Al-Balagha al-Wadiha by al-Jarim & Amin (البلاغة الواضحة) — Page 275

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَلَكِنَّهُ يَسْأَلُ عَنْ مُفْرَدٍ وَيَطْلُبُ تَعْيِينَهُ، وَلِذَا يُجَابُ بِالتَّعْيِينِ فَيُقَالُ لَهُ فِي الْجَوَابِ: «بَائِعٌ» مَثَلًا، وَهَكَذَا يُقَالُ فِي بَقِيَّةِ أَمْثِلَةِ الطَّائِفَةِ «أ».

However, he is asking about a single item and requesting its identification, so he is answered with identification; for example, one might say to him in response: 'A seller,' and the same applies to the rest of the examples in group 'A'.

وَإِذَا تَدَبَّرْتَ الْمُفْرَدَ الْمَسْئُولَ عَنْهُ فِي أَمْثِلَةِ هَذِهِ الطَّائِفَةِ، وَكَذَلِكَ فِي كُلِّ مِثَالٍ آخَرَ يَعْرِضُ لَكَ، وَجَدْتَهُ دَائِمًا يَأْتِي بَعْدَ الْهَمْزَةِ مُبَاشَرَةً، سَوَاءٌ أَكَانَ مُسْنَدًا إِلَيْهِ كَمَا فِي الْمِثَالِ الْأَوَّلِ، أَمْ مُسْنَدًا كَمَا فِي الثَّانِي، أَمْ مَفْعُولًا بِهِ كَمَا فِي الثَّالِثِ أَمْ حَالًا كَمَا فِي الرَّابِعِ، أَمْ ظَرْفًا كَمَا فِي الْخَامِسِ، أَمْ ذَلِكَ، وَوَجَدْتَ لَهُ مُعَادِلًا يُذْكَرُ بَعْدَ «أَمْ» كَمَا تَرَى فِي الْأَمْثِلَةِ، وَقَدْ يُحْذَفُ هَذَا الْمُعَادِلُ فَتَقُولُ: أَأَنْتَ الْمُسَافِرُ؟ أَمُشْتَرٍ أَنْتَ؟ وَهَلُمَّ جَرًّا.

If you contemplate the single item being asked about in the examples of this group, as well as in every other example that comes your way, you will find that it always comes directly after the hamza, whether it is a subject as in the first example, a predicate as in the second, an object as in the third, a circumstantial qualifier (hal) as in the fourth, an adverb as in the fifth, or otherwise; and you will find that it has an equivalent mentioned after 'am' (or), as you see in the examples, though this equivalent may sometimes be omitted, so you might say: 'Are you the traveler?' or 'Are you a buyer?' and so on.

انْظُرْ إِلَى أَمْثِلَةِ الطَّائِفَةِ «ب» حَيْثُ أَدَاةُ الِاسْتِفْهَامِ هِيَ الْهَمْزَةُ أَيْضًا تَجِدُ الْحَالَ عَلَى خِلَافِ مَا كَانَتْ فِي أَمْثِلَةِ الطَّائِفَةِ «أ»؛ فَإِنَّ الْمُتَكَلِّمَ هُنَا مُتَرَدِّدٌ بَيْنَ ثُبُوتِ النِّسْبَةِ وَنَفْيِهَا، فَهُوَ يَجْهَلُهَا، وَلِذَلِكَ يَسْأَلُ عَنْهَا وَيَطْلُبُ مَعْرِفَتَهَا، فَفِي الْمِثَالِ السَّادِسِ مَثَلًا يَتَرَدَّدُ الْمُتَكَلِّمُ بَيْنَ ثُبُوتِ الصَّدَأِ لِلذَّهَبِ وَنَفْيِهِ عَنْهُ، وَلِذَلِكَ يَطْلُبُ مَعْرِفَةَ هَذِهِ النِّسْبَةِ، وَيَكُونُ جَوَابُهُ بِـ «نَعَمْ» إِنْ أُرِيدَ الْإِثْبَاتُ، وَبِـ «لَا» إِنْ أُرِيدَ النَّفْيُ، وَإِذَا تَأَمَّلْتَ الْأَمْثِلَةَ هُنَا لَمْ تَجِدْ لِلْمَسْئُولِ عَنْهُ وَهُوَ النِّسْبَةُ مُعَادِلًا.

Look at the examples of group 'B', where the interrogative particle is also the hamza; you will find the situation is different from what it was in the examples of group 'A', for the speaker here is hesitant between the affirmation of the relationship and its negation, as he is ignorant of it, and therefore he asks about it and seeks to know it. For instance, in the sixth example, the speaker is hesitant between the existence of rust on gold and its absence, and therefore he seeks to know this relationship, and his answer will be 'yes' if affirmation is intended, and 'no' if negation is intended; and if you contemplate the examples here, you will not find an equivalent for what is being asked about, which is the relationship.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (28 verbs · 39 nouns)

• سَأَلَ — to ask
• طَلَبَ — to request
• عَيَّنَ — to specify
• مُفْرَدٌ — singular
• تَعْيِينٌ — specification
• جَوَابٌ — answer