Medieval Islamic Philosophical Writings

be retained when they are being uttered in times of instruction because

of their resemblance to the popular concepts from which the expressions
have been transferred. They may be confused with one another and it
may give rise to the illusion that they are numerically identical with the
popular concepts and that they are in agreement in their expressions.
That is why one group is of the opinion that they should not be expressed
using expressions for their similes, but that it is better to invent words
for them, which had not been used by them to indicate anything before
that, composed from their letters according to their habits in shaping their
expressions. But these respects of similarity have a certain utility when
teaching a novice in an art in making him understand these concepts
quickly, since they are articulated using expressions that express similar
concepts, with which he was acquainted before being initiated into the
art. But one must guard against being led into equivocation, in the same
way that one guards against homonymous words.
 The last paragraph has been omitted, since it is difficult to understand without the benefit of the
final section of the text.

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