Conceptions · The five universals · 1 of 5

Genus

al-jins

الجِنْس

A genus (jins) is a universal predicated of many things that differ in their realities, in answer to the question “what is it?”

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Explanation

Asked about a human and a horse together, “what are they?”, the answer is “animal”: one answer covering things of different realities.

A genus is part of the essence of what it is predicated of, so it is an essential (dhātī) universal.

Also written as: jins, genus.

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