Root · 377 in the Quran · 702 in 27 texts of the library
كللIbn Fāris's Maqāyīs entry for k-l-l was not among the excerpts supplied, so his core … (root kll)
English rendering AI
The dictionaries
English: AI translation AIal-Khalīl · 170Al-kall (الكل): the orphan.
al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn. The first Arabic dictionary, arranged by permutations of the root letters.
AI AI translation of the Arabic belowal-Jawharī · 393Al-kall (الكل): dependents and a burden.
al-Jawharī (d. c. 393/1003), al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Admits only usage he judged sound.
AI AI translation of the Arabic belowal-Rāghib · 502The word 'kull' (كل) denotes the joining together of the parts of a thing, and this is of two kinds: one of them is that which joins the essence of a thing and its states peculiar to it, conveying the sense of completene
al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 502/1108), al-Mufradāt. Quranic vocabulary, from core sense to Quranic usage.
AI AI translation of the Arabic belowLisān · 711Al-kull (الكل): a noun comprehending [all] the parts.
Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).
AI AI translation of the Arabic belowLane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.
E. W. Lane (d. 1876), An Arabic-English Lexicon. English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.
Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Technical definitions4 · Ibn ʿArabī’s Iṣṭilāḥ, al-Jurjānī’s Taʿrīfāt
الكل
في اللغة اسم مجموع المعنى ولفظه واحد، وفي الاصطلاح: اسم لجملة مركبة من أجزاء، والكل هو اسم للحق تعالى باعتبار الحضرة الأحدية الإلهية الجامعة للأسماء، ولذا يقال: أحد بالذات كل بالأسماء، وقيل: الكل: اسم لجملة مركبة من أجزاء محصورة، وكلمة كل عام تقتضي عموم الأسماء، وهي الإحاطة على سبيل الانفراد، وكلمة كلما تقتضي عموم الأفعال.
Al-kull (الكل): in language, a noun whose meaning is collective though its form is singular; in technical usage, a term for a totality composed of parts. Al-kull is also a name of the Real (God), Exalted, considered in respect of the Unitary Divine Presence that comprehends [all] the Names; hence it is said: 'One (aḥad) in Essence, All (kull) in Names.' It is also said: al-kull is a term for a totality composed of delimited parts; the expression 'kull' as a general term requires the universality of the Names — comprehensiveness on the basis of [each Name's] individual distinctness — while the expression 'kullamā' (whenever) requires the universality of acts. AI
الكلي الحقيقي
ما لا يمنع نفس تصوره من وقوع الشركة فيه، كالإنسان، وإنما سمي: كليا؛ لأن كلية الشيء إنما هي بالنسبة إلى الجزئي، والكلي جزء الجزئي، فيكون ذلك الشيء منسوبا إلى الكل، والمنسوب إلى الكل كلي.
Al-kullī al-ḥaqīqī (the real universal): that whose mere conception does not preclude the occurrence of sharing in it, such as 'human being.' It is called 'universal' (kullī) only because a thing's universality is relative to the particular (juzʾī), and the universal is [in a sense] a part of the particular, so that thing is attributed to the whole (kull), and what is attributed to the whole is [termed] universal (kullī). AI
الكلي الإضافي
هو الأعم من شيء "اعلم" أنه إذا قلنا: الحيوان -مثلا- كلي، فهناك أمور ثلاثة: الحيوان حيث هو، ومفهوم الكلي والحيوان من حيث أنه يعرض له الكلية، والمجموع المركب منهما: أي من الحيوان والكلي، والتغاير بين هذه المفهومات ظاهر؛ فإن مفهوم الكلي: ما لا يمنع نفس تصوره عن وقوع الشركة فيه، ومفهوم الحيوان: الجسم النامي الحساس المتحرك بالإرادة، فالأول يسمى: كليا طبيعيا؛ لأنه موجود في الطبيعة، أي في الخارج، والثاني: كليا منطقيا؛ لأن المنطق إنما يبحث عنه.
