Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 306

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

أَحْوَالُ الْمُسْنَدِ.

The states of the predicate.

وَالذَّاتُ هِيَ الْمَنْسُوبُ إِلَيْهِ وَالصِّفَةُ هِيَ الْمَنْسُوبُ، فَسَوَاءٌ قُلْنَا زَيْدٌ الْمُنْطَلِقُ أَوِ الْمُنْطَلِقُ زَيْدٌ، يَكُونُ زَيْدٌ مُبْتَدَأً وَالْمُنْطَلِقُ خَبَرًا، وَهَذَا رَأْيُ الْإِمَامِ الرَّازِيِّ، وَرُدَّ بِأَنَّ الْمَعْنَى: الشَّخْصُ الَّذِي لَهُ الصِّفَةُ صَاحِبُ الِاسْمِ يَعْنِي أَنَّ الصِّفَةَ تَجْعَلُ دَالَّةً عَلَى الذَّاتِ وَمُسْنَدًا إِلَيْهَا، وَالِاسْمُ يُجْعَلُ دَالًّا عَلَى أَمْرٍ نِسْبِيٍّ وَمُسْنَدًا.

The essence (dhat) is that to which something is attributed, and the attribute (sifah) is that which is attributed; thus, whether we say 'Zayd is the one departing' or 'The one departing is Zayd,' Zayd is the subject (mubtada') and 'the one departing' is the predicate (khabar). This is the opinion of Imam al-Razi, and it was refuted by the argument that the meaning is: 'The person who possesses the attribute is the owner of the name,' meaning that the attribute is made to signify the essence and is made that to which something is attributed, while the name is made to signify a relative matter and is made the predicate.

وَأَمَّا كَوْنُهُ أَيْ كَوْنُ الْمُسْنَدِ جُمْلَةً فَلِلتَّقْوِي نَحْوَ زَيْدٌ قَامَ أَوْ لِكَوْنِهِ سَبَبِيًّا نَحْوَ: زَيْدٌ أَبُوهُ قَائِمٌ كَمَا مَرَّ مِنْ أَنَّ إِفْرَادَهُ يَكُونُ لِكَوْنِهِ غَيْرَ سَبَبِيٍّ مَعَ عَدَمِ إِفَادَةِ التَّقْوِي، وَمَا زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ كَمَا فِي مَا سَبَقَ جَعْلُ الْمُسْنَدِ مُفْرَدًا غَيْرَ جُمْلَةٍ التَّسْمِيَةُ بِهِ، وَرُدَّ إِلَخْ: هَذَا الرَّدُّ جَوَابٌ بِالْمَنْعِ، فَمُحَصَّلُهُ: لَا نُسَلِّمُ أَنَّ الْوَصْفَ يُلَاحَظُ مِنْهُ الْأَمْرُ النِّسْبِيُّ دَائِمًا، وَلَا نُسَلِّمُ أَنَّ الِاسْمَ يُلَاحَظُ مِنْهُ الذَّاتُ دَائِمًا، بَلْ تَارَةً يُرَاعَى مِنْهُ الذَّاتُ إِذَا تَقَدَّمَ وَتَارَةً يُرَاعَى مِنْهُ الْمَفْهُومُ إِذَا تَأَخَّرَ، وَكَذَا يُقَالُ فِي الصِّفَةِ؛ لِأَنَّ الْمُنْطَلِقَ إِذَا قُدِّمَ وَجُعِلَ مُبْتَدَأً لَمْ يُرَدْ مَفْهُومُهُ الْمُشْتَمِلُ عَلَى أَمْرٍ نِسْبِيٍّ، أَيْ ثُبُوتُ الِانْطِلَاقِ لِشَيْءٍ، بَلْ يُرَادُ مِنْهُ ذَاتُهُ أَيْ مَا صَدَقَ عَلَيْهِ، وَزَيْدٌ إِذَا أُخِّرَ وَجُعِلَ خَبَرًا لَمْ يُرَدْ بِهِ الذَّاتُ بَلْ يُرَادُ بِهِ مَفْهُومٌ مُسَمًّى بِزَيْدٍ وَهُوَ مُشْتَمِلٌ عَلَى مَعْنًى نِسْبِيٍّ وَهُوَ صَاحِبُ الِاسْمِ، فَيَكُونُ الْوَصْفُ مُسْنَدًا لِلذَّاتِ دُونَ الْعَكْسِ، فَيَكُونُ مَعْنَى "الْمُنْطَلِقُ زَيْدٌ": الشَّخْصُ الَّذِي لَهُ الصِّفَةُ صَاحِبُ الِاسْمِ، وَاعْتُرِضَ عَلَيْهِ بِأَنَّ الْمُنْطَلِقَ بِهَذَا الْمَعْنَى صَارَ كَالِاسْمِ فِي دَلَالَتِهِ عَلَى الشَّخْصِ وَالذَّاتِ وَزَيْدٌ بِالْمَعْنَى الْمَذْكُورِ صَارَ كَالصِّفَةِ فِي دَلَالَتِهِ عَلَى مَعْنًى قَائِمٍ بِغَيْرِهِ، فَالْمُبْتَدَأُ هُوَ الِاسْمُ أَوِ مَا فِي تَأْوِيلِهِ وَهَذَا هُوَ مُرَادُ الْقَائِلِ الْمَذْكُورِ لِامْتِنَاعِ كَوْنِ الْمُنْطَلِقِ وَنَحْوِهِ مُبْتَدَأً أَوِ امْتِنَاعِ كَوْنِ زَيْدٍ وَنَحْوِهِ خَبَرًا مُطْلَقًا، فَالْتَّحْقِيقُ أَنَّ النِّزَاعَ لَفْظِيٌّ.

As for it—meaning the predicate—being a sentence, it is for the sake of reinforcement, such as 'Zayd stood,' or because it is causal, such as 'Zayd, his father is standing,' as has passed regarding the fact that its being singular is due to it not being causal and not providing reinforcement. And 'Zayd is not standing,' as in what preceded, making the predicate singular rather than a sentence is the naming of it, and it was refuted, etc.: This refutation is a response by denial. Its summary is: We do not concede that the relative matter is always observed from the description, nor do we concede that the essence is always observed from the name; rather, sometimes the essence is considered when it is placed first, and sometimes the concept is considered when it is placed last. The same is said regarding the attribute; because when 'the one departing' is placed first and made the subject, its concept—which includes a relative matter, i.e., the establishment of departure for something—is not intended; rather, its essence is intended, i.e., that to which it applies. And when 'Zayd' is placed last and made the predicate, the essence is not intended by it; rather, a concept named 'Zayd' is intended, which includes a relative meaning, namely 'the owner of the name.' Thus, the description is the predicate for the essence, not the reverse. Therefore, the meaning of 'The one departing is Zayd' is: 'The person who possesses the attribute is the owner of the name.' It was objected to this that 'the one departing' in this sense has become like a name in its signification of the person and the essence, and 'Zayd' in the mentioned sense has become like an attribute in its signification of a meaning subsisting in something else. Thus, the subject is the name or what is in its interpretation, and this is what the aforementioned speaker intended due to the impossibility of 'the one departing' and its like being a subject, or the impossibility of 'Zayd' and its like being a predicate absolutely; so the investigation shows that the dispute is merely verbal.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (23 verbs · 64 nouns)

• قَالَ — to say
• كَانَ — to be
• رَدَّ — to reply
• أَحْوَال — states
• مُسْنَد — predicate
• ذَات — essence