—the conclusion—is, in itself, sound.

The Logical Syllogism’s Lack of Efficacy in Acquiring Knowledge

Yet Muslim dialecticians, when examining this Greek logic attributed to Aristotle, the author of the Organon, have shown that the forms and materials of syllogism the logicians laboriously catalogue yield no scientific benefit. Whatever can be known through their logical syllogism can be known without it, and whatever cannot be known without it cannot be known with it. Their syllogism, therefore, neither secures knowledge of an unknown otherwise unattainable nor is it needed for knowledge already attainable without it. In matters of knowledge it is altogether ineffectual, whether present or absent, while burdening one with lengthy and wearisome prolixity. It brings no benefit to learning, yet it taxes the mind, squanders time, and multiplies incoherent chatter.

Now, the purpose of proofs and demonstrations is to clarify knowledge and the paths that lead to it. The Muslim dialecticians said that this logic fails to serve that purpose; indeed, it can actually impede it because of the excessive mental strain it induces. It resembles the case of someone who wishes to travel to Mecca—or any other land. If he takes the well-known straight road, he arrives in a short time with moderate effort. But if he is handed over to a guide who leads him through rugged byways—taʿāsīf, and al-ʿasf in Arabic means leaving the main road so that he circles roundabout paths and follows crooked tracks—he grows extremely weary before reaching the straight road, if he reaches it at all. He may arrive at a place other than his intended destination and adopt false beliefs, or he may become so fatigued that he can go no farther. Thus he attains neither his objective nor any relief, remaining instead in simple ignorance; such is the state of these logicians.

For this reason, those who were present at the deathbed of the foremost logician of his era, al-Khūnajī—the author of the Mukhtaṣar, Kashf al-Asrār, and other works—narrate that he said at the moment of death, “I die, and I have not…"