What does Al-bṣyra mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-bṣyra

Discover the meaning of the term Al-bṣyra (بصيرة) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition Al-bṣyra

Al-bṣyra according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

A faculty of the heart illuminated by the light of holiness (nur al-quds), through which the realities of things and their inwards are seen, like the sight for the soul, through which the forms of things and their appearances are seen; it is what the sages call: the theoretical rational faculty, and the holy faculty (al-quwwa al-qudsiyya).

Al-bṣyra according to Mufradat (Ar-Raghib)

It is a faculty in the heart through which the intelligibles are perceived.

Al-bṣyra according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

The faculty of the heart illuminated by the light of holiness, through which the realities of things are seen; it is what the sages call the theoretical rational faculty and the holy faculty.

Al-bṣyra according to Mu'jam al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyya

It is gaining insight into a thing and reflecting upon it with the intellect; al-basira also means the proof (hujja), as in the words of the Most High: (Quran 75:14: "Rather, man shall be a proof against himself").

Al-bṣyra according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

A faculty of the heart illuminated by the light of holiness, which sees the realities of things and their inwards, like the sight for the soul, which sees by it the forms of things and their appearance; it is what the sages call the theoretical rational faculty and the holy faculty; thus did Ibn al-Kammal establish it (al-Ta'rifat, p. 47). Al-Raghib said (al-Mufradat, p.

49): al-basar is said of the seeing organ, as in "a glance (kalamah) with the eye", and of the faculty within it; and it is said of the perceiving faculty of the heart: basira and basar; basira is hardly ever said of the organ; from the first form one says "absarta" (you saw) and from the second "absartahu" (you saw him) and "basartu bihi" (I perceived by it); and it is rarely said of the sense when the vision of the heart is not joined to it, as in: (Quran 12:108: "I call to Allah upon clear insight"), that is, knowledge and verification. The blind man is called basir (seeing), by contrast, or because of the faculty of basira of his heart; and His saying: (Quran 6:103: "Sights do not reach Him"), that is, the minds and the intellects, as Ali, may Allah ennoble his face, said: tawhid is not to imagine Him; and he said: all that you perceive is other than Him. The bansar (the index finger) is well known, and Abu Basir, like raghif (a loaf), is among the names of the dog.

[Section of the letter Dad]