The five arts · 2 of 6

Certain premises

al-yaqīniyyāt

اليَقِينِيَّات

The (yaqīniyyāt) are the six kinds of from which a is built.

Draft · awaiting review

In a picture

Demonstration alone is built from certain premises, so it alone yields certainty.

Explanation

(awwaliyyāt): the mind affirms them as soon as it their terms, such as “the whole is greater than its part”.

(mushāhadāt): known by the outer senses, such as “the sun is shining”, or by inner perception, such as “we are hungry”.

(mujarrabāt): known through repeated experience. premises (ḥadsiyyāt): reached by a sudden insight of the mind, such as “the light of the moon comes from the sun”.

(mutawātirāt): reported by so many that agreement on a lie is impossible, such as “Mecca exists”. Premises that carry their proof (qaḍāyā qiyāsātuhā maʿahā): such as “four is even”, since it divides into two equal halves.

Also written as: yaqiniyyat, certainties, six certain premises.

In the text

وَالْيَقِينِيَّاتُ أَقْسَامٌ: أَحَدُهَا: أَوَّلِيَّاتٌ، كَقَوْلِنَا: الْوَاحِدُ نِصْفُ الِاثْنَيْنِ، وَالْكُلُّ أَعْظَمُ مِنَ الْجُزْءِ؛ وَمُشَاهَدَاتٌ، كَقَوْلِنَا: الشَّمْسُ مُشْرِقَةٌ، وَالنَّارُ مُحْرِقَةٌ؛ وَمُجَرَّبَاتٌ، كَقَوْلِنَا: السَّقَمُونِيَا تُسَهِّلُ الصَّفْرَاءَ؛Certain premises are of several kinds. First principles, as in “One is half of two” and “The whole is greater than the part”; observations, as in “The sun is shining” and “Fire burns”; experiential premises, as in “Scammony purges bile”;وَحَدْسِيَّاتٌ، كَقَوْلِنَا: نُورُ الْقَمَرِ مُسْتَفَادٌ مِنْ نُورِ الشَّمْسِ؛ وَمُتَوَاتِرَاتٌ، كَقَوْلِنَا: مُحَمَّدٌ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ادَّعَى النُّبُوَّةَ، وَظَهَرَتِ الْمُعْجِزَةُ عَلَى يَدِهِ؛ وَقَضَايَا قِيَاسَاتُهَا مَعَهَا، كَقَوْلِنَا: الأَرْبَعَةُ زَوْجٌ بِسَبَبِ وَسَطٍ حَاضِرٍ فِي الذِّهْنِ وَهُوَ: الِانْقِسَامُ بِمُتَسَاوِيَيْنِ.intuitive premises, as in “The light of the moon comes from the light of the sun”; widely transmitted reports, as in “Muḥammad, God bless him and give him peace, claimed prophethood, and miracles appeared at his hands”; and propositions that carry their proofs with them, as in “Four is even”, because of a middle term present in the mind: being divisible into two equal parts.

Examples

الكُلُّ أَعْظَمُ مِنَ الجُزْءِThe whole is greater than its part (a )

Related terms

Practise

6 question(s) on this term, in the practice set for the five arts.

Go to practice · 11 questions

Test yourself

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

Question 1
What are the certain premises (yaqīniyyāt)?
Question 2
“One is half of two.” In the matn, what kind of certain premise is this?
الوَاحِدُ نِصْفُ الِاثْنَيْنِ
Question 3
Premises reported by so many people that their agreeing on a lie is impossible are called…

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