Finding the condition (ḥāl) of bodies (ajsām)-when they are composed and how they can exist (shāyad buwad)

A body which is realized is either one which has a single mode (gūna) and a single nature (ṭab’) which is called ‘simple’ (basīṭ), or it is not of one nature but a composite of pluralities of bodies and natures, such that, from a composite, a use (fāida’ī) arises which is not present in the simple body. ¹ An example of the former is ink where the combination of elements results in a use unlike that of alum or gall. Although there is a power (fi’lī)m the composite which is absent from the simple body, the simple body is both basic (aṣl) and prior (muqaddam) to the composite in being realized as a simple, and thereafter as a composite. Conceptually (qismat-i ‘aqlī) two divisions (du gūna) of a simple body can be established. Due to one a composite is formed, such that something of another kind is realized with its closely related companion, whereas, on the contrary, no composite results from the second which has found its own perfection (kamāl) by the first existence (awwal wujūd). ²