An intimation on the Necessary Being: is it self-evident or demonstrative?
19th Century Muḥammad ʻAbduh ArabicWāridah
Tasmaʻuhum marratan yaqūlūn: thubūt al-wājib badīhī lāyaḥtāj ilá al-burhān, thumma yuʻāriḍūn maʻa munkirīh, wa-yazʻumūn annahum yunabbihūn ʻalayh, wa-marratan yaqūlūn : bi-annah naẓarī yaḥtāj ilá al-dalīl, wa-yastadillūn ʻalayh bi-barāhīn mabnīyah ʻalá muqaddamāt musallamah fīmā baynahum yamujjuhā al-dhawq al-salīm, wa-yanbū ʻanhā al-fikr al-mustaqīm, fa-ismaʻ mā yanfaʻuk fī dhālika
Min al-maʻlūm anna al-mumkin yaḥtāj ilá murajjiḥ fī al-wujūd li-mā annah laysa lah min dhātih wujūd ka-mā samiʻta fī al-faṣl al-sābiq, wa-wujūb iftiqārih ilá al-mūjid mustalzim li-istiḥālat wujūdih min al-ʻadam al-ṣirf
﴿bayān al-mulāzamah﴾ anna ṣudūr al-maʻlūl ʻan al-ʻillah yastadʻī nisbah khāṣṣah bayna al-maʻlūl wa-al-ʻillah ḥattá yaṣiḥḥ ṣudūr al-maʻlūl ʻan al-ʻillah, idh law lam yakun baynahumā taʻalluq wa-irtibāṭ - wa-jamīʻ al-ashyāʼ bi-al-nisbah ilá al-ʻillah ʻalá al-sawāʼ — la-kāna ṣudūr hādhā al-maʻlūl dūna baqīyat al-ashyāʼ ʻanhā tarajjuḥan bi-lā murajjiḥ wa-huwa muḥāl . wa-ayḍan law lam yakun baynahumā nisbah la-kānā mutabāyinayn tabāyunan tāmman, fa-law wujida al-maʻlūl la-wujida bi-dūn rabṭ baynah wa-bayna ākhar, fa-qad wujida bi-dūn mūjid, hādhā khulf, fa-lā budda bayna al-maʻlūl wa-al-ʻillah min al-nisbah wa-al-ʻalāqah al-khāṣṣah, wa-idhā qulnā bi-wujūb al-nisbah wa-al-taʻalluq, fa-li-anna al-taʻalluq wa-al-nisbah lāyataḥaqqaq illā bayna ṭarafayn, lābudda min wujūd al-ṭarafayn ḥattá yataḥaqqaq manshaʼ al-nisbah, fa-lā budda min wujūd al-maʻlūl maʻa al-ʻillah li-tataḥaqqaq al-nisbah al-mawqūfah ʻalayhā al-ʻillīyah, fa-qad wujida al-mumkin qabla taḥaqquq al-ʻillīyah bi-al-martabah, fa-wujida qabla wujūdih, hādhā khulf . wa-bi-al-jumlah fa-al-badāhah qāḍiyah bi-annah lānisbah bayna al-wujūd wa-al-ʻadam al-ṣirf — wa-ayḍan qawluk : bi-anna al-shayʼ mawjūd min al-ʻadam, idhā kāna ḥaqīqīyan fa-lā budda an yakūn al-ʻadam aynan lah aw matá aw jawharan mawḍūʻan aw māddah ilá ākhir al-wujūdīyāt al-mumkinah, fa-yalzam wujūd al-ʻadam wa-al-maʻdūm, hādhā khulf