Al-kullī al-iḍāfī (the relative universal): that which is more general than something. Know that when we say, for instance, 'animal is universal,' there are three things [involved]: the animal as such; the concept of 'universal' and the animal insofar as universality is predicated of it; and the composite aggregate of the two, i.e. of 'animal' and 'universal.' The distinction among these concepts is clear: the concept of 'universal' is that whose mere conception does not preclude sharing in it; the concept of 'animal' is the growing, sentient body moving by volition. The first is called the 'natural universal' (kullī ṭabīʿī), because it exists in nature, i.e. in external reality; the second is called the 'logical universal' (kullī manṭiqī), because logic is what investigates it. AI
موضوع كل علم
ما يبحث فيه عن عوارضه الذاتية، كبدن الإنسان لعلم الطب؛ فإنه يبحث فيه عن أحواله من حيث الصحة والمرض، وكالكلمات لعلم النحو؛ فإنه يبحث فيه عن أحوالها من حيث الإعراب والبناء.
The subject-matter (mawḍūʿ) of every science: that concerning which its essential accidents are investigated — such as the human body for the science of medicine, in which its states of health and illness are investigated; and such as words for the science of grammar (naḥw), in which their states of declension (iʿrāb) and fixed form (bināʾ) are investigated. AI
The same letters, turned
The same three letters in all their orders. Choose one.
an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them
Do these six share one core meaning?
Reference
About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary
al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).
A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).
Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.
Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.
The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).
The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.
Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:
- 1 of 6319
- 2 of 6218
- 3 of 6164
- 4 of 6155
- 5 of 6107
- 6 of 658
- 1 of 6148
- 2 of 6108
- 3 of 6157
- 4 of 6179
- 5 of 6111
- 6 of 643
Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.
Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.
Letters & sound
- كkāfback of the tongue · voiceless, stopSīb. · I. Jinnī
- لlāmedge of the tongue · voiced, in betweenI. Jinnī
- لlāmedge of the tongue · voiced, in betweenI. Jinnī
How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.
Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)
Reference
How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
ك
ومن أسفل من موضع القاف من اللسان قليلا ومما يليه من الحنك الأعلى مخرج الكاف
From a little lower on the tongue than the qāf's place, and the upper palate next to it, is the place of the kāf. Sībawayh, lines 26551–26552 ↗
ومن أسفل من ذلك وأدنى إلى مقدم الفم مخرج الكاف
From lower than that and nearer the front of the mouth is the place of the kāf. Ibn Jinnī, line 973 ↗
ل
ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان، من بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى، مما فويق الضاحك والناب والرباعية والثنية، مخرج اللام
From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it, just above the premolar, the canine, the lateral and the central incisor, is the place of the lām. Ibn Jinnī, lines 977–978 ↗
ل
ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان، من بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى، مما فويق الضاحك والناب والرباعية والثنية، مخرج اللام
From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it, just above the premolar, the canine, the lateral and the central incisor, is the place of the lām. Ibn Jinnī, lines 977–978 ↗
Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.
In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
ك
Level of existence: الكرسي والقدمين · the Footstool and the two Feet
Divine Name: الشكور · al-Shakūr, the Grateful
Lunar mansion: النثرة · al-Nathra
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62083Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة
The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582ل
Level of existence: السماء الثالثة · the third heaven
Divine Name: القاهر · the Subduer (al-Qāhir)
Lunar mansion: العوا · al-ʿAwwā
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64654Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 7 line 2576 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
منها دون الألف فطبعها الحرارة واليبوسة
[Zāy and lām] of it, excluding alif: their nature is heat and dryness.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2577ل
Level of existence: السماء الثالثة · the third heaven
Divine Name: القاهر · the Subduer (al-Qāhir)
Lunar mansion: العوا · al-ʿAwwā
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64654Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 7 line 2576 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
منها دون الألف فطبعها الحرارة واليبوسة
[Zāy and lām] of it, excluding alif: their nature is heat and dryness.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2577Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
ك
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي إشارة إلى حقيقة العبودية الكاملة.
It is an indication of the reality of perfect servanthood.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي العبد الأسود أو القبيح.
