a recipient's preparedness for a perfection it does not yet possess
Distinguish from
malaka (settled disposition) — malaka is a settled, rooted disposition; istiʿdād is a preparedness or capacity that is not yet settled, even where both are rendered ‘disposition’.
General Technical Meaning
Istiʿdād is a recipient’s preparedness or capacity for a possible perfection: a dispositional quality ordered toward development or reception.
In ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s Works
Chapter 1 uses istiʿdād for the species’ preparedness for what follows from antecedent preparatory factors. Chapter 10 places preparedness before effluence in the soul’s purification, and Chapter 15 speaks of people’s differing preparedness to receive sciences and perfections. The degree and object of preparedness remain context-sensitive.
Source: Risālat al-Manāmāt wa-l-Nubuwwāt
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