Al-Balagha al-Wadiha by al-Jarim & Amin (البلاغة الواضحة) — Page 17

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَلَيْسَ هُنَاكَ مِنْ فَرْقٍ بَيْنَ الْبَلِيغِ وَالرَّسَّامِ إِلَّا أَنَّ هَذَا يَتَنَاوَلُ الْمَسْمُوعَ مِنَ الْكَلَامِ، وَذَلِكَ يُشَاكِلُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْئِيِّ مِنَ الْأَلْوَانِ وَالْأَشْكَالِ،

There is no difference between the eloquent speaker and the painter, except that the former deals with what is heard of speech, while the latter deals with what is seen of colors and shapes.

أَمَّا فِي غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ فَهُمَا سَوَاءٌ،

As for other than that, they are equal.

فَالرَّسَّامُ إِذَا هَمَّ بِرَسْمِ صُورَةٍ فَكَّرَ فِي الْأَلْوَانِ الْمُلَائِمَةِ لَهَا، ثُمَّ فِي تَأْلِيفِ هَذِهِ الْأَلْوَانِ بِحَيْثُ تَخْتَلِبُ الْأَبْصَارَ وَتُثِيرُ الْوِجْدَانَ،

When a painter intends to draw a picture, he thinks about the appropriate colors for it, then about composing these colors in a way that captivates the eyes and stirs the sentiment.

وَالْبَلِيغُ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يُنْشِئَ قَصِيدَةً أَوْ مَقَالَةً أَوْ خُطْبَةً فَكَّرَ فِي أَجْزَائِهَا، ثُمَّ دَعَا إِلَيْهِ الْأَلْفَاظَ وَالْأَسَالِيبَ أَخَفَّهَا عَلَى السَّمْعِ، وَأَكْثَرَهَا اتِّصَالًا بِمَوْضُوعِهِ، ثُمَّ أَقْوَاهَا أَثَرًا فِي نُفُوسِ سَامِعِيهِ وَأَرْوَعَهَا جَمَالًا.

When an eloquent speaker wants to create a poem, an article, or a speech, he thinks about its parts, then calls upon the words and styles that are lightest on the ear, most connected to his topic, and strongest in effect on the souls of his listeners and most wonderful in beauty.

فَعَنَاصِرُ الْبَلَاغَةِ إِذًا لَفْظٌ وَمَعْنًى، وَتَأْلِيفٌ لِلْأَلْفَاظِ يَمْنَحُهَا قُوَّةً وَتَأْثِيرًا وَحُسْنًا،

The elements of rhetoric, therefore, are word and meaning, and a composition of words that grants them strength, influence, and goodness.

ثُمَّ دِقَّةٌ فِي اخْتِيَارِ الْكَلِمَاتِ وَالْأَسَالِيبِ عَلَى حَسَبِ مَوَاطِنِ الْكَلَامِ وَمَوَاقِعِهِ وَمَوْضُوعَاتِهِ، وَحَالِ السَّامِعِينَ وَالنَّزْعَةِ النَّفْسِيَّةِ الَّتِي تَتَمَلَّكُهُمْ وَتُسَيْطِرُ عَلَى نُفُوسِهِمْ،

Then precision in choosing words and styles according to the contexts of speech, its locations, its topics, the state of the listeners, and the psychological tendency that possesses them and controls their souls.

فَرُبَّ كَلِمَةٍ حَسُنَتْ فِي مَوْطِنٍ، ثُمَّ كَانَتْ نَابِيَةً مُسْتَكْرَهَةً فِي غَيْرِهِ،

For perhaps a word was good in one context, then it was repulsive and disliked in another.

وَقَدِيمًا كَرِهَ الْأُدَبَاءُ كَلِمَةَ "أَيْضًا"، وَعَدُّوهَا مِنْ أَلْفَاظِ الْعُلَمَاءِ فَلَمْ تَجْرِ بِهَا أَقْلَامُهُمْ فِي شِعْرٍ أَوْ نَثْرٍ حَتَّى ظَهَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ مَنْ قَالَ:

In the past, writers disliked the word 'also', and considered it among the words of scholars, so their pens did not use it in poetry or prose until someone appeared among them who said:

رُبَّ وَرْقَاءَ (١) هَتُوفٍ (٢) فِي الضُّحَى ذَاتِ شَجْوٍ (٣) صَدَحَتْ (٤) فِي فَنَنِ (٥) ذَكَرَتْ إِلفًا (٦) وَدَهْرًا سَالِفًا فَبَكَتْ حُزْنًا فَهاجَتْ حَزَنِي فَبُكَائِي رُبَّمَا أَرَّقَهَا (٧) وَبُكَاهَا رُبَّمَا أَرَّقَنِي وَلَقَدْ تَشْكُو فَمَا أَفْهَمُهَا وَلَقَدْ أَشْكُو فَمَا تَفْهَمُنِي غَيْرَ أَنِّي بِالْجَوَى (٨) أَعْرِفُهَا وَهِيَ أَيْضًا بِالْجَوَى تَعْرِفُنِي

