nasafi 2020-07-19
[The Source of knowledge] 1

وَأَسْبَابُ الْعِلْمِ لِلْخَلْقِ ثَلَاثَةٌ : الحَوَاسُّ السَّلِيمَةُ ، وَالْخَبَرُ الصَّادِقُ ، والعَقْلُ .

002 – The sources of knowledge2 for all creation (khalq)3 are three: the sound senses (al-ḥawāss al-salīma), true report (al-khabar al-ṣādiq), and reason (ʿaql).

 

  1. Elder, Earl Edgar, A Commentary on the Creed of Islam. NY: Columbia University Press, 1950, p. 15 with modifications, Elder has the section titled “Chapter 2: The Causes of Knowledge.”
  2. Here I render asbāb al-ʿilm “sources of knowledge” alternatively and more literally can be rendered as “means of [gaining] knowledge” whereas “sources” is better language.
  3. Creation here refers to the three types of sentient beings: humans, angels, and jinn.