Some take these words to be spoken of Adam, whose body, according to tradition, was first a figure of clay, and was left for forty years to dry, before God breathed into it; but others understand them of man in general and of the time he lies in the womb. (See al-Baiẓāwī, in loco.)
AL-INSĀNU ʾL-KĀMIL (الانسان الكامل). “The perfect man.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for one in whom are combined all the attributes of divinity and of humanity. (Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt, in loco). Also title of a mystic work by ʿAbdu ʾl-Karīm ibn Ibrahīm al-Jīlī (lived A.H. 767–811).
INSHĀʾ (انشاء). Lit. “Constructing; raising-up.” The term is particularly applied to literary compositions and forms of letter-writing.
Mr. Lane, in his Modern Egyptians, vol. i. p. 272, mentions the Shaik͟h of the great Mosque, the Azhar, as the author of a collection of Arabic letters on various subjects, which are intended as models of epistolary style, such a collection being called an Inshāʾ.
INSHĀʾA ʾLLĀHU TAʿĀLĀ (ان شاء الله تعالى). “If it should please God Almighty.” A very frequent ejaculation amongst Muslims. [[ISTISNAʾ].]
AL-INSHIRĀḤ (الانشراح). “Expanding.” The title of the xcivth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which opens with the words “Have we not expanded thy breast.” It is supposed to allude to the opening of Muḥammad’s heart in his infancy, when it is said to have been taken out and cleansed of original sin. (See al-Baiẓāwī, in loco.)
INSOLVENCY of a debtor is established by a judicial decree; and after such a declaration a bequest by such a person is void. If, however, the creditors relinquish their claim, the bequest is then valid. (Hidāyah, iv. p. 475.)
INSPIRATION. Arabic waḥy (وحى). According to the Nūru ʾl-Anwār, by Shaik͟h Jīwan Aḥmad (A.H. 1130), inspiration is of two kinds. Waḥy z̤āhir, external inspiration, or Waḥy bāt̤in, internal inspiration.
I.—External Inspiration is of three kinds:—
(1) Waḥyu Qurʾān, or that which was received from the mouth of the angel Gabriel, and reached the ear of the Prophet, after he knew beyond doubt that it was the angel who spoke to him. This is the only kind of inspiration admitted to be in the Qurʾān. It is sometimes called the Waḥy matlū.