Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 36

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَالْمَسْؤُولُ عَنْهُ فِي التَّصْدِيقِ النِّسْبَةُ، وَلَا يَكُونُ لَهَا مُعَادِلٌ، فَإِنْ جَاءَتْ أَمْ بَعْدَهَا قُدِّرَتْ مُنْقَطِعَةً، وَتَكُونُ بِمَعْنَى بَلْ.

In verification, the object of inquiry is the relationship itself, which has no equivalent. If the particle 'am' follows it, it is treated as disjunctive and takes the meaning of 'rather'.

وَهَلْ لِطَلَبِ التَّصْدِيقِ فَقَطْ، نَحْوَ: هَلْ جَاءَ صَدِيقُكَ؟، وَالْجَوَابُ نَعَمْ أَوْ لَا، وَلِذَا يَمْتَنِعُ مَعَهَا ذِكْرُ الْمُعَادِلِ، فَلَا يُقَالُ: هَلْ جَاءَ صَدِيقُكَ أَمْ عَدُوُّكَ.

The particle 'hal' is used solely to request verification, as in 'Did your friend come?' where the answer is 'yes' or 'no'. For this reason, it cannot take an equivalent; one cannot ask, 'Did your friend or your enemy come?'

وَهَلْ تُسَمَّى بَسِيطَةٌ، إِنْ اُسْتُفْهِمَ بِهَا عَنْ وُجُودِ شَيْءٍ فِي نَفْسِهِ، نَحْوَ: هَلْ الْعَنْقَاءُ مَوْجُودَةٌ؟، وَمُرَكَّبَةٌ إِنْ اُسْتُفْهِمَ بِهَا عَنْ وُجُودِ شَيْءٍ لِشَيْءٍ، نَحْوَ: هَلْ تَبيضُ الْعَنْقَاءُ وَتَفْرُخُ؟.

'Hal' is termed 'simple' when inquiring about the existence of a thing in itself, such as 'Does the phoenix exist?' It is 'compound' when inquiring about the existence of one thing in relation to another, such as 'Does the phoenix lay eggs and hatch?'

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Vocabulary · المفردات (17 verbs · 35 nouns)

• سَأَلَ — to ask
• كَانَ — to be
• جَاءَ — to come
• مَسْؤُول — questioned (male)
• تَصْدِيق — verification
• نِسْبَة — relation