Language between God and the Poets

Alexander Key is Assistant Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature in the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages at Stanford University.

• AcknowledgmentsNote on Translation Practice, Transliterations, and FootnotesOpening Statement1. ContextsThe Eleventh CenturyThe Four ScholarsAr-RagibIbn FurakIbn SinaAl-G?urg?aniThe Madrasa2. PrecedentsIn Translation from GreekIn Book TitlesIn the Arabic DictionaryIn the Opening Sentence of the First Arabic BookIn a Work of Lexical TheoryAdherents of laf ?, Adherents of ma?na, and the Pursuit of ?aqiqahLiterary CriticismPolitics and SocietyLinguisticsTheologyTheologians (Mu?ammar)3. TranslationLanguage Use (Wittgenstein)Core Conceptual Vocabulary (Kuhn)Ma?na1, ma?na2, ma?na3, ma?na4Two Distinct LexemesFour General HeadingsIntrinsic Causal DeterminantsEntities and Entitative AttributesDivergent ConceptsA Grid of Principles and ContextsLaf ?1–3 and ma?na1–3MeaningThe Distraction of the Sign (Saussure)Homonymy or Polysemy?Folk Theory or Technical Terminology?4. The LexiconPrinciples (al-u?ul)IntentName, Named, and Naming (ism, musamma, tasmiyah)Accuracy and Beyond (?aqiqah and mag?az)5. TheologyFraming TheologyIslamic Theology (?ilm al-kalam)Relativism? Words or ThingsTheologies Directed at the WorldLanguage in ?Abd al-G?abbarAtoms, Bodies, and Accidents with Ibn FurakThe World Connected to GodGod’s ma?aniAcquisition (kasb)God’s SpeechGod’s NamesSpeech in the Soul (kalam nafsi)Human AccuracyObjective TruthAccurate Language about the WorldAccurate Accounts of Literature and PhysicsKnowledge Is EverythingEverything Is Knowledge6. LogicIbn Sina between Greece and the WestGreece in the Arabic Eleventh CenturyThe Arabic Eleventh Century and the WestTranslation in Three Directions (Greek, Latin, and Persian)Mental Contents in Ibn Sina’s Conceptual VocabularyMathematical OriginsThree Existences (triplex status naturae)Marks on the Soul (al-at_ar allati fi an-nafs)The LexiconIntentIbn Sina’s Mental Contents in ActionBeing Is Said in Many Ways and pros henAttributes (?ifat)Logical Assent (ta?diq)First and Second Position (prima et secunda positio)Aristotelian Philosophy Done with Arabic Conceptual Vocabulary7. PoeticsWhat Is Good ma?na?Self-Consciously Theoretical Answers in MonographsPoetics from Axes to Zones (aq?ab and aq?ar)Syntax TimeLexical Accuracy (?aqiqah)Syntax (na?m)Logic and GrammarThe Grammar of Metaphor and Comparison (isti?arah vs. tas?bih)Essence8. ConclusionReferencesIndex