like one who has built his foundation on sand, which may collapse into it at any moment; or like one about whom Allah Almighty has said: ﴿أَمْ مَنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَى شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍ فَانْهَارَ بِهِ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ﴾[1]; “Or he who has built his foundation on the weak edge of a cliff, which suddenly collapses into the fire of Hell.”

Intellect; the Criterion for Knowing

The human being is a distinct animate being, and his distinction lies in a power hidden in his self that enables him to recognize his benefit and harm more than any other discovered animate being, so that he may increase his survival by achieving his benefit and prevent his decline by avoiding his harm. This hidden power is “the intellect.” There is no doubt that the human body is insufficient for his superiority over other beings; because, compared to the bodies of many of them, it is weaker and more vulnerable and does not possess any prominent or noteworthy advantage. His soul, meaning an unknown power that makes him move and grow physically, is also like the souls of other animate beings, and it cannot be sufficient for his superiority over other animate beings that move and grow physically like him. The only thing that exists in the human being and not in other beings is the intellect, which is able to understand universal concepts and apply them to particular instances, and through an effort called “thinking,” it finds the way from what it knows to what it does not know. This power may also exist in other animate beings, but it is undoubtedly greater in the human being, which is why it has made him dominant over other animate beings. If there were another animate being that understood more than the human being does, it would undoubtedly have dominated the human being and used him for its own benefit, whereas this has not happened, and human dominance over other animate beings is evident. This superiority of the human being is only the product of his intellect, and there is no other distinction for him. Therefore, a human who lacks intellect or does not use it sufficiently has no superiority over other animate beings; rather, he is inferior to them;