The definers and their conditions

Conceptions · al-muʿarrifāt · pp. 23–24

الْمُعَرِّفَاتُ

پیش‌نویس · در انتظار بازبینی

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

Need another language? “Google Translate” opens a passage in Google's machine translation — handy for a first idea, but not checked by us. Or copy the text into a translator of your choice.

Read the whole Arabic text →

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

مُعَرِّفٌ عَلَى ثَلَاثَةٍ قُسِمْحَدٌّ وَرَسْمِيٌّ وَلَفْظِيٌّ عُلِمْ

فَالْحَدُّ بِالْجِنْسِ وَفَصْلٍ وَقَعَاوَالرَّسْمُ بِالْجِنْسِ وَخَاصَّةٍ مَعَا

وَنَاقِصُ الْحَدِّ بِفَصْلٍ أَوْ مَعَاجِنْسٍ بَعِيدٍ لَا قَرِيبٍ وَقَعَا

The definer is divided into three: real definition, description and verbal definition, as is known. The real definition is made of genus and differentia together, and the description of genus and property together. The incomplete definition is by the differentia alone, or together with a far genus, not a near one.

Google Translate ↗pp. 23–24

وَنَاقِصُ الرَّسْمِ بِخَاصَّةٍ فَقَطْأَوْ مَعَ جِنْسٍ أَبْعَدٍ قَدِ ارْتَبَطْ

وَمَا بِلَفْظِيٍّ لَدَيْهِمْ شُهِرَاتَبْدِيلُ لَفْظٍ بِرَدِيفٍ أَشْهَرَا

The incomplete description is by the property alone, or joined with a farther genus. What is known among them as verbal is replacing a word by a better-known synonym.

Google Translate ↗p. 24

وَشَرْطُ كُلٍّ أَنْ يُرَى مُطَّرِدَامُنْعَكِسًا وَظَاهِرًا لَا أَبْعَدَا

وَلَا مُسَاوِيًا وَلَا تَجَوُّزَابِلَا قَرِينَةٍ بِهَا تُحُرِّزَا

وَلَا بِمَا يُدْرَى بِمَحْدُودٍ وَلَامُشْتَرَكٍ مِنَ الْقَرِينَةِ خَلَا

The condition of each is that it be seen to hold wherever the defined holds and the reverse, clear, not more obscure, nor equal in obscurity, nor figurative without a sign that guards against error, nor by what is known only through the defined, nor equivocal without a sign.

Google Translate ↗p. 24

وَعِنْدَهُمْ مِنْ جُمْلَةِ الْمَرْدُودِأَنْ تَدْخُلَ الْأَحْكَامُ فِي الْحُدُودِ

وَلَا يَجُوزُ فِي الْحُدُودِ ذِكْرُ أَوْوَجَائِزٌ فِي الرَّسْمِ فَادْرِ مَا رَوَوْا

Among what they reject is bringing judgements into definitions. In definitions “or” may not be mentioned, but it is allowed in a description — so know what they have handed down.

Google Translate ↗p. 24

The lesson

A definer is of three kinds: real (ḥadd), description (rasm) and verbal definition (lafẓī). The complete definition joins and , “rational animal”; the complete description joins genus and property, “laughing animal”. The incomplete definition is the differentia alone or with a far genus; the incomplete description is the property alone or with a farther genus. A verbal definition replaces a word with a better-known synonym: “al-ghaḍanfar is the lion”.

Every must hold wherever the defined holds and nowhere else (muṭṭarid, munʿakis); be clearer than the defined, not more obscure or equally obscure; avoid figurative and equivocal words unless a clear sign shows what is meant; and not use anything that can only be known through the defined itself, which would be circular. Two further rules: a definition must not bring in judgements, and the word “or” has no place in a real definition, though it may stand in a description.

Terms

الْحَدُّ al-ḥadd: real definition: genus and differentia
الرَّسْمُ al-rasm: description: genus and property
اللَّفْظِيُّ al-lafẓī: verbal definition: a better-known synonym
الْمُطَّرِدُ al-muṭṭarid: holding wherever the defined holds
الْمُنْعَكِسُ al-munʿakis: holding only where the defined holds
الدَّوْرُ al-dawr: circularity: defining by what needs the defined

Examples

الْغَضَنْفَرُ الْأَسَدُ
a verbal definition: a rarer word by a better-known one
الْحَيَوَانُ النَّاطِقُ
a complete definition of man

خودت را بیازما

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

پرسش 1
“Al-ghaḍanfar is the lion” is…
پرسش 2
Which is NOT a condition of a sound definition in the Sullam?
پرسش 3
Where may the word “or” appear, according to the poem?

درس بعدی: Propositions and their kinds

ادامه ←