Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 388

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

فَيَكُونُ الْقَيْدُ الْأَخِيرُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْوَاقِعِ بَعْدَ "إِلَّا"، فَيَكُونُ هُوَ الْمَقْصُورُ عَلَيْهِ، وَلَا يَجُوزُ تَقْدِيمُهُ أَيْ تَقْدِيمُ الْمَقْصُورِ عَلَيْهِ بِـ "إِنَّمَا" عَلَى غَيْرِهِ لِلِالْتِبَاسِ كَمَا إِذَا قُلْنَا فِي "إِنَّمَا ضَرَبَ زَيْدٌ عَمْرًا": "إِنَّمَا ضَرَبَ عَمْرًا زَيْدٌ"، بِخِلَافِ النَّفْيِ وَالِاسْتِثْنَاءِ؛ فَإِنَّهُ لَا الْتِبَاسَ فِيهِ؛ إِذِ الْمَقْصُورُ عَلَيْهِ هُوَ الْمَذْكُورُ بَعْدَ "إِلَّا" سَوَاءٌ قُدِّمَ أَوْ أُخِّرَ، وَهَهُنَا لَيْسَ "إِلَّا" مَذْكُورًا فِي اللَّفْظِ بَلْ تَضَمُّنًا وَ"غَيْرُ" كَـ"إِلَّا" فِي إِفَادَةِ الْقَصْرَيْنِ