‘Utarid The planet Mercury or its sphere (falak)...

‘Utarid The planet Mercury or its sphere (falak); see also al-kawakib al-sayyarah. al-‘aql al-awwal The first intelligence, i.e. the first effusion or emanation from God, the Necessary Being (al-wajib al-wujud) or the First Principle (al-mabda’ al-awwal). The existence of the first intelligence is possible in itself as well as necessary through the First Principle; further it knows its own essence as well as the essence of the First Principle.

From its twofold existence and twofold knowledge springs, according to the Muslim Peripatetic philosophers like al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, the whole series of emanations, i.e. the nine celestial spheres with their nine intelligences as well as their nine souls. See also al-‘uqul al-‘asharah.

al-‘aql bi’l-fi‘l Intellect in action or the actualised intellect which, through the illumination that it receives from the agent intellect al-‘aql al-fa‘‘al (q.v.), is activated into thinking upon the universal forms of objects as well as ultimate concepts. al-‘aql bi’l-malakah Habitual intellect; see al-‘aql al-mustafad. al-‘aql al-‘amali Practical reason or intellect which enables us to adopt the right course of action to attain what is useful and good.

al-‘aql al-fa‘‘al The active intellect or the agent intellect, the lowest of the intelligences of the celestial spheres which gives "form" (surah, q.v.) to individual things, and so is called wahib al-suwar (q.v.), i.e. the giver of forms or dator formarum. Active intellect is continually in action and it rouses the material or potential intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani, q.v. al-‘aql bi’lfi‘l, q.v.) from its state of latency by activating in it the thought of the universal forms and eternal truths.

This transforms the material or potential intellect in to intellect in action (al-‘aql bi’l-fi‘l) which being more and more actualised through the illumination of al-‘aql al-fa‘‘al becomes similar to it and thus attains the status of the acquired intellect, i.e. of al-‘aql al-mustafad (q.v.). The problem of intellects so keenly discussed by all the Muslim Peripatetics is much more complicated and subtle than can be described here.

It, however, originated from somewhat obscure and ambiguous statement of Aristotle in the last book of his treatise on the soul (De Anima), in which he makes the distinction between the creative or active intellect and the passive intellect.