Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 95

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَالْمَجَازُ إِنْ كَانَتْ عَلَاقَتُهُ الْمُشَابَهَةَ بَيْنَ الْمَعْنَى الْمَجَازِيِّ، وَالْمَعْنَى الْحَقِيقِيِّ كَمَا فِي الْمِثَالِ الْأَوَّلِ يُسَمَّى اسْتِعَارَةً وَإِلَّا فَمَجَازٌ مُرْسَلٌ كَمَا فِي الْمِثَالِ الثَّانِي.

And the metaphor, if its relation is similarity between the metaphorical meaning and the literal meaning as in the first example, it is called a metaphor, otherwise it is a loose metaphor as in the second example.

الِاسْتِعَارَةُ هِيَ: مَجَازٌ عَلَاقَتُهُ الْمُشَابَهَةُ، كَقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ،

The metaphor is: a metaphor whose relation is similarity, as in His saying, the Almighty: 'A Book We have revealed to you, that you might bring mankind out of darknesses into the light.'

أَيْ مِنَ الضَّلَالِ إِلَى الْهُدَى، فَقَدِ اسْتُعْمِلَتِ الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُ فِي غَيْرِ مَعْنَاهُمَا الْحَقِيقِيِّ، وَالْعَلَاقَةُ الْمُشَابَهَةُ بَيْنَ الضَّلَالِ وَالظَّلَامِ وَالْهُدَى وَالنُّورِ وَالْقَرِينَةُ مَا قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ.

Meaning from misguidance to guidance, for the darknesses and the light have been used in other than their literal meaning, and the relation is the similarity between misguidance and darkness, and guidance and light, and the indicator is what precedes that.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (11 verbs · 29 nouns)

• كَانَ — to be
• سَمَّى — to name
• أَنْزَلَ — to send down
• مَجَازٌ — metaphor
• عَلَاقَةٌ — relation
• مُشَابَهَةٌ — similarity