The All-Encompassing Book

Yūsuf al-Baṣīr

Kitāb al-muḥtawī

Before 1021

We define substance as “existing [or being]” in this sense: that it is found in a point of space. This means that one knows the difference between its being to the right or its being to the left, and that the substance is defined differently as it moves to different points of space, insofar as it is specified by the point [in space] where it is…

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The All-Encompassing Book (Kitāb al-muḥtawī) is an expanded version of The Book of Distinction. It discusses God’s existence and oneness, power, and justice. The first excerpts here enunciate some principles of atomism, a physical theory popular among some Muslim kalām thinkers and a few Karaites like al-Baṣīr, according to which matter is made up of irreducible atoms, as opposed to being infinitely divisible. The second excerpts argue for the self-sufficiency of God; in other words, God’s existence is not caused by an external agent.

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