A mabdaʾ is a principle whose own existence is complete and from which the existence of another thing proceeds and is constituted.
In ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s Works
Origin
In al-Manāmāt, the ordering of creation in its origin is paired with return among the beliefs that a comprehensive revealed law must set out. The occurrence does not itself supply a complete cosmogony.
Source: Risālat al-Manāmāt wa-l-Nubuwwāt
Principle from which something proceeds
That from which something proceeds and on which its issuing depends.
Source: Nihāyat al-Ḥikmah
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