[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [State papers](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin) › [Āʾīn-i Akbarī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari) › [The Ain i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett) › 73.4 # The Institutes of Akbar 73.4 The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 73.4 - **Language:** English ### [73.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett.73.4) The sound of a letter is a mode of existence depending on the nature of the air. By qara' we mean the striking together of two hard substances; and by qala', the separation of the same. In both cases the intermediate air, like a wave, is set in motion; and thus the state is produced which we call sound. Some philosophers take sound to be the secondary effect, and define it as the air set in motion; but others look upon it as the primary effect, i. e., they define sound to be the very qara', or the qala', of any hard substances. Sound may be accompanied by modifying circumstances: it may be piano, deep, nasal, or guttural, as when the throat is affected by a cold. Again, from the nature of the organ with which man utters a sound, and the manner in which the particles of the air are divided, another modifying circumstance may arise, as when two piano, two deep, two nasal, or two guttural sounds separate from each other. Some, as Abú 'Alí Síná, call this modifying element ('áriz) the sound of the letter; others define it as the original state of the sound thus modified (ma'rúz); but the far-sighted define an articulate sound as the union of the modifying element and the original state modified. This is evidently the correct view. - [Previous: 73.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett.73.3) - [Next: 73.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett.73.5) - [Up: 73](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett.73) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett.73.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.admin.ain-i-akbari~en-blochmann-jarrett.73.4) · Pramāṇa