Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 370

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْقَصْرُ: "أَنَا" تَأْكِيدًا وَلَيْسَتْ "مَا" مَوْصُولَةً، وَ"أَنَا" خَبَرُهَا؛ إِذْ لَا ضَرُورَةَ فِي الْعُدُولِ عَنْ لَفْظِ "مَنْ" إِلَى لَفْظِ "مَا".

The restriction: "Ana" (I) is for emphasis, and "Ma" is not a relative pronoun, and "Ana" is its predicate; since there is no necessity to deviate from the word "Man" (who) to the word "Ma" (what).

[الْقَصْرُ بِالتَّقْدِيمِ] وَمِنْهَا: التَّقْدِيمُ، أَيْ تَقْدِيمُ مَا حَقُّهُ التَّأْخِيرُ كَتَقْدِيمِ الْخَبَرِ عَلَى الْمُبْتَدَأِ أَوِ الْمَعْمُولَاتِ عَلَى الْفِعْلِ كَقَوْلِكَ فِي قَصْرِهِ أَيْ فِي قَصْرِ الْمَوْصُوفِ تَمِيمِيٌّ أَنَا كَانَ الْأَنْسَبُ ذِكْرُ الْمِثَالَيْنِ؛ وَلَيْسَتْ "مَا" مَوْصُولَةً: هَذَا جَوَابٌ عَنْ مَنْعٍ وَارِدٍ عَلَى الِاسْتِشْهَادِ بِالْبَيْتِ الْمَذْكُورِ، وَهُوَ أَنْ يُقَالَ: عِنْدَنَا وَجْهٌ يُوجِبُ فَصْلَ الضَّمِيرِ مِنْ غَيْرِ تَقْدِيرِ كَوْنِ "إِنَّمَا" بِمَعْنَى "مَا وَإِلَّا"، وَحِينَئِذٍ فَلَا يَتِمُّ هَذَا الشَّاهِدُ عَلَى الْمُرَادِ، وَهُوَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ مَا مَوْصُولَةً وَ"أَنَا" خَبَرُهَا، وَجُمْلَةُ "يُدَافِعُ عَنْ أَحْسَابِهِمْ" صِلَتُهَا، وَالْمَعْنَى حِينَئِذٍ أَنَّ الَّذِي يُدَافِعُ عَنْ أَحْسَابِهِمْ أَنَا كَمَا تَقُولُ: إِنَّ الَّذِي ضَرَبَ زَيْدًا أَنَا، فَيُفِيدُ الْكَلَامُ الْحَصْرَ بِتَعْرِيفِ الْجُزْأَيْنِ كَمَا فِي قِرَاءَةِ ﴿إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ﴾ [الْبَقَرَةُ: ١٧٣] بِالرَّفْعِ، وَيَكُونُ فَصْلُ الضَّمِيرِ لِكَوْنِهِ خَبَرًا وَلَيْسَ مَرْفُوعًا بِالْفِعْلِ حَتَّى يَكُونَ مَفْصُولًا عَنْهُ، وَحَاصِلُ الْجَوَابِ: أَنَّ الْمَقَامَ مَقَامُ الِافْتِخَارِ، فَلَا يُنَاسِبُهُ التَّعْبِيرُ بِـ"مَا" الَّتِي هِيَ لِغَيْرِ الْعَاقِلِ مَعَ إِمْكَانِ التَّعْبِيرِ بِـ"مَنْ" وَاسْتِقَامَةِ الْوَزْنِ، فَلَا وَجْهَ لِلتَّعْبِيرِ مِنَ الْبَلِيغِ بِـ"مَا" فِي مَوْضِعِ "مَنْ"، وَأَيْضًا لَوْ كَانَتْ مَوْصُولَةً لَكُتِبَتْ مَفْصُولَةً عَنْ "إِنْ".

[Restriction by Preposition] Among them is: Preposition, meaning the placing of that which should be delayed, such as placing the predicate before the subject or the objects before the verb, as in your saying regarding its restriction—that is, the restriction of the described—"Tamimi ana" (I am a Tamimi). It would have been more appropriate to mention two examples; and "Ma" is not a relative pronoun: this is an answer to an objection raised against citing the aforementioned verse, which is to say: We have a perspective that necessitates the separation of the pronoun without assuming that "Innama" means "Ma wa illa" (nothing but), and in that case, this evidence does not hold for the intended meaning, which is to make "Ma" a relative pronoun and "Ana" its predicate, and the sentence "yudafi'u 'an ahsabihim" (he defends their lineage) its relative clause. The meaning then would be that the one who defends their lineage is I, just as you say: "Indeed, the one who hit Zayd is I." Thus, the speech conveys restriction through the definiteness of both parts, as in the reading of "Innama harrama 'alaykum al-maytata" [Al-Baqarah: 173] in the nominative case, and the separation of the pronoun is because it is a predicate and not in the nominative case by the verb so that it would be separated from it. The gist of the answer is: the context is one of boasting, so it is not appropriate to express it with "Ma," which is for the non-rational, while it is possible to express it with "Man" (who) and maintain the meter; therefore, there is no reason for the eloquent speaker to use "Ma" in the place of "Man," and also, if it were a relative pronoun, it would have been written separated from "In".

إِذْ لَا ضَرُورَةَ وَإِذَا كَانَ لَا ضَرُورَةَ فِي الْعُدُولِ عُلِمَ أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَقْصِدْ هَذَا الْمَعْنَى.

Since there is no necessity, and when there is no necessity to deviate, it is known that he did not intend this meaning.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (32 verbs · 87 nouns)

• عَدَلَ — to deviate
• أَوْجَبَ — to necessitate
• تَمَّ — to be completed
• قَصْرٌ — restriction
• تَأْكِيدٌ — emphasis
• مَوْصُولٌ — relative