Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 115

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

تَأْكِيدُ الْمَدْحِ بِمَا يُشْبِهُ الذَّمَّ ضَرْبَانِ:

The reinforcement of praise with what resembles dispraise is of two types:

أَحَدُهُمَا: أَنْ يُسْتَثْنَى مِنْ صِفَةِ ذَمٍّ مَنْفِيَّةٍ صِفَةُ مَدْحٍ عَلَى تَقْدِيرِ دُخُولِهَا فِيهَا، كَقَوْلِهِ: وَلَا عَيْبَ فِيهِمْ غَيْرَ أَنَّ سُيُوفَهُمْ بِهِنَّ فُلُولٌ مِنْ قِرَاعِ الْكَتَائِبِ.

The first is to except a quality of praise from a negated quality of dispraise, on the assumption that it is included within it, as in his saying: 'There is no fault in them, except that their swords have notches from the clashing of battalions.'

وَثَانِيهِمَا: أَنْ يُثْبَتَ لِشَيْءٍ صِفَةُ مَدْحٍ، وَيُؤْتَى بَعْدَهَا بِأَدَاةِ اسْتِثْنَاءٍ تَلِيهَا صِفَةُ مَدْحٍ أُخْرَى، كَقَوْلِهِ: فَتًى كَمُلَتْ أَوْصَافُهُ غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ جَوَادٌ فَمَا يُبْقِي عَلَى الْمَالِ بَاقِيَا.

The second is to affirm a quality of praise for something, and then follow it with an exception tool followed by another quality of praise, as in his saying: 'A youth whose attributes are perfect, except that he is generous, so he does not leave any wealth remaining.'

…3 more translated lines, 9 more verbs and 23 more nouns on this page — subscribe to study every page.

Vocabulary · المفردات (12 verbs · 26 nouns)

• أَكَّدَ — to confirm
• شَبَهَ — to resemble
• اِسْتَثْنَى — to except
• تَأْكِيدٌ — confirmation
• مَدْحٌ — praise
• ذَمٌّ — blame