It is the black or ugly slave/servant.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة إلى إضافة العبودية إليك، وقال مرة أخرى: فهي إشارة منك إليك بالعبودية.
It is an indication of attributing servanthood to you. On another occasion he said: it is an indication from you to yourself of servanthood.
ل
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي حصول المتكلم على شيء عظيم، وتكون إشارة إلى شيء عظيم.
It is the speaker's attaining of something great, and it serves as an indication of something great.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي لا نهاية له.
It is an indication of the thing that has no end.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة من المتكلم إلى وجود ذاته أو إلى ذاته.
It is an indication by the speaker of the existence of his self, or of his self.
ل
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي حصول المتكلم على شيء عظيم، وتكون إشارة إلى شيء عظيم.
It is the speaker's attaining of something great, and it serves as an indication of something great.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي لا نهاية له.
It is an indication of the thing that has no end.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة من المتكلم إلى وجود ذاته أو إلى ذاته.
It is an indication by the speaker of the existence of his self, or of his self.
Two-letter nucleus25 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterك ل
Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 27148 ↗
- كلمالكاف واللام والميم أصلان أحدهما يدل على نطق مفهم والآخر على جراحQ 75 · L27150
- كلبالكاف واللام والباء أصل واحد صحيح يدل على تعلق الشيء بالشيء في شدة وشدة جذبQ 6 · L27177
- كلتالكاف واللام والتاء ليس بأصل أصيل لكنهم يقولون الكلت الجمعL27192
- كلثالكاف واللام والثاء ليس بأصل أصيل لكنهم يقولون إلى بشيء وربماL27195
- كلحالكاف واللام والحاء أصل يدل على عبوس وشتامة في الوجهQ 1 · L27198
- كلدالكاف واللام والدال كلمة تدل على الصلابة في الشيء فالكلدة القطعة من الأرض الغليظة ومنه الحارث بن كلدةL27203
- كلزالكاف واللام والزاء يقولون إنه صحيح وإن الكلز الجمعL27207
- كلسالكاف واللام والسين يدل على امتلاء في الشيء يقولون تكلس تكلسا إذا روىL27211
- كلعالكاف واللام والعين كلمات تدل على درن ووسخ يقولون للشقاق والوسخ بالقدم كلع وقد كلعت رجله تكلع كلعا وإناء كلع إذا التبد عليه الوسخ وسقاء كلع إذا تراكب L27216
- كلفالكاف واللام والفاء أصل صحيح يدل على إيلاع بالشيء وتعلق بهQ 8 · L27222
- ملهالميم واللام والهاء يقولون هو ممتله العقل ذاهبهL30497
- ملثالميم واللام والثاء كلمةL30499
- ملجالميم واللام والجيم كلمةL30502
- ملحالميم واللام والحاء أصل صحيح له فروع تتقارب في المعنى وإن كان في ظاهرها بعض التفاوت فالأصل البياض منه الملح المعروف وسمي لبياضهQ 2 · L30506
- ملخالميم واللام والخاء أصل صحيح يدل على إخراج شيء من وعائه أو من غيره وامتلخت العقاب عينه أخرجتها وامتلخت اللجام من رأس الدابة والمليخ اللحم لا طعم له و L30530
- ملدالميم واللام والدال كلمة تدل على نعمة ولين وملاسة وشاب املد ناعم والملد المصدر وامرأة ملداء معتدلة الخلق حسنة وغصن أملود ناعم وملدت الأديم مرنته والإمL30536
- ملذالميم واللام والذال ذكروا فيه كلمتين أيضا الملذ أن يكون يمد الفرس ضبعيه في عدوه حتى لا يجد مزيدا وملذه بالرمح طعنه بهL30540
- ملسالميم واللام والسين أصل صحيح يدل على تجرد في شيء وألا يعلق به شيء فهو أملس ويقال للرجل الذي لا يلصق به ذم هو أملس الجلدL30544
- ملصالميم واللام والصاد قريب من ملس وهو يدل على إفلات الشيء بسرعة وأملص الشيء من يدي أفلت إملاصا وملص الرشاء من اليد يملصL30552
- ملطالميم واللام والطاء أصيل يدل على تسوية شيء وتسطيحه وملطت الحائط بالملاط أملطه تمليطا طينته وسويته والملاطان الجنبان كأنهما ملطا ملطا وابنا ملط العضدانL30557
