Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 44

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَاخْتِبَارُ تَنَبُّهِ السَّامِعِ أَوْ مِقْدَارِ تَنَبُّهِهِ، نَحْوَ: نُورُهُ مُسْتَفَادٌ مِنْ نُورِ الشَّمْسِ، وَوَاسِطَةُ عِقْدِ الْكَوَاكِبِ.

Testing the listener's alertness or the degree thereof, as in: 'Its light is drawn from the sun, the centerpiece in a necklace of stars.'

وَضِيقُ الْمَقَامِ، إِمَّا لِتَوَجُّعٍ، نَحْوَ: قَالَ لِي كَيْفَ أَنْتَ قُلْتُ عَلِيلٌ، سَهَرٌ دَائِمٌ وَحُزْنٌ طَوِيلٌ.

Constriction of context, whether to express pain, as in: 'He asked how I was, and I said, "I am ill, plagued by constant sleeplessness and lingering sorrow."'

وَإِمَّا لِخَوْفِ فَوَاتِ فُرْصَةٍ، نَحْوَ قَوْلِ الصَّيَّادِ: غَزَالٌ.

Or to avoid missing an opportunity, such as a hunter shouting: 'A gazelle!'

…7 more translated lines, 4 more verbs and 48 more nouns on this page — subscribe to study every page.

Vocabulary · المفردات (7 verbs · 51 nouns)

• قَالَ — to say
• أَكَلَ — to eat
• أَخْفَى — to hide
• دَرْسٌ — lesson
• بَلَاغَةٌ — rhetoric
• اخْتِبَارٌ — test