Many a loud-voiced dove in the forenoon, full of grief, sang on a branch, remembering a companion and a past time, so she wept in sorrow and stirred my sadness. My crying perhaps kept her awake, and her crying perhaps kept me awake. She complains and I do not understand her, and I complain and she does not understand me, except that I know her by the burning passion, and she also knows me by the burning passion.

فَوَضَعَ "أَيْضًا" فِي مَكَانٍ لَا يَتَطَلَّبُ سِوَاهَا وَلَا يَتَقَبَّلُ غَيْرَهَا، وَكَانَ لَهَا مِنَ الرَّوْعَةِ وَالْحُسْنِ فِي نَفْسِ الْأَدِيبِ مَا يَعْجِزُ عَنْهَا الْبَيَانُ.

So 'also' was placed in a location that requires nothing else and accepts nothing else, and it had such splendor and beauty in the soul of the writer that eloquence is unable to describe it.

وَرُبَّ كَلَامٍ كَانَ فِي نَفْسِهِ حَسَنًا خَلَّابًا حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَ فِي غَيْرِ مَكَانِهِ، وَسَقَطَ فِي

And many a speech was in itself good and captivating, until it came in the wrong place, and fell in the wrong context.

Vocabulary · المفردات (35 verbs · 62 nouns)

• لَيْسَ — to not be
• تَنَاوَلَ — to deal with
• شَاكَلَ — to resemble
• هَمَّ — to intend
• رَسَمَ — to draw
• فَكَّرَ — to think
• اِخْتَلَبَ — to captivate
• أَثَارَ — to stir
• أَرَادَ — to want
• أَنْشَأَ — to create
• دَعَا — to summon
• مَنَحَ — to grant
• تَمَلَّكَ — to possess
• سَيْطَرَ — to control
• حَسُنَ — to be good
• كَانَ — to be
• كَرِهَ — to dislike
• عَدَّ — to consider
• جَرَى — to flow
• ظَهَرَ — to appear
• قَالَ — to say
• صَدَحَ — to sing loudly
• ذَكَرَ — to remember
• بَكَى — to cry
• هَاجَ — to stir up
• أَرَّقَ — to keep awake
• شَكَا — to complain
• فَهِمَ — to understand
• عَرَفَ — to know
• وَضَعَ — to place
• تَطَلَّبَ — to require
• تَقَبَّلَ — to accept
• عَجَزَ — to be unable
• جَاءَ — to come
• سَقَطَ — to fall
• فَرْق — difference
• بَلِيغ — eloquent person
• رَسَّام — painter
• مَسْمُوع — audible thing
• كَلَام — speech
• مَرْئِيّ — visible thing
• لَوْن — color
• شَكْل — shape
• سَوَاء — equal
• صُورَة — picture
• مُلَائِم — appropriate
• تَأْلِيف — composition
• بَصَر — sight
• وِجْدَان — sentiment
• قَصِيدَة — poem
• مَقَالَة — article
• خُطْبَة — speech
• جُزْء — part
• لَفْظ — word
• أُسْلُوب — style
• سَمْع — hearing
• مَوْضُوع — topic
• أَثَر — effect
• نَفْس — soul
• سَامِع — listener
• جَمَال — beauty
• عُنْصُر — element
• بَلَاغَة — rhetoric
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• قُوَّة — strength
• تَأْثِير — influence
• حُسْن — goodness
• دِقَّة — precision
• اخْتِيَار — selection
• كَلِمَة — word
• مَوْطِن — place
• مَوْقِع — location
• حَال — state
• نَزْعَة — tendency
• نَفْسِيَّة — psychological
• نَابِي — repulsive
• مُسْتَكْرَه — disliked
• أَدِيب — writer
• عَالِم — scholar
• شِعْر — poetry
• نَثْر — prose
• وَرْقَاء — dove
• هَتُوف — loud-voiced
• ضُحًى — forenoon
• شَجْو — grief
• فَنَن — branch
• إِلْف — companion
• دَهْر — time
• سَالِف — past
• حُرْن — grief
• حَزَن — sadness
• بُكَاء — crying
• جَوَى — passion
• مَكَان — place
• رَوْعَة — splendor
• بَيَان — eloquence
• خَلَّاب — captivating