Introduction

Muqaddimah

Laqad ishtahara bayna muʼallifī al-ʻArab anna wāḍiʻa ʻilm al-manṭiq wa-mubtadiʻahu huwa Aristaṭālis wa-annahu lam yajid li-man taqaddamahu ghayr kitāb al-Maqūlāt wa-annahu intabaha ilá waḍʻihi wa-tartībihi min muṭālaʻatihi fī kitāb Uqlīdis fī al-handasah wa-qad qassamahu ʻalá tisʻah abwāb jaʻala li-kull minhā kitāban turjimat kulluhā fī zaman Abī Jaʻfar al-Manṣūr wa-lukhkhiṣat mirāran wa-ḥadā jamīʻ muʼallifī al-ʻArab ḥadhwahā ʻalá anna minhum man tawassaṭa wa-minhum man basaṭa illā anna muʻẓamahum jamaʻahā maʻa al-ilāhīyāt wa-al-ṭabīʻīyāt wa-lākin kullahā tarjiʻu ilá nabʻ wāḥid wa-tartīb wāḥid yadūru al-baḥth fīhā ʻalá al-alfāẓ wa-dalālātihā wa-al-ḥudūd wa-anwāʻihā wa-ṣuwar al-qaḍāyā wa-kayfīyat tartībihā wa-aqsāmihā wa-furūʻihā wa-ashkāl al-aqīsah wa-anwāʻihā wa-asmāʼihā al-mukhtalifah wa-al-shurūṭ allatī yajibu taḥarrīhā fī ṣuwar al-qaḍāyā wa-anwāʻ ḍurūbihā al-muntijah wa-ghayr dhālika . Wa-innaka la-tará al-mutaṣaddī li-muṭālaʻatihā lā yaftaʼu yashḥadhu fikrahu fī fahm al-aqsām wa-al-anwāʻ wa-yutʻibu dhihnahu fī ḍabṭihā wa-ḥifẓ asmāʼihā ḥattá yamtaliʼa dimāghuhu wa-yamalla aw yastawlī ʻalayhi al-dhuhūl fa-yaḍīʻu bayna al-aqsām wa-takhtaliṭu ʻalayhi al-anwāʻ wa-al-taʻārīf bi-ḥaythu lā yaʻrifu li-nafsihi makhrajan . Wa-in asʻafahu al-ḥaẓẓ baʻda ṭūl al-ṣabr wa-al-muʻānāh li-itmāmihi yuṣbiḥu mutaʻalliman ʻilman ālīyan yakhtaṣṣu bi-al-alfāẓ wa-anwāʻihā wa-ṣuwar al-qaḍāyā wa-asmāʼihā wa-ashkāl al-aqīsah wa-aqsāmihā hādhā in amkanahu al-tawassuʻ min tilqāʼ nafsihi aw quyyiḍa lahu murshid yudarribuhu fī taʻmīm al-qawāʻid ʻalá amthilah mukhtalifah wa-taṭbīqihā ʻalá al-muḥāwarāt allatī lā yakhlū al-insān minhā kull yawm idh anna akthar al-muʼallifīn lahum amthilah maḥdūdah lam yaḥīdū ʻanhā hādhā ʻadā ʻan anna aktharahā ghayr ṣaḥīḥ bi-ḥaythu idhā alifahā al-mutaʻallim rasakhat fī dhihnihi ka-annahā qāʻidah awwalīyah asāsīyah fa-yadkhulu ʻalayhi bi-sababihā kathīr min al-aghlāṭ . Wa-lā yakhfī anna al-insān ʻinda al-baḥth wa-al-munāqashah qad lā yantabihu ilá shakl al-ʻibārāt li-ishtighāl dhihnihi bi-al-maʻānī wa-li-hādhā lā yufīduhu fī aghlab al-aḥyān mā taʻallamahu min al-qawāʻid al-khāṣṣah bi-ṣuwar al-ʻibārāt khuṣūṣan idhā kāna al-mawḍūʻ daqīqan aw tadākhalat al-aqīsah wa-tasalsalat bal kāna al-lāzim lahu dalīlan yahdīhi ilá tamyīz al-ṣidq min al-kadhib bi-dūn iltifāt ilá shakl al-ʻibārah

Fa-aḥbabtu an aktuba mā tayassara lī baʻda tatabbuʻ wa-tafakkur ṭawīl ijābah li-ṭullāb baʻḍ ʻushshāq al-ʻilm wa-nāṣirīhi wa-ṭullāb al-ḥaqq wa-qāṣidīhi . Fa-in afadtu aḥadan fīmā katabtu fa-dhālika al-ghāyah allatī armī ilayhā wa-illā fa-ʻalá al-aqall akūnu qad nabbahtu al-afkār li-luzūm iṣlāḥ hādhā al-fann al-muhimm ʻasī an yatawaffaqa ilá dhālika man huwa awsaʻ iṭṭilāʻan wa-tafakkuran minnī

4 al-Muḥarram sanat 1325

Qūl Aghāsī min arkān ḥarb al-faylaq al-khāmis al-Turkī Muḥammad Salīm al-Jazāʼirī al-Ḥasanī