Fa-idhan ḥudūth shayʼ min al-ʻadam al-ṣirf muḥāl, wa-hādhā ḥukm bahadīhī qad nabbahnāk ʻalayh . fa-idhan jamīʻ mā ṣadaqa ʻalayh mafhūm al-mumkin, muḥtāj ilá ʻillah laysat tilka al-ʻillah mubāyinah lah bi-al-marrah, wa-tilka al-ʻillah tantahī ilá murajjiḥ khārij ʻan māhīyat al-imkān, wa-huwa al-wājib al-ḥaqīqī alladhī huwa wujūduh li-dhātih, wa-kull muqayyad fa-huwa muḥtāj ilayh, wa-huwa muntahá al-taqyīdāt wa-marjaʻuhā ( ilayh yurjaʻ al-amr kulluh ) wa-maʻa kawn al-maʻlūl laysa mubāyinan ka-dhālika laysa ʻayn al-ʻillah, wa-lākin ṭawr min aṭwārihā wa-shaʼn min shuʼūnihā lāwujūd lah illā wujūduhā . fa-tabayyana anna kull mumkin fa-huwa iʻtibār min iʻtibārāt ʻillatih, laysa lah wujūd illā wujūduhā . fa-idhan laysa fī al-wujūd al-ḥaqīqī al-dhātī illā dhāt muṭlaqah wāḥidah lā taʻaddud fīhā illā bi-taʻaddud iʻtibārātihā lātaqayyud fīhā bi-wajh min al-wujūh, wa-huwa wājib al-wujūd, fa-ifham . laysa fī al-imkān awsaʻ min hādhā al-bayān, wa-tawḍīḥ al-wāḍiḥ mushkil . fa-al-ḥaqq bayna yadayk ẓāhir, fa-lā tashghal fikrak bi-ibṭāl al-tasalsul, fa-huwa yaḥtāj ilá awhām milʼ al-akwān
﴿taqrīb﴾ lātastabʻid anna al-maʻlūl shaʼn min shuʼūn ʻillatih . fa-innak lasta taghful ʻan kawn al-bayt shaʼnan li-ajzāʼih wa-iʻtibāran min iʻtibārātihā, wa-al-shajarah ṭawran lil-ḥabbah wa-shaʼn min shuʼūnihā, wa-al-amwāj ṭawr lil-baḥr wa-shaʼn min shuʼūnih, wa-hākadhā jamīʻ al-umūr — wa-al-ʻajab lil-mutakallimīn wa-al-ḥukamāʼ al-muqallidīn lammā ʻajazū ʻan al-irtiqāʼ ilá darajat al-kamāl kayfa ittakhadhū al-aʻdām sullaman li-taṭalluʻ al-ḥaqīqah, wa-yazʻumūn anna hādhā tanzīh li-ḥaḍratih . wa-lākin naḥn naqūl : laysa wujūd illā wujūduh, wa-lā waṣf illā waṣfuh . fa-huwa al-mawjūd wa-ghayruh al-maʻdūm — qāla al-umarāʼ al-awwalūn raḍiya Allāh ʻanhum Abū Bakr wa-ʻUmar wa-ʻUthmān wa-ʻAlī : mā raʼaytu shayʼan illā raʼaytu Allāh qablah aw baʻdah aw fīh aw maʻah — kull wāḥid yunsab ilá wāḥid minhum — wa-lā yaqaʻanna fī wahmak anna hādhā qawl bi-al-ḥulūl, fa-inna al-ḥulūl innamā yakūn bayna wujūdayn aḥaduhumā ḥāll fī al-ākhar, wa-naḥn naqūl : lā wujūd illā wujūduh
﴿tanbīh﴾ aẓunnuk fī hādhih al-kalimāt taḥaqqaqta bi-anna hādhā al-wājib wāḥid, idh law kāna wājibān la-kāna kull minhumā mumtāzan ʻan al-ākhar wa-illā kāna ʻaynah . wa-imtiyāzuh innamā yakūn bi-qayd laysa fī al-ākhar, fa-yakūn muqayyadan, fa-yakūn mumkinan, hādhā khulf . wa-qad yustadall ʻalá istiḥālat taʻaddud al-wujūd muṭlaqan, wa-annah laysa illā wujūd wāḥid, bi-annah law