- ملعالميم واللام والعين أصيل يدل على سرعة وخفة وملعت الناقة في سيرها وناقة ميلع فيعل منه والملع السرعة في المرور والاختطاف ومن الباب المليع الأرض لا نبات L30563
- ملغالميم واللام والغين كلمة يقولون الملغ الأحمق والتملغ التحمقL30567
- ملقالميم واللام والقاف أصل صحيح يدل على تجرد في الشيء ولينQ 2 · L30569
- ملكالميم واللام والكاف أصل صحيح يدل على قوة في الشيء وصحةQ 206 · L30577
- ملوالميم واللام والحرف المعتل أصل صحيح يدل على امتداد في شيء زمان أو غيره وأمليت القيد للبعير إملاء إذا وسعته وتمليت عمري إذا استمتعت به والملوان الليل وQ 10 · L30587
In the sister scriptsHebrew כ ל לSyriac ܟ ܠ ܠ
| Arabic | ك ل ل |
| Hebrew | כ ל ל |
| Syriac | ܟ ܠ ܠ |
| Ancient South Arabian (musnad) | 𐩫 𐩡 𐩡 |
| Phoenician | 𐤊 𐤋 𐤋 |
Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.
Lenses
AIClassical lexiconAl-Khalīl gives kall as the orphan, the man without a child, and the dependant who is a burden on another.plausible
The lexicographers in chronological order, from al-Khalīl to Lane.
Al-Khalīl gives kall as the orphan, the man without a child, and the dependant who is a burden on another. He gives kalīl as a blunt sword or a faltering tongue, kāll as the exhausted, and kull as distant kinship. He also lists killa (a mosquito net), iklīl (a jewelled band and a lunar mansion) and rawḍa mukallala (a meadow ringed with blossoms). Al-Jawharī repeats kall as dependants and burden, citing Q 16:76, and treats kalāla as inheritance not by close right. He quotes Ibn al-Aʿrābī's gloss of kalāla as distant cousins and derives it from takallalahu al-nasab: lineage surrounds a man at its edges, on the side of father and of child, while he has neither. Al-Rāghib defines kull as the joining of a thing's parts; one of its kinds conveys completeness, as in kull al-basṭ (Q 17:29). Ibn Manẓūr makes kull a noun gathering parts, cites Sībawayh, and explains al-ʿālim kull al-ʿālim as reaching the limit; Lane and the Maqāyīs were not supplied.
Draws on: al-Khalīl · al-Jawharī · al-Rāghib · Ibn Manẓūr
- al-Khalīl, Kitāb al-ʿAyn, s.v. kll
- al-Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ, s.v. kll
- al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt, s.v. kull
- Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿarab, s.v. kll
- Wiktionary: Arabic root ك ل ل (link not verified)
Letters & soundAl-Dabbāgh reads kāf as indicating the reality of perfect servanthood and lām as the speaker's attaining of something great.speculative
What the theorists of sound symbolism would say of these letters. Speculative by nature.
Al-Dabbāgh reads kāf as indicating the reality of perfect servanthood and lām as the speaker's attaining of something great. No correspondences of Ibn ʿArabī's are supplied for these letters. A reader might connect the doubled lām to closure and completion, extending Ibn Jinnī's general view that repeated letters mirror repeated or intensified meaning. That extension is the reader's and is not Ibn Jinnī's analysis of this root. Mainstream linguistics treats such readings as suggestive at most.
Draws on: al-Dabbāgh · imsās
- Aḥmad b. al-Mubārak, al-Ibrīz
- Ibn Jinnī, al-Khaṣāʾiṣ (link not verified)
Root structureThe permutations l-k-l and l-l-k are unattested, so Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation has no material to work on here.plausible
The two-letter nucleus (Ibn Fāris's own chapters) and the permutations of the letters (Ibn Jinnī).
