Touching the Point: Mu’ayyadzāda ‘Abd Al-Rahmān Efendi’s Treatise on Juz’ Alladhī Lā Yatajazza’: An Analyses, Critical Edition, and Translation

Abstract

This article provides the analysis, translation, and critical edition (taḥqīq) of Muʾayyadzāda ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Efendi's (d. 922/1516) treatise on al-juzʾ alladhī lā yatajazzaʾ (Treatise on the indivisible part), which is important in the debates of atomism in the history of Islam. If the subject and the method of the risāla is taken into consideration, one can regard it as a continuation of the tradition of the Sharḥ al-Mawāqif glosses. After a brief discussion in the article's introduction related to the importance of the work and its topic, the copies of the manuscripts that contributed to this critical edition process, as well as the risāla's ownership, will be presented. The section on content analysis is divided mainly into three parts. The first one (a) summarizes the problem of contiguity (tamāss) faced by the author to inform the readers of its background. The following sections that focuses directly on the risāla's content is (b) an overview of the eighty geometrical proofs set by the author to cancel the idea of contiguity's survival in time (baqā' altamāss) in the Avicennian concept, and (c) focusing on the "well-known doubt" (al-shubhat al-mashhūra), which examines the time-instant relationship in the context of how the sphere touches the surface. The article's analytical section ends with the conclusion and the bibliography, including the critical edition, based upon the four copies of the risāla and its translation.