it and the predicate, and the word “is” (huwa, literally “he”) is the relation and the copula. The copula is sometimes dropped in the wording, though not in what is meant, and one says “Zayd standing” (Zayd qāʾim).
The also has parts. Its first part is called the (muqaddam) and its second part the (tālī). So in your saying “If the sun has risen, it is day”, your words “If the sun has risen” are the antecedent, your words “it is day” are the consequent, and the copula is the judgement between the two.
وقد تَنْقَسِمُ القَضِيَّةُ باعْتِبارِ المَوْضُوعِ: فالمَوْضُوعُ إنْ كانَ جُزْئِيًّا وشَخْصًا مُعَيَّنًا سُمِّيَتِ القَضِيَّةُ شَخْصِيَّةً ومَخْصُوصَةً كقَوْلِكَ: «زَيْدٌ قائِمٌ». وإنْ لم يَكُنْ جُزْئِيًّا بل كانَ كُلِّيًّا فهو على أنْحاءٍ؛ لأنّها إنْ كانَ الحُكْمُ فيها على نَفْسِ الحَقِيقَةِ تُسَمّى القَضِيَّةُ طَبْعِيَّةً نحوُ: «الإنْسانُ نَوْعٌ» و«الحَيَوانُ جِنْسٌ»، وإنْ كانَ على أفْرادِها فلا يَخْلُو إمّا أنْ يَكُونَ كَمِّيَّةُ الأفْرادِ فيها مُبَيَّنًا أو لم يَكُنْ، فإنْ بُيِّنَ كَمِّيَّةُ الأفْرادِ تُسَمّى القَضِيَّةُ مَحْصُورَةً كقَوْلِكَ: «كُلُّ إنْسانٍ حَيَوانٌ» و«بَعْضُ الحَيَوانِ إنْسانٌ»، وإنْ لم يُبَيَّنْ تُسَمّى القَضِيَّةُ مُهْمَلَةً نحوُ: «الإنْسانُ في خُسْرٍ».
A is also divided with regard to the . If the subject is a , a specific individual, the proposition is called (shakhṣiyya) or specified (makhṣūṣa), as when you say “Zayd is standing”. If it is not a particular but a , there are several cases. If the judgement in it is about the itself, the proposition is called natural (ṭabʿiyya), as in “Man is a ” and “Animal is a ”. If it is about its individuals, then either the quantity of the individuals is stated in it or it is not. If the quantity of the individuals is stated, the proposition is called (maḥṣūra), as when you say “Every human is an animal” and “Some animal is human”. If it is not stated, the proposition is called (muhmala), as in “Man is in loss” [Qurʾān 103:2].
The are four. The first is the , as when you say “Every human is an animal”; the second the , as in “Some animal is black”; the third the , as in “No Zanjī [black African] is white”; and the fourth the , as in “Some human is not black”.
That by which the quantity of the individuals is stated, whether all or some, is called the (sūr). It is taken from the wall (sūr) of a town. The quantifier of the is “every” (kull) and the lām of comprehensiveness (lām al-istighrāq). That of the is “some” (baʿḍ) and “one” (wāḥid), as in “One of the bodies is inanimate”. That of the is “no” (lā shayʾ) and “not one” (lā wāḥid), as in “No crow is white” and “Not one fire is cold”, and also an noun falling under a , as in “There is no water but it is wet”. That of the is “not some” (laysa baʿḍ), as when you say “Not some animal is a donkey” [that is, some animal is not a donkey], and “some … not” (baʿḍ … laysa), as you say “Some fruit is not sweet”. Know that every language has quantifiers of its own. In Persian, the word “هر” (har) [“every”] is the quantifier of the universal affirmative, as the poet says in a verse: “هر آنکس که در بند حرص اوفتاد * دهد خرمن زندگانی بباد” [“Whoever falls into the bonds of greed gives the harvest of his life to the wind”].
3 questions on what the commentary explains. With 6 out of 10 or more (two stars) the next lesson opens.
Question 1
How does al-Mirqāt tell a categorical from a conditional proposition by analysing it?
Removing the particles from “If the sun has risen, it is day” leaves two ; “Zayd is standing” leaves two terms, and “Zayd, his father is standing” a simple term and a proposition.
Question 2
How does al-Mirqāt classify “Man is a species” and “Man is in loss”?
When the judgement is on the itself the is natural; when it is on the individuals but their quantity is not stated, it is , as in “Man is in loss”.
Question 3
In Arabic one may say “Zayd qāʾim” (“Zayd standing”) with no word for “is”. What does al-Mirqāt say about such a proposition?
The has three parts, , and copula; al-Mirqāt notes that the copula is sometimes dropped in the wording, though not in what is meant.
Next lesson: Predication, further divisions and modal propositions