Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 157

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

أَحْوَالُ الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ.

The states of the predicate-subject (musnad ilayhi).

وَأَمْثَالُ هَذِهِ الْمَبَاحِثِ يَنْظُرُ فِيهَا أَهْلُ اللُّغَةِ مِنْ حَيْثُ إِنَّهَا تُبَيِّنُ أَنَّ "هَذَا" مَثَلًا لِلْقَرِيبِ وَ"ذَاكَ" لِلْمُتَوَسِّطِ وَ"ذَلِكَ" لِلْبَعِيدِ، وَعِلْمُ الْمَعَانِي مِنْ حَيْثُ إِنَّهُ إِذَا أُرِيدَ قُرْبُ الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ يُؤْتَى بِـ"هَذَا"، وَهُوَ زَائِدٌ عَلَى أَصْلِ الْمُرَادِ الَّذِي هُوَ الْحُكْمُ عَلَى الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ الْمَذْكُورِ الْمُعَبَّرِ عَنْهُ بِشَيْءٍ يُوجِبُ تَصَوُّرَهُ عَلَى أَيِّ وَجْهٍ كَانَ أَوْ تَحْقِيرُهُ أَيْ تَحْقِيرُ الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ بِالْقُرْبِ، نَحْوَ: ﴿أَهَذَا الَّذِي يَذْكُرُ آلِهَتَكُمْ﴾.

Linguists examine such topics insofar as they clarify that 'hadha' (this), for example, is for the near, 'dhaka' (that) is for the intermediate, and 'dhalika' (that) is for the distant; whereas the science of meanings (ilm al-ma'ani) examines them insofar as 'hadha' is used when the proximity of the predicate-subject is intended, which is an addition to the primary intent—namely, the judgment passed upon the mentioned predicate-subject, expressed by something that necessitates its conceptualization in whatever manner it may be, or its belittlement, meaning the belittlement of the predicate-subject through proximity, such as: 'Is this the one who mentions your gods?'

وَأَمْثَالُ هَذِهِ: أَيْ وَهَذِهِ الْمَبَاحِثُ وَأَمْثَالُهَا كَالتَّكَلُّمِ وَالْخِطَابِ وَالْغَيْبَةِ بِالنِّسْبَةِ إِلَى الضَّمِيرِ، وَإِحْضَارُهُ بِعَيْنِهِ بِالنِّسْبَةِ لِلْعَلَمِ، وَغَرَضُ الشَّارِحِ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْعِبَارَةِ جَوَابُ سُؤَالٍ، وَهُوَ أَنَّ كَوْنَ "ذَا" لِلْقَرِيبِ وَ"ذَلِكَ" لِلْبَعِيدِ وَ"ذَاكَ" لِلْمُتَوَسِّطِ مِمَّا يُبَيِّنُهُ أَهْلُ اللُّغَةِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ بِالْوَضْعِ، فَلَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَتَعَلَّقَ بِهِ نَظَرُ عِلْمِ الْمَعَانِي؛ لِأَنَّهُ إِنَّمَا يَبْحَثُ عَنِ الزَّائِدِ عَلَى أَصْلِ الْمُرَادِ، وَحَاصِلُ جَوَابِ الشَّارِحِ: أَنَّ لِأَسْمَاءِ الْإِشَارَةِ جِهَتَيْنِ: فَاللُّغَةُ تَبْحَثُ عَنْهَا مِنْ جِهَةِ أَنَّ هَذَا مَوْضُوعٌ لِلْقَرِيبِ إِلَخْ، وَعِلْمُ الْمَعَانِي يَبْحَثُ عَنْهَا مِنْ جِهَةِ أَنَّهُ يُؤْتَى بِهَذَا إِذَا قَصَدَ الْمُتَكَلِّمُ بَيَانَ قُرْبِ الْمُشَارِ إِلَيْهِ إِلَخْ، وَهَذَا الْقُرْبُ زَائِدٌ عَلَى أَصْلِ الْمُرَادِ؛ فَإِنَّ أَصْلَ مُرَادِ الْمُتَكَلِّمِ مِنَ الْكَلَامِ الْحُكْمُ عَلَى ذَاتِ الْمُسْنَدِ إِلَيْهِ مُعَبَّرًا عَنْهُ بِأَيِّ لَفْظٍ كَانَ، سَوَاءٌ كَانَ عَلَمًا أَوْ مَوْصُولًا أَوْ اسْمَ إِشَارَةٍ أَوْ غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ.

'And such as these': meaning these topics and their likes, such as first-person, second-person, and third-person in relation to pronouns, and presenting the entity itself in relation to proper nouns. The commentator's purpose in this phrasing is to answer a question: that the fact that 'dha' is for the near, 'dhalika' for the distant, and 'dhaka' for the intermediate is something explained by linguists because it is a matter of linguistic convention (wad'), so it should not be the concern of the science of meanings, as it only investigates what is additional to the primary intent. The gist of the commentator's answer is that demonstrative nouns have two aspects: linguistics examines them from the aspect that 'this' is coined for the near, etc., while the science of meanings examines them from the aspect that 'this' is used when the speaker intends to indicate the proximity of the referred-to object, etc., and this proximity is additional to the primary intent; for the speaker's primary intent in speech is the judgment passed upon the essence of the predicate-subject, expressed by any word whatsoever, whether it be a proper noun, a relative pronoun, a demonstrative noun, or otherwise.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (26 verbs · 69 nouns)

• نَظَرَ — to look
• بَيَّنَ — to clarify
• أَرَادَ — to want
• أَحْوَالٌ — conditions
• مُسْنَدٌ — predicate
• أَمْثَالٌ — examples