The permutations l-k-l and l-l-k are unattested, so Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation has no material to work on here. Among Ibn Fāris's k-l siblings, three marginal roots are glossed as 'gathering': k-l-t, k-l-z and, in another sense, k-l-s ('fullness, being sated'). These sit suggestively near kull as the gathering of parts. Other siblings are k-l-m (intelligible speech; wounding), k-l-b (clinging with a strong pull), k-l-f (devoted attachment), k-l-d (hardness), k-l-ḥ (scowling) and k-l-ʿ (grime). The nearness of 'gathering' to 'all' is a juxtaposition, and Ibn Fāris himself calls k-l-t 'not a genuine root'.
Draws on: Ibn Fāris chapter siblings · permutations
- Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha, k-l chapter
Semitic kin & loanwordsThe word for 'all' is common Semitic: Hebrew kōl, Aramaic and Syriac kul, Akkadian kalû ('totality', with kala 'all of'), Geʿez kwəll, and Sabaic kl.well attested
Cognates in the sister languages, and whether the word was borrowed.
The word for 'all' is common Semitic: Hebrew kōl, Aramaic and Syriac kul, Akkadian kalû ('totality', with kala 'all of'), Geʿez kwəll, and Sabaic kl. Hebrew kālal ('to complete') and kālîl ('entire; whole offering') belong to the same root. Aramaic kəlīlā, 'crown, wreath', parallels Arabic iklīl. Kull is native Arabic. For the Qurʾānic kalāla, D. S. Powers proposed a link with Semitic kallatu, 'daughter-in-law', but the proposal is contested and not a secure etymology.
Draws on: common Semitic · BDB
- BDB, כֹּל, p. 481 ↗
- Wiktionary: כל ↗
- D. S. Powers, Studies in Qurʾan and Ḥadīth: The Formation of the Islamic Law of Inheritance (1986)
Quranic exegesisMost occurrences are kull ('all, every') and kullamā ('whenever').plausible
How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.
Most occurrences are kull ('all, every') and kullamā ('whenever'). Kullamā frames repeated action in the similes and descriptions of Q 2:20 and 2:25. Al-Ṭabarī reports extended disagreement over kalāla at Q 4:12 and 4:176, including ʿUmar's avowed uncertainty and Abū Bakr's definition of one who leaves neither child nor parent. The exegetes also dispute whether the word names the deceased, the heirs, or the kinship itself. Al-Rāzī uses universal statements such as 'He knows every thing' (Q 2:29) in kalām arguments about the scope of divine knowledge and power. At Q 16:76, kall is the dependant who is a burden on his master, matching al-Jawharī.
Philosophy & kalāmFrom this root falsafa forms kullī ('universal') in opposition to juzʾī ('particular'), and logicians distinguish kull ('whole') from kullī.well attested
The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.
From this root falsafa forms kullī ('universal') in opposition to juzʾī ('particular'), and logicians distinguish kull ('whole') from kullī. Avicenna holds that God knows particulars 'in a universal manner' (ʿalā naḥw kullī). In the Tahāfut, al-Ghazālī counts the resulting denial of God's knowledge of particulars among the three doctrines for which he charges the philosophers with unbelief. Avicenna also treats universals as existing in the mind, not in concrete things.
Draws on: falsafa logic · Avicenna · al-Ghazālī
- SEP: Ibn Sina ↗
- al-Ghazālī, Tahāfut al-falāsifa, discussion 13
Akbarian readingIn Faṣṣ Ādam, kull marks totality at structural points.plausible
The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.
In Faṣṣ Ādam, kull marks totality at structural points. The comprehensive being encloses 'the whole affair' (al-amr kullahu). God first brought 'the whole world' into being as a levelled, unensouled form, like an unpolished mirror. The whole affair is from Him, beginning and end, and 'to Him the whole affair returns' (Q 11:123). The same chapter develops al-umūr al-kulliyya, universals that have no existence in their own entity yet are intelligible and govern everything that exists. This sets his use of kullī against the philosophers' mental universals.
Draws on: Fuṣūṣ, Faṣṣ Ādam
- Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam
- Q 11:123 ↗
Reference