و الثاني كالإمام و المأموم فإنك إن اعتبرت المبدأ هو المحراب...

و الثاني كالإمام و المأموم فإنك إن اعتبرت المبدأ هو المحراب كان الإمام هو السابق على من يليه من المأمومين ثم من يليه على من يليه و إن اعتبرت المبدأ هو الباب كان أمر السبق و اللحوق بالعكس. و يقابل السبق و التقدم بالرتبة اللحوق و التأخر بالرتبة. و منها السبق بالشرف و هو السبق في الصفات الكمالية كتقدم العالم على الجاهل و الشجاع على الجبان. l. THE MEANING OF PRIORITY, POSTERIORITY AND COEXISTENCE Priority (sabq) and posteriority (luhûq) are among the characteristics of existents qua existents.

That is because two entities often share, as existents, a relation to a source of existence that is not the same for each of them. An example of it is the relation of ‘two’ and ‘three’ to ‘one;’ ‘two’ being closer to ‘one’ than ‘three’ is called prior and antecedent, and ‘three’ is called posterior and subsequent. At times the common relation is the same for both the things, in which case they are called ‘coexistent’ and their condition is called ‘coexistence’ (ma’iyyah).

The metaphysicians have mentioned several kinds of priority and posteriority derived through induction. (i) Temporal priority (al-sabq al-zamânî), in which the prior and the posterior are not contemporaneous. An example of it is the priority of some parts of time to other parts, such as that of yesterday to today and the priority of events of a preceding period to those of a subsequent period. Its opposite is temporal posteriority (al-luhûq al-zamânî).

(ii) Priority by nature (al-sabq bi al-thab’) is the priority of the incomplete cause to the effect, like the priority of two to three. (iii) Priority by causality (al-sabq bi al-’illiyyah) is the priority of the complete cause to its effect. (iv) Priority by virtue of quiddity (al-sabq bi al-mâhiyyah, also called al-taqaddum bi al-tajawhur) is the priority of the constituting causes of quiddity to their effects, like the priority of the parts of a specific quiddity (i.e.

genus and differentia) to the species. The priority of a quiddity to its propria (lawâzim), such as the priority of four to evenness, has also been considered as belonging to this kind. Its opposite is posteriority by virtue of quiddity (al-luhûq bi al-mâhiyyah or al-ta’akhkhur bi al-tajawhur). The above three kinds, viz. priority by nature, priority by causality and priority by virtue of quiddity, are called ‘priority by virtue of essence’ (al-sabq bi al-dzât).

(v) Priority by virtue of laterality (al-sabq bi al-haqîqah) is when what is ‘prior’ has a quality that is accidentally (i.e.