And when they are told, “To affirm the existence of such a thing is impossible according to the self-evident dictates of reason,” they reply, “Rather, it is possible, as shown by the fact that universals are possible and do exist, yet cannot be pointed to.” They overlook the fact that universals exist as universals only in the mind, not in external reality. Thus, their claims about origination and the final return rest on fantasies whose falsity is evident even to most ignorant people.

There is much inconsistency concerning the spirit among both those who negate and those who affirm. The reason is that the spirit—which the philosophers call the rational soul—is not of the same kind as this body, nor of the same kind as the elements or the things generated from them. Rather, it belongs to another kind, distinct from all these. Consequently, some know it only through negative descriptions that distinguish it from observable bodies, while others classify it as belonging to the same kind as observable bodies. Both views are mistaken.

An unqualified assertion that the spirit is a body, or that it is not a body, requires clarification. People assign the word “body” various technical meanings that differ from its linguistic meaning. According to the authorities on language, it means the physical body. In this sense, the spirit is not a body, which is why people speak of “the spirit and the body.” As Allah Most High says:

“When you see them, their bodies please you, and if they speak, you listen to their speech.”

And He Most High says:

“And has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature.”