Resources for Logic
Hand-picked, link-checked material for English-speaking students: translations, free courses, academic background, and the Arabic texts for those who want them.
beginner
Start here. No Arabic or prior background needed.
Free online reader presenting each Arabic couplet of the 144-verse poem followed by an English rendering, with toggleable commentary and adjustable Arabic/English order. The most readable free English Sullam translation.
46-page PDF giving the full matn in Arabic alongside an English verse translation, section by section.
Clean, fully vocalized PDF of the poem with numbered verses and section headings (direct: https://data.nur.nu/Kutub/Arabic/Akhdari_Sulam-manzhuma.pdf), plus al-Damanhuri's commentary and a YouTube recital. Best vocalized text for memorization.
Compact 9-page fully vocalized matn with vowelling aligned to al-Mallawi's standard commentary. This is the same edition as the course PDF.
Complete chanted recitation of the entire poem in one video, intended for memorization. Pair with the vocalized PDF.
Free recording of the full matn by a UK-based Azhari scholar, made for students memorizing the text.
11-page scholarly translation of the Isaghuji, the prose primer the Sullam versifies, with the same topic order.
Course handout with Arabic text, English translation and explanatory notes used for Hamza Yusuf's Rihla logic course. Clear modern English and the standard terminology English-speaking students use.
Free archived copy of the 14-lesson course on al-Abhari's Isagoge covering terms, five predicables, definitions, propositions, opposition, conversion and syllogisms.
Free on-demand course walking through the full Isaghuji with an Azhar-trained teacher; the natural English companion to the Sullam.
Free 12-lesson beginner course pairing al-Sanusi's creed with al-Abhari's logic primer, showing how logic is used in theology. Bridges the Logic and Muqaddimat courses.
Ten short free lessons on tasawwur vs tasdiq, dalala, universals, building definitions, propositions and demonstration, ending with summary charts. Good quick orientation before each Sullam section.
Single-page explainer of jins, naw', fasl, khassa and 'arad 'amm with Arabic terms and worked examples, and how they combine into hadd and rasm.
Curriculum explicitly based on al-Sullam al-Munawraq and the Isaghuji, with a free sample unit including a glossary of key Arabic terms and assessments.
Three free slide decks surveying conceptions, signification, the five universals, assents, propositions and syllogisms.
Ten free lectures: conception and judgment, self-evident vs speculative, universal and particular, the five universals, definitions and propositions.
Quick historical orientation with links; companion article on the author at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Akhdari
168-page paperback with the complete vocalized Isaghuji, facing translation, diagrams and tables; the best modern print companion to the Sullam for English readers.
intermediate
After you have the basics; goes deeper or assumes some vocabulary.
First full lecture (free) of a 20-class English course reading al-Akhdari's own commentary: permissibility of logic, tasawwur and tasdiq, signification, universals, definitions. Remaining classes are paid. The only English lecture series found that follows the Sullam itself.
Free 32-lesson course covering definitions, categorical and conditional propositions, modality, contradiction, conversion and syllogisms in more depth; the step after the Sullam.
Free enrolment, 80+ sessions each with video, PDF summary and quiz. Deeper than the Sullam but the best free quiz-based material found.
121-page English translation of a concise traditional logic manual in the same order as the Sullam; works as a prose companion text.
Authoritative overview of the Arabic logical tradition, including the tasawwur/tasdiq organization, the five universals, definitions, and the madrasa textbook tradition to which the Sullam belongs.
More accessible than the SEP article; explains Avicenna's categorical and hypothetical syllogistic.
Root-organized glossary giving attested translations of technical terms (hadd, rasm, qiyas, kulli, 'arad) with citations to published translations.
Full Arabic explanation of the poem in nine lectures, for students with some Arabic who want to hear the verses parsed.
advanced
Academic or Arabic-language material for when you want the full picture.
Detailed account of Avicenna's logic, the source of nearly everything in post-classical madrasa logic.
Free searchable scan collecting the author's own commentary plus six classic glosses. The author's sharh alone is at https://archive.org/details/sharh_akhdari_sullam
The classic Ottoman commentary on the Isaghuji with chapter-by-chapter analysis. For purchase.