Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 20

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَلَيْسَ قُرْبَ قَبْرِ حَرْبٍ قَبْرُ.

No grave lies near the grave of Harb.

كَرِيمٌ مَتَى أَمْدَحْهُ أَمْدَحْهُ وَالْوَرَى مَعِي وَإِذَا مَا لُمْتُهُ لُمْتُهُ وَحْدِي.

When I praise a noble man, the whole world joins me; when I blame him, I stand alone.

وَضَعْفُ التَّأْلِيفِ: كَوْنُ الْكَلَامِ غَيْرَ جَارٍ عَلَى الْقَانُونِ النَّحْوِيِّ الْمَشْهُورِ،

Weakness of composition occurs when speech deviates from established grammatical rules.

كَالْإِضْمَارِ قَبْلَ الذِّكْرِ لَفْظًا وَرُتْبَةً، فِي قَوْلِهِ: جَزَى بَنُوهُ أَبَا الْغَيْلَانِ عَنْ كِبَرٍ وَحُسْنِ فِعْلٍ كَمَا يُجْزَى سِنِمَّارُ.

An example is using a pronoun before its referent, both in word and rank, as in the line: His sons rewarded Abu al-Ghailan for his age and good deeds, just as Sinimmar was rewarded.

وَالتَّعْقِيدُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْكَلَامُ خَفِيَّ الدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى الْمَعْنَى الْمُرَادِ.

Complexity occurs when speech obscures the intended meaning.

وَالْخَفَاءُ إِمَّا مِنْ جِهَةِ اللَّفْظِ بِسَبَبِ تَقْدِيمٍ أَوْ تَأْخِيرٍ، أَوْ فَصْلٍ، وَيُسَمَّى تَعْقِيدًا لَفْظِيًّا،

This obscurity arises from word order—such as fronting, delaying, or separating elements—and is known as verbal complexity.

كَقَوْلِ الْمُتَنَبِّي: جَفَخَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يَخْفَخُونَ بِهَا بِهِمْ شِيَمٌ عَلَى الْحَسَبِ الْأَغَرِّ دَلَائِلُ.

Consider al-Mutanabbi’s line: They boasted of traits they do not possess, though they truly hold the signs of noble lineage.

فَضَعْفُ التَّأْلِيفِ يَنْشَأُ مِنَ الْعُدُولِ عَنِ الْمَشْهُورِ إِلَى قَوْلٍ لَهُ صِحَّةٌ عِنْدَ بَعْضِ أُولِي النَّظَرِ،

Weakness of composition stems from abandoning standard usage for forms that only some scholars accept as valid.

فَإِنْ خَالَفَ تَأْلِيفُ الْكَلَامِ الْقَانُونَ الْمُجْمَعَ عَلَيْهِ كَجَرِّ الْفَاعِلِ وَرَفْعِ الْمَفْعُولِ، وَتَقْدِيمِ الْمُسْنَدِ الْمَحْصُورِ فِيهِ بِإِنَّمَا فَفَاسِدٌ غَيْرُ مُعْتَبَرٍ، وَالْكَلَامُ فِي تَرْكِيبٍ لَهُ صِحَّةٌ وَاعْتِبَارٌ.

If speech violates consensus rules—such as putting the subject in the genitive or the object in the nominative, or fronting a predicate restricted by 'innama'—it is corrupt and unacceptable, as we are discussing structures that possess recognized validity.

Vocabulary · المفردات (8 verbs · 56 nouns)

• مَدَحَ — to praise
• لَامَ — to blame
• جَزَى — to reward
• سَمَّى — to name
• جَفَخَ — to boast
• خَفَخَ — to boast
• نَشَأَ — to originate
• خَالَفَ — to contradict
• قُرْبٌ — proximity
• قَبْرٌ — grave
• حَرْبٌ — war
• كَرِيمٌ — generous
• وَرَى — mankind
• وَحْدٌ — solitude
• ضَعْفٌ — weakness
• تَأْلِيفٌ — composition
• كَوْنٌ — being
• كَلَامٌ — speech
• قَانُونٌ — law
• نَحْوِيٌّ — grammatical
• مَشْهُورٌ — famous
• إِضْمَارٌ — concealment
• ذِكْرٌ — mention
• لَفْظٌ — wording
• رُتْبَةٌ — rank
• ابْنٌ — son
• أَبٌ — father
• غَيْلَانٌ — Ghailan
• كِبَرٌ — old age
• حُسْنٌ — goodness
• فِعْلٌ — action
• سِنِمَّارٌ — Sinimmar
• تَعْقِيدٌ — complexity
• خَفِيٌّ — hidden
• دَلَالَةٌ — indication
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• مُرَادٌ — intended
• خَفَاءٌ — obscurity
• جِهَةٌ — side
• سَبَبٌ — reason
• تَقْدِيمٌ — fronting
• تَأْخِيرٌ — delay
• فَصْلٌ — separation
• لَفْظِيٌّ — verbal
• شِيمَةٌ — trait
• حَسَبٌ — lineage
• أَغَرُّ — noble
• دَلِيلٌ — evidence
• عُدُولٌ — deviation
• صِحَّةٌ — correctness
• بَعْضٌ — some
• أُولُو — possessors of
• نَظَرٌ — view
• مُجْمَعٌ — agreed upon
• جَرٌّ — genitive case
• فَاعِلٌ — doer
• رَفْعٌ — nominative case
• مَفْعُولٌ — object
• مُسْنَدٌ — predicate
• مَحْصُورٌ — restricted
• فَاسِدٌ — corrupt
• مُعْتَبَرٌ — considered
• تَرْكِيبٌ — structure
• اعْتِبَارٌ — validity