Eighth to the Sixteenth Century - Rashid Islamic Center

Primary Sources • 237motion necessarily exists in some bodies, for that which is possibleis that which exists in some possessors of its substance; as the (artof) writing which may be affirmed as a pos sibility for Muhammad,though it is not in him in actuality, since it does exist in some humansubstance, i.e., in another man. Motion, therefore, necessarily existsin some bodies, and exists in the simple body, exist ing necessarily inthe simple body; accordingly body exists and motion exists.Now it has been said that there may not be motion when a bodyexists. Accordingly, there will be motion when body exists, and therewill not be motion when body exists, and this is an absurdity and animpossible contradiction, and it is not possible for there to be bodyand not motion; thus, when there is a body there is motion necessarily.It is sometimes assumed that it is possible for the body of theuniverse to have been at rest originally, having the possibility to move,and then to have moved. This opinion, however, is false of necessity:for if the body of the universe was at rest originally and then moved,then (either) the body of the universe would have to be a generationfrom nothing or eternal.If it is a generation from nothing, the coming to be of being fromnothing being generation, then its becoming is motion in accordancewith our previous classification of motion, (viz.) that generation isone of the species of motion. If, then, body is not prior (to motion,motion) is (of) its essence and therefore the generation of a body cannever precede motion. It was said, however, to have been originallywithout motion: Thus it was, and no motion existed, and it was not,and no motion existed, and this is an impossible contradiction and itis impossible, if a body is a generation from nothing, for it to be priorto motion.If, on the other hand, the body (of the universe) is eternal, havingrested and then moved, it having had the possibility to move, then thebody of the universe, which is eternal, will have moved from actualrest to actual movement, whereas that which is eternal does not move,as we have explained previously. The body of the universe is thenmoving and not moving, and this is an impossible contradiction andit is not possible for the body of the universe to be eternal, resting inactuality, and then to have moved into movement in actuality.