Touching the Point: Mu'ayyadzada 'Abd Al-Rahman Efendi's Treatise on Juz' Alladhi La Yatajazza': An Analysis, Critical Edition, and Translation

Abstract

This article provides the analysis, translation, and critical edition (tahqiq) of Mu'ayyadzada 'Abd al-Rahman Efendi's (d. 922/1516) treatise on al-juz' alladhi la yatajazza' (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 risala is taken into consideration, one can regard it as a continuation of the tradition of the Sharh al-Mawaqif 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 risala'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 (tamass) faced by the author to inform the readers of its background. The following sections that focuses directly on the risala'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 (baqa' al-tamass) in the Avicennian concept, and (c) focusing on the well-known doubt (al-shubhat al-mashhura), 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 risala and its translation.