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a substance. This is the position adopted by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and other later philosophers.
As for the early philosophers—Aristotle and those of his school—they used to call Him a substance, and it is from them that the Christians inherited this term, for Aristotle lived before Christ—
جَوْهَرًا. وَهَذَا قَوْلُ ابْنِ سِينَا وَأَمْثَالِهِ مِنْ مُتَأَخِّرِي الْمُتَفَلْسِفَةِ.
وَأَمَّا قُدَمَاءُ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ؛ كَأَرِسْطُو وَأَمْثَالِهِ؛ فَكَانُوا يُسَمُّونَهُ جَوْهَرًا؛ وَعَنْهُمْ أَخَذَتِ النَّصَارَى هَذِهِ التَّسْمِيَةَ؛ فَإِنَّ أَرِسْطُو كَانَ قَبْلَ الْمَسِيحِ