BİRİNCİ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · ONUNCU FASIL · Altıncı Madde
**Article Six**
Concerning the state of animals, a summary is presented.
O esteemed one! [104/b] Know that philosophers have stated: The third of the three compositions is the animal species, belonging to the bestial soul. It is the initial stage of maturity in a natural body devoid of distinction, and it moves through volitional movement.
There are two primary movements pertaining to the bestial soul: one is the power of perception (kuvvet-i müdrike), and the other is the power of motion (kuvvet-i muharrike).
The power of perception is either external or internal to the body. There are five powers that are external to the body: hearing (sem‘), sight (basar), smell (şemm), taste (zevk), and touch (lems). The power of hearing is situated within the nerves placed in the lower part of the ear.
Within these nerves—as if a drum—air is trapped. If a wave of air, shaped by the quality of the sound produced by a forceful impact or loud noise, reaches and excites those nerves, then the sense of hearing present therein perceives that sound. The power of sight is placed at the junction of two empty sinews which meet and intersect in front of the mind, extending outward to reach the oily layer of the eye. This junction is also called the confluence of the two lights (mecma‘u’n-nûreyn). The power of smell is placed within the two protrusions (fonksiyonsuz şey) that stand before the mind. Taste is a power which occurs within the nerves laid upon the tongue. The sensation of taste arises through the medium of moisture secreted from the salivary glands. To this moisture are mixed minute particles from the food taken, and they touch the body of the tongue.
Thus, the taste of the food is perceived. The power of touch is situated in the nerves that permeate most of the living being’s body. The five internal powers within living beings are: the common sense (hiss-i müşterek), imagination (hayâl), fancy (vâhime), memory (hâfıza), and executive power (mutasarrıfa).
The common sense (hiss-i müşterek) is connected to the front of the first cavity within the mind. It initially receives all the forms reaching the external sensory organs mentioned above, and distributes them to the other internal powers of perception. Imagination is placed at the end of the mind’s first cavity. It receives all the forms from the common sense and, after those forms have vanished, preserves them, depicting and representing them. Imagination is, in a way, an archive (hazine) for the common sense. Fancy (vâhime) is located at the end of the middle cavity within the mind. This power perceives subtle meanings present in things sensed, which cannot be perceived through external senses.
For example, fancy allows a wolf to judge that something from which it must flee is a dangerous creature, while its cub is an endearing animal. Memory is found in front of the back cavity of the mind. It preserves the subtle meanings perceived by fancy, which are not sensed. Memory is the archive of fancy. The executive power (mutasarrıfa) is located in front of the middle cavity of the mind. Its nature and quality are as follows: it combines some images and meanings from imagination and memory with others, and separates some from others. If reason employs this executive power within its own understandings, it is called thinking (mütefekkire). If this executive power is employed within what fancy perceives, it is called imaginative faculty (mütehayyile).
The power of motion in the bestial soul is twofold: the motivating power (kuvvet-i bâ’ise) and the active, creative power (kuvvet-i fâile). The motivating power is also called the power of inclination (kuvvet-i şevkıyye). It is a power that, when an object desired or disliked is pictured in imagination, impels the active power to move the organs. If the motivating power incites the active power towards acquiring beneficial objects or any harmful thing with the expectation of pleasure, it is called the power of desire (kuvvet-i şehvâniyye). If the motivating power directs the active power to repel harmful or beneficial things imagined for superior desires, it is called the power of anger (kuvvet-i gadabiyye). The active power is a force which prepares the organs for movement by contracting and relaxing muscles composed of sinew, ligament, flesh, and zardan.
“The Exalted God, in every action possessing countless wisdoms, is free from all imperfection. His glory is exalted.”