Principles of Thinking - Part II
11. The partial intellect (al-ʿaql al-juzʾī) is a complete whole (kull kāmil). It is constituted by five matters deriving from two principles: nature (ṭabīʿa) and function (waẓīfa). As for the first, they are its instrument (ālātuhu), the brain (al-mukh), and its rational faculty (al-quwwa al-ʿāqila). As for the second, they are intellect (ʿaql), thought (fikr), and understanding (fahm). If any one of these is affected, acquisition (al-taḥṣīl) is prevented and rendered inoperative (al-taʿṭīl).¹
12. The intellect is both creation (khalq) and character/disposition (khuluq): the former is constitutive (takwīnī), and the latter educative (tarbawī). Through the two together the givens (muʿṭayāt) of thought (al-fikr) and its paths (al-ṭarāʾiq) differ, yet only through consonance (al-tawāfuq).
13. The upper limit of intellection (al-taʿaqqul) is the rending open (ṣadʿ) of reality (al-ḥaqīqa) and its overpowering (qahr), while its lower limit is familiarity (ulf) with the self-evident (al-badīha) and intimacy (uns) with it.
14. The intellect may attain through allusion (al-talwīḥ) what it cannot attain through explicit statement (al-taṣrīḥ); therefore what is obligatory (al-wājib) is to trace the effect (taqaṣṣī al-athar), if it is accessible (in tuqaddara), and not to abandon (yahjur) it.
15. The intellect may attain through allusion (al-talwīḥ) what it cannot attain through explicit statement (al-taṣrīḥ); hence seeking the latter while neglecting the former is a reprehensible limit (ḥadd qabīḥ), whereas the reverse is sound (ṣaḥīḥ). That is to say, the intellect has a boundary (ḥadd) that it does not reach through explicit articulation (al-taṣrīḥ), but which it does reach through allusive indication (al-talwīḥ). If one transgresses (taʿaddā) by forcing allusion (al-talwīḥ) into explicitness (al-taṣrīḥ), one falls into what is reprehensible (al-qabīḥ).
(1) The partial human intellect (al-ʿaql al-juzʾī al-insānī), insofar as it is partial, is nevertheless a universal whole (kullī) insofar as it applies to many instances. From the perspective of its being a human constitution (khilqa insāniyya) and a human nature (ṭabīʿa bashariyya), it is a complete intellect (ʿaql kāmil). This is distinct from the individual or personal intellect (al-ʿaql al-shakhṣī), which may fail to be so due to some contingent impediment. Its nature (ṭabīʿatuhu) consists in its instrument (ālātuhu), namely the brain (al-mukh), together with its rational faculty (al-quwwa al-ʿāqila). Its function (waẓīfatuhu) consists in intellection (al-ʿaql), thinking (al-fikr), and understanding (al-fahm), the latter being the result of thought (natījat al-fikr). By means of intellection (al-ʿaql), one grasps (yaʿqilu) an issue, that is, one gathers it together, contains it, and holds it fast; all of these expressions convey a single meaning. Hence it is said, “So-and-so is an intelligent man (rajul ʿāqil),” meaning that he gathers together his affairs and his judgment. This usage derives from the expression “I bound the camel” (ʿaqaltu al-baʿīr), when one draws together and restrains its legs. The intellect is called ʿaql precisely because it restrains (yaʿqilu) its possessor from plunging into ruinous courses, that is, it holds him back. Likewise, it is said that a medicine restrains the stomach (ʿaqala al-dawāʾ baṭnahu), meaning that it checks or retains it. When one intellects (ʿaqala) a thought, this means that one activates one’s mental inclination (khāṭir), consideration (naẓar), or rational capacity (ʿaql) with respect to a thing. When one thinks (fakkara), one understands (fahima), that is, one apprehends, fully comprehends, and forms a sound conception of its meaning. These three resources—intellect (al-ʿaql), thought (al-fikr), and understanding (al-fahm)—together constitute what is designated as the intellect, which is a complete constitution (khilqa kāmila). Its instrument is the brain (al-mukh), which is material, while its rational faculty (al-quwwa al-ʿāqila) is immaterial (mujarrada). From this it follows that defects in thinking (al-tafkīr) may be attributed to five resources: the instrument (al-āla), the faculty (al-quwwa), the intellect (al-ʿaql), thought (al-fikr), and understanding (al-fahm). These derive from two domains: nature (al-ṭabīʿa) and function (al-waẓīfa). A defect may occur in the instrument of the intellect, or in the performance of the rational faculty, as in the case of one who is heedless (al-sāhī) or asleep (al-nāʾim). One may also misconceive and thus intellect something other than the actual issue, or err in the method of thinking, in which case the resulting understanding will likewise be defective. Therefore, not everyone who thinks necessarily understands.