Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 14

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ.

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي قَصُرَتْ عِبَارَةُ الْبُلَغَاءِ عَنِ الْإِحَاطَةِ بِمَعَانِي آيَاتِهِ،

Praise be to Allah, whose signs are so profound that the most eloquent expressions fail to capture their full meaning.

وَعَجَزَتْ أَلْسُنُ الْفُصَحَاءِ عَنْ بَيَانِ بَدَائِعِ مَصْنُوعَاتِهِ،

The tongues of the most articulate are powerless to describe the wonders of His creation.

وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ مَلَكَ طَرَفَيِ الْبَلَاغَةِ إِطْنَابًا وَإِيجَازًا،

Blessings and peace be upon the one who mastered the full spectrum of rhetoric, from expansive detail to concise brevity.

وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ الْفَاتِحِينَ بِهَدْيِهِمْ إِلَى الْحَقِيقَةِ مَجَازًا.

Peace also upon his family and companions, who guided others to the truth through their own exemplary lives.

وَبَعْدُ: فَهَذَا كِتَابٌ فِي فُنُونِ الْبَلَاغَةِ الثَّلَاثَةِ، سَهْلُ الْمَنَالِ قَرِيبُ الْمَأْخَذِ بَرِيءٌ مِنْ وَصْمَةِ التَّطْوِيلِ الْمُمِلِّ، وَعَيْبِ الِاخْتِصَارِ الْمُخِلِّ،

To proceed: this book covers the three arts of rhetoric. It is accessible and straightforward, avoiding the pitfalls of tedious verbosity and confusing brevity.

سَلَكْنَا فِي تَأْلِيفِهِ أَسْهَلَ التَّرَاتِيبِ، وَأَوْضَحَ الْأَسَالِيبِ،

We have organized the material in the most intuitive way, using the clearest possible style.

وَجَمَعْنَا فِيهِ خُلَاصَةَ قَوَاعِدِ الْبَلَاغَةِ، وَأُمَّهَاتِ مَسَائِلِهَا،

Within these pages, we have gathered the essential principles of rhetoric and its core concepts.

وَتَرَكْنَا مَا لَا تَمَسُّ إِلَيْهِ حَاجَةُ التَّلَامِذَةِ مِنَ الْفَوَائِدِ الزَّوَائِدِ، وُقُوفًا عِنْدَ حَدِّ اللَّازِمِ، وَحِرْصًا عَلَى أَوْقَاتِهِمْ أَنْ تَضِيعَ فِي حَلِّ مُعَقَّدٍ، أَوْ تَلْخِيصِ مُطَوَّلٍ، أَوْ تَكْمِيلِ مُخْتَصَرٍ،

We omitted unnecessary digressions to keep the focus on what is essential. Our goal is to protect the students' time, sparing them from the burden of untangling complex texts, summarizing long-winded works, or filling in gaps in overly brief ones.

فَتَمَّ بِهِ مَعَ كُتُبِ الدُّرُوسِ النَّحْوِيَّةِ سُلَّمُ الدِّرَاسَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ فِي الْمَدَارِسِ الِابْتِدَائِيَّةِ وَالتَّجْهِيزِيَّةِ.

Together with standard grammar texts, this book completes the curriculum for Arabic studies in primary and preparatory schools.

Vocabulary · المفردات (13 verbs · 60 nouns)

• قَصُرَ — to be short
• عَجَزَ — to be unable
• مَلَكَ — to possess
• سَلَكَ — to follow
• جَمَعَ — to collect
• تَرَكَ — to leave
• مَسَّ — to touch
• ضَاعَ — to be lost
• تَمَّ — to be completed
• فَتَحَ — to open/conquer
• حَلَّ — to solve
• لَخَّصَ — to summarize
• كَمَّلَ — to complete
• عِبَارَة — expression
• بَلِيغ — eloquent person
• إِحَاطَة — comprehension
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• آيَة — sign
• لِسَان — tongue
• فَصِيح — eloquent
• بَيَان — clarification
• بَدِيعَة — marvel
• مَصْنُوع — creation
• صَلَاة — prayer
• سَلَام — peace
• طَرَف — end
• بَلَاغَة — rhetoric
• إِطْنَاب — verbosity
• إِيجَاز — brevity
• آل — family
• صَاحِب — companion
• فَاتِح — conqueror
• هَدْي — guidance
• حَقِيقَة — truth
• مَجَاز — metaphor
• كِتَاب — book
• فَنّ — art
• مَنَال — attainment
• مَأْخَذ — source
• وَصْمَة — stigma
• تَطْوِيل — prolongation
• عَيْب — defect
• اخْتِصَار — abbreviation
• تَأْلِيف — composition
• تَرْتِيب — arrangement
• أُسْلُوب — style
• خُلَاصَة — summary
• قَاعِدَة — rule
• أُمّ — mother
• مَسْأَلَة — issue
• حَاجَة — need
• تِلْمِيذ — student
• فَائِدَة — benefit
• زَائِدَة — additional
• وُقُوف — standing
• حَدّ — limit
• لَازِم — necessary
• حِرْص — eagerness
• وَقْت — time
• حَلّ — solution
• مُعَقَّد — complex
• تَلْخِيص — summarizing
• مُطَوَّل — prolonged work
• تَكْمِيل — completion
• مُخْتَصَر — abridged work
• دَرْس — lesson
• سُلَّم — ladder
• دِرَاسَة — study
• مَدْرَسَة — school
• اسْمٌ — name
• رَحْمَنٌ — merciful
• رَحِيمٌ — compassionate
• حَمْدٌ — praise