Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 9

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

نَظَرْتُ بِعَيْنِ التَّأَمُّلِ فِيهِ فَوَجَدْتُهُ حَاوِيًا لِمَا حَوَاهُ مُطَوَّلَاتُ فَنِّ الْبَلَاغَةِ مِنَ الْأُصُولِ وَالْقَوَاعِدِ،

I examined it closely and found it contained all the fundamental principles and rules found in the most comprehensive treatises on rhetoric.

وَخَالِيًا مَعَ كَثْرَةِ مَسَائِلِهِ مِنَ الْمُنَاقَشَاتِ وَالزَّوَائِدِ،

Despite the abundance of topics it covers, it remains free of unnecessary digressions and filler.

وَوَاقِعًا عَلَى تَرْتِيبٍ حَسَنٍ لَمْ يُعْهَدْ فِي كُتُبِ الْمُتَأَخِّرِينَ،

It follows a logical structure rarely seen in the works of later scholars.

كَمَا يَعْرِفُهُ مَنْ طَالَ نَظَرُهُ فِي كُتُبِ الْمُتَقَدِّمِينَ،

This is something well-known to anyone deeply familiar with the works of the early masters.

وَلِذَا اشْتَهَرَ اشْتِهَارَ الشَّمْسِ فِي نِصْفِ النَّهَارِ وَطَارَتْ بِهِ الْقَبُولُ وَالدَّبُورُ إِلَى الْأَقْطَارِ،

Consequently, it became as famous as the midday sun, its reputation spreading to every corner of the world.

وَجَعَلَهُ أُولُو الْعِلْمِ وَالْبَصِيرَةِ مِنَ الْكُتُبِ الَّتِي تُقَرَّرُ دِرَاسَتُهَا فِي أَكْثَرِ مَدَارِسِ الْهِنْدِ مِنْ عِلْمِ الْبَلَاغَةِ.

Scholars and those with discernment established it as a core text for the study of rhetoric in most Indian schools.

وَمِمَّا يَجْدُرُ التَّنْبِيهُ إِلَيْهِ أَنَّ الْكِتَابَ قَدْ خَالَفَ فِيهِ مُؤَلِّفُوهُ مَا دَرَجَ عَلَيْهِ عُلَمَاءُ الْبَلَاغَةِ الْمُتَأَخِّرُونَ فِي حَصْرِ أَبْوَابِ عِلْمِ الْمَعَانِي وَتَرْتِيبِهَا

The authors departed from the standard conventions followed by later rhetoricians regarding the scope and arrangement of the chapters on the science of meanings.

وَاعْتِبَارِ وَجْهِ تَقْسِيمِهَا تَبَعًا لِلْخَطِيبِ الْقَزْوِينِيِّ - رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - فِي التَّلْخِيصِ.

They also diverged from the method of classification established by Al-Khatib Al-Qazwini in his work, Al-Talkhis.

حَيْثُ إِنَّ الْمَعْهُودَ لَدَى الْمُتَأَخِّرِينَ الَّذِينَ سَارُوا عَلَى نَسَقِ الْخَطِيبِ فِي تَوَالِيفِهِمُ الْبَلَاغِيَّةِ اعْتِبَارُ أَجْزَاءِ الْكَلَامِ الْمُطَابِقِ،

It is customary for later scholars who emulate Al-Khatib to organize their rhetorical works based on the constituent parts of a sentence.

فَيَقْسِمُونَ أَبْوَابَ عِلْمِ الْمَعَانِي بِاعْتِبَارِ أَجْزَاءِ الْجُمْلَةِ مِنَ الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ وَالْمُسْنَدِ وَمُتَعَلِّقَاتِ الْمُسْنَدِ إِنْ كَانَ فِعْلًا أَوْ مَا فِي مَعْنَاهُ،

They divide the science of meanings according to grammatical components: the subject, the predicate, and the predicate’s modifiers, provided the predicate is a verb or functions as one.

فَفِي بَابِ الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ مَثَلًا يَسْتَوْفُونَ الْحَدِيثَ عَمَّا يَعْرِضُ لِلْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ أَحْوَالٍ وَصِفَاتٍ تَتَعَاقَبُ عَلَيْهِ.

In the chapter on the subject, for instance, they exhaustively cover all the states and attributes that may apply to it.

Vocabulary · المفردات (19 verbs · 58 nouns)

• نَظَرَ — to look
• وَجَدَ — to find
• حَوَى — to contain
• عَهِدَ — to know/recognize
• عَرَفَ — to know
• طَالَ — to be long
• اشْتَهَرَ — to be famous
• طَارَ — to fly
• جَعَلَ — to make
• قَرَّرَ — to prescribe/mandate
• جَدَرَ — to be worthy
• نَبَّهَ — to alert
• خَالَفَ — to differ
• دَرَجَ — to follow/proceed
• سَارَ — to walk/proceed
• قَسَمَ — to divide
• اسْتَوْفَى — to exhaust/cover fully
• عَرَضَ — to occur/happen
• تَعَاقَبَ — to follow one another
• دَرْسٌ — lesson
• بَلَاغَةٌ — rhetoric
• اخْتِصَارٌ — abridgment
• مِصْرُ — Egypt
• عَيْنٌ — eye
• تَأَمُّلٌ — contemplation
• مُطَوَّلَةٌ — long book
• فَنٌّ — art
• أَصْلٌ — foundation
• قَاعِدَةٌ — rule
• كَثْرَةٌ — abundance
• مَسْأَلَةٌ — issue
• مُنَاقَشَةٌ — discussion
• زَائِدَةٌ — additional
• تَرْتِيبٌ — arrangement
• حَسَنٌ — good
• كِتَابٌ — book
• مُتَأَخِّرٌ — later scholar
• نَظَرٌ — view/gaze
• مُتَقَدِّمٌ — earlier scholar
• اشْتِهَارٌ — fame
• شَمْسٌ — sun
• نِصْفٌ — half
• نَهَارٌ — daytime
• قَبُولٌ — east wind
• دَبُورٌ — west wind
• قُطْرٌ — region
• عِلْمٌ — knowledge
• بَصِيرَةٌ — insight
• دِرَاسَةٌ — study
• مَدْرَسَةٌ — school
• هِنْدٌ — India
• تَنْبِيهٌ — alert
• مُؤَلِّفٌ — author
• عَالِمٌ — scholar
• حَصْرٌ — limitation
• بَابٌ — chapter
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• اعْتِبَارٌ — consideration
• وَجْهٌ — aspect
• تَقْسِيمٌ — division
• خَطِيبٌ — orator
• قَزْوِينِيٌّ — Qazwini
• تَلْخِيصٌ — summary
• نَسَقٌ — pattern
• تَوَالِيفٌ — compilations
• بَلَاغِيٌّ — rhetorical
• جُزْءٌ — part
• كَلَامٌ — speech
• مُطَابِقٌ — conforming
• جُمْلَةٌ — sentence
• مُسْنَدٌ — predicate
• مُتَعَلِّقٌ — attachment
• فِعْلٌ — verb
• مِثَالٌ — an example
• حَدِيثٌ — discourse
• حَالٌ — state
• صِفَةٌ — attribute