ABSTRACT
Bodies which are receptive to composition are also receptive to change (junbish ) from one place to another. Whenever there is a motion, there is a way (sū) and a direction (jihat). Consequently, there must be a direction for bodies. Direction, however, is not an intellegible concept (’aqlī), for if it were there could not be a sensible indication. Furthermore, it would lack movement. Direction, therefore, can be attributed to something which has both a sensible indication and an existence. It follows that direction cannot be without limit (bī nihāya). 2 This holds true for the downward (furū sū) direction as well as for the upward direction (bar sū). We have discovered, then, that there is a limit (ḥadd) for each dimension (bu’d-hā). Another point to be noted is that if the downward direction were such that one could arrive at it only at an indefinite time ( ghazr al-nihāya), then it could not be reached. If this were true, then either it could not be indicated, or every place would be downward. All places would hence be identical. Consequently, if things had an identical downward direction, one would not be above another. Furthermore, something in such a place cannot have an upward direction rather than a downward direction because under such circumstances the downward direction and the upward direction are not identical. The distinction between the upward and the downward directions is that one is nearer to the downward direction while the other is the downward direction. If ‘being downward’ were not something in itself, and if there were only an absolute downward direction, then there could be neither proximity nor distance, neither similarity nor dissimilarity as measures of the direction of movements. But since no sensible indication can be made to it, how can ‘upward’ be applied to it? ‘Upward’ and ‘downward’, therefore, are attributed to things that have been realized, things which exist and which are limited. They are undoubtedly limits of dimensions whose differences are due to the different directions, as being below is ultimately opposed to being above. This is also true of other directions. Consequently, we must disclose the nature of differences among these directions.
