Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 94

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْمَجَازُ: هُوَ اللَّفْظُ الْمُسْتَعْمَلُ فِي غَيْرِ مَا وُضِعَ لَهُ؛ لِعَلَاقَةٍ مَعَ قَرِينَةٍ مَانِعَةٍ مِنْ إِرَادَةِ الْمَعْنَى السَّابِقِ كَالدُّرَرِ الْمُسْتَعْمَلَةِ فِي الْكَلِمَاتِ الْفَصِيحَةِ فِي قَوْلِكَ: فُلَانٌ يَتَكَلَّمُ بِالدُّرَرِ، فَإِنَّهَا مُسْتَعْمَلَةٌ فِي غَيْرِ مَا وُضِعَتْ لَهُ؛ إِذْ قَدْ وُضِعَتْ فِي الْأَصْلِ لِلُّؤْلُؤِ الْحَقِيقِيِّ، ثُمَّ نُقِلَتْ إِلَى الْكَلِمَاتِ الْفَصِيحَةِ لِعَلَاقَةِ الْمُشَابَهَةِ بَيْنَهُمَا فِي الْحُسْنِ وَالَّذِي يَمْنَعُ مِنْ إِرَادَةِ الْمَعْنَى الْحَقِيقِيِّ قَرِينَةُ يَتَكَلَّمُ.

Metaphor (al-majaz) is a word used in a sense other than that for which it was originally coined, due to a relationship (between the two meanings) along with a contextual indicator that prevents the intended meaning from being the original one, such as the word 'pearls' (al-durar) used for eloquent words in your saying: 'So-and-so speaks with pearls.' It is used in a sense other than that for which it was coined, as it was originally coined for real pearls, then transferred to eloquent words due to the relationship of resemblance between them in beauty, and what prevents the intended meaning from being the literal one is the contextual indicator 'speaks'.

وَكَالْأَصَابِعِ الْمُسْتَعْمَلَةِ فِي الْأَنَامِلِ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِمْ، فَإِنَّهَا مُسْتَعْمَلَةٌ فِي غَيْرِ مَا وُضِعَتْ لَهُ؛ لِعَلَاقَةِ أَنَّ الْأُنْمُلَةَ جُزْءٌ مِنَ الْأُصْبُعِ، فَاسْتُعْمِلَ الْكُلُّ فِي الْجُزْءِ، وَقَرِينَةُ ذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ لَا يُمْكِنُ جَعْلُ الْأَصَابِعِ بِتَمَامِهَا فِي الْآذَانِ.

And like the word 'fingers' (al-asabi') used for 'fingertips' (al-anamil) in the Almighty's saying: 'They put their fingers in their ears,' for it is used in a sense other than that for which it was coined, due to the relationship that the fingertip is a part of the finger, so the whole was used for the part, and the contextual indicator for that is that it is impossible to put the fingers in their entirety into the ears.

إِذَا أُطْلِقَ الْمَجَازُ لَا يَنْصَرِفُ إِلَّا إِلَى اللُّغَوِيِّ، وَسَيَأْتِي مَجَازٌ يُسَمَّى بِالْمَجَازِ الْعَقْلِيِّ.

When the term 'metaphor' is used absolutely, it refers only to the linguistic metaphor, and a metaphor called the 'rational metaphor' will be discussed later.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (13 verbs · 27 nouns)

• اِسْتَعْمَلَ — to use
• وَضَعَ — to coin or define
• تَكَلَّمَ — to speak
• مَجَازٌ — metaphor
• لَفْظٌ — word
• عَلَاقَةٌ — relation