in the mind. Knowing the limits of what names denote is obligatory, for human welfare depends on this in the use of speech, which Allah has made a mercy for them. This applies especially to the scope of terms Allah has revealed in His Books, such as intoxicating drink and usury. These limits distinguish what falls within the named category and is covered by that name and the attributes it signifies from what does not. Hence Allah condemned those who called things by names for which He had sent down no authority, for such a person attributes a false quality to something, as when divinity is attributed to idols.

Spoken names are learned through hearing. Conceiving the meanings themselves, however, is innate: it arises through inward and outward sensation, through sensory perception and direct observation by a person’s inward and outward sight. Through hearing, a person learns their names, and with the heart grasps their shared and distinctive attributes. Allah brought us forth from our mothers’ wombs knowing nothing, and gave us hearing, sight, and hearts. As for contrived definitions, they offer no benefit to reason, sensory perception, or hearing, except insofar as they serve as names, only at greater length, or distinguish things, as other attributes do.

Thus, when they recognized this, they divided definitions into two kinds:

One is based on the name: it explains what falls within its scope. The other is based on the attribute, the reality, or the thing named; and they claimed to reveal