Closing: the parts of a science and the eight headings

خاتِمَةٌ

لِكُلِّ عِلْمٍ ثَلاثَةُ أُمُورٍ: أَحَدُها المَوْضُوعُ، وَهُوَ ما يُبْحَثُ فِي العِلْمِ عَنْ عَوارِضِهِ اللّاحِقَةِ الذّاتِيَّةِ، كَبَدَنِ الإِنْسانِ لِعِلْمِ الطِّبِّ، وَالكَلِمَةِ وَالكَلامِ لِعِلْمِ النَّحْوِ، وَالمِقْدارِ المُتَّصِلِ لِعِلْمِ الهَنْدَسَةِ، وَالمَعْلُومِ التَّصَوُّرِيِّ وَالمَعْلُومِ التَّصْدِيقِيِّ لِصِناعَتِي هٰذِهِ. وَيَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُعْلَمَ أَنَّهُ لا يُبْحَثُ عَنْ وُجُودِ المَوْضُوعِ، وَلا يُبْحَثُ عَنْ ماهِيَّتِهِ فِي العِلْمِ الَّذِي هُوَ مَوْضُوعٌ لَهُ؛ فَلا يَبْحَثُ الطَّبِيبُ عَنْ بَدَنِ الإِنْسانِ مِنْ حَيْثُ إِنَّهُ مَوْجُودٌ، وَجِسْمٌ نامٍ، أَوْ حَيَوانٌ ناطِقٌ، وَلا النَّحْوِيُّ عَنْ حَقِيقَةِ الكَلِمَةِ وَالكَلامِ. وَمِنْ ثَمَّ لَمّا كانَ مَوْضُوعُ عِلْمِ الطَّبِيعِيِّ الجِسْمَ المُطْلَقَ، وَكانَ صاحِبُ هٰذا الفَنِّ يُورِدُ مَباحِثَ الهَيُولَى وَالصُّورَةِ فِي الطَّبِيعِيّاتِ، أُشْكِلَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّ الهَيُولَى وَالصُّورَةَ مِنْ أَجْزاءِ الجِسْمِ وَمُقَوِّماتِهِ، فَكَيْفَ يُورِدُ هٰذِهِ المَباحِثَ فِي الطَّبِيعِيّاتِ؟ وَاعْتُذِرَ مِنْ قِبَلِهِ أَنَّ هٰذِهِ المَباحِثَ اسْتِطْرادِيَّةٌ. وَثانِيها المَبادِي، وَالمَبادِي ما يُبْتَنَى عَلَيْهِ المَسائِلُ، وَهِيَ إِمّا تَصَوُّرِيَّةٌ، أَيْ حُدُودٌ تُورَدُ لِمَوْضُوعِ الصِّناعَةِ وَأَجْزائِهِ وَجُزْئِيّاتِهِ وَأَعْراضِهِ الذّاتِيَّةِ، أَوْ تَصْدِيقِيَّةٌ، وَهِيَ المُقَدِّماتُ الَّتِي تُؤَلَّفُ مِنْها قِياساتُهُ، إِمّا بَدِيهِيَّةٌ وَتُسَمَّى العُلُومَ المُتَعارَفَةَ، أَوْ غَيْرُ بَدِيهِيَّةٍ بَلْ نَظَرِيَّةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ: فَإِنْ كانَ التَّسْلِيمُ عَلَى سَبِيلِ حُسْنِ الظَّنِّ مِمَّنْ أَلْقاهُ إِلَيْهِ تُسَمَّى أُصُولًا مَوْضُوعَةً، وَإِنْ كانَ التَّسْلِيمُ مَعَ الاسْتِنْكارِ يُسَمَّى مُصادَرَةً. وَثالِثُها المَسائِلُ، وَهِيَ الَّتِي اشْتَمَلَ العِلْمُ عَلَيْها، وَيُحاوَلُ إِثْباتُها بِالدَّلِيلِ.

Every science has three things. The first is the subject (mawḍūʿ): that whose essential accidents, which attach to it, are investigated in the science; like the human body for medicine, the word and speech for grammar, continuous magnitude for geometry, and what is known by conception and what is known by assent for this art of mine. It should be known that neither the existence of the subject nor its quiddity is investigated in the science of which it is the subject. So the physician does not investigate the human body insofar as it is existent, a growing body, or a rational animal; nor does the grammarian investigate the reality of the word and of speech. Hence, since the subject of natural science is body as such, and the master of this discipline sets out the discussions of prime matter (hayūlā) and form in the natural sciences, the difficulty was raised against him that prime matter and form are among the parts and constituents of body: so how can he set out these discussions in the natural sciences? The excuse offered on his behalf is that these discussions are digressions. The second is the principles (mabādī). The principles are what the questions are built on. They are either conceptual, that is, definitions given of the subject of the art, of its parts, its particulars and its essential accidents; or assent-related, namely the premises of which its syllogisms are composed. These are either immediate (badīhī), and are called axioms (al-ʿulūm al-mutaʿārafa); or not immediate but acquired and granted. If they are granted out of good opinion of the one who put them forward, they are called posited principles (uṣūl mawḍūʿa); if they are granted with reluctance, [such a premise] is called a postulate (muṣādara). The third is the questions (masāʾil): what the science contains, and which it tries to establish by proof.

al-Mirqāt · p. 62

فَصْلٌ فِي الرُّؤُوسِ الثَّمانِيَةِ

اعْلَمْ أَنَّ القُدَماءَ كانُوا يَذْكُرُونَ فِي مَبادِي الكُتُبِ أَشْياءَ ثَمانِيَةً، وَيُسَمُّونَها الرُّؤُوسَ الثَّمانِيَةَ: أَحَدُها الغَرَضُ، أَعْنِي العِلَّةَ الغائِيَّةَ؛ لِئَلّا يَكُونَ النّاظِرُ عابِثًا. وَثانِيها المَنْفَعَةُ؛ لِيَتَسَهَّلَ عَلَيْهِ المَشَقَّةُ فِي تَحْصِيلِهِ. وَثالِثُها التَّسْمِيَةُ أَعْنِي عُنْوانَ العِلْمِ؛ لِيَكُونَ عِنْدَ النّاظِرِ إِجْمالُ ما يُفَصِّلُهُ الغَرَضُ. وَرابِعُها المُؤَلِّفُ؛ لِيَسْكُنَ قَلْبُ المُتَعَلِّمِ. وَخامِسُها أَنَّهُ فِي أَيِّ مَرْتَبَةٍ هُوَ؛ لِيُعْلَمَ عَلَى أَيِّ عِلْمٍ يَجِبُ تَقْدِيمُهُ، وَعَنْ أَيِّ عِلْمٍ يَجِبُ تَأْخِيرُهُ. وَسادِسُها أَنَّهُ مِنْ أَيِّ عِلْمٍ هُوَ؛ لِيُطْلَبَ ما يَلِيقُ بِهِ. وَسابِعُها القِسْمَةُ، وَهُوَ أَبْوابُ العِلْمِ وَالكِتابِ. وَثامِنُها أَنْحاءُ التَّعْلِيمِ، وَهِيَ التَّقْسِيمُ وَالتَّحْلِيلُ وَالتَّحْدِيدُ وَالبُرْهانُ؛ لِيُعْرَفَ أَنَّ الكِتابَ مُشْتَمِلٌ عَلَى كُلِّها أَوْ بَعْضِها. أَقُولُ وَأَنا مُحَمَّد فَضْل إِمام الخَيْرآبادِيُّ: هٰذا آخِرُ ما أَرَدْنا جَمْعَهُ وَتَأْلِيفَهُ فِي هٰذِهِ الرِّسالَةِ مِنْ كُتُبِ الأَقْدَمِينَ وَكَلِماتِ المُتَأَخِّرِينَ، وَالغَرَضُ مِنْ هٰذا التَّأْلِيفِ لَيْسَ إِلّا تَعْلِيمَ المُبْتَدِئِينَ، وَتَسْهِيلَ الأَمْرِ عَلَى الطّالِبِينَ؛ فَإِنْ نَفَعَكَ أَيُّها الطّالِبُ الرّاغِبُ هٰذِهِ العُجالَةُ نَفْعًا يَسِيرًا فَلا تَنْسَنِي بِدُعاءِ حُسْنِ الخاتِمَةِ، وَالنَّجاةِ مِنَ الحاطِمَةِ. وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنا مُحَمَّدٍ خاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ، أَوَّلًا وَآخِرًا وَظاهِرًا وَباطِنًا، وَالحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ العالَمِينَ.

Know that the ancients used to mention eight things at the beginnings of books, and called them the eight headings. The first is the aim, I mean the final cause, so that the reader does not act in vain. The second is the benefit, so that the hardship of acquiring [the science] is made easier for him. The third is the name, I mean the title of the science, so that the reader has a summary of what the aim sets out in detail. The fourth is the author, so that the learner's heart may be at rest. The fifth is the rank it holds, so that it is known which science it must come before and which it must come after. The sixth is which science it belongs to, so that what befits it may be sought. The seventh is the division, that is, the chapters of the science and of the book. The eighth is the modes of instruction: division, analysis, definition and demonstration, so that it is known whether the book contains all of them or some. I say, I being Muḥammad Faḍl-i Imām al-Khayrābādī: this is the end of what we wished to gather and compose in this treatise from the books of the ancients and the words of the later scholars. The aim of this composition is nothing but the instruction of beginners and making things easy for students. So if this hasty work benefits you even a little, O eager student, do not forget me in a prayer for a good end and for deliverance from al-Ḥāṭima [the Crushing Fire]. May God bless our master Muḥammad, the Seal of the Prophets, first and last, outwardly and inwardly; and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

al-Mirqāt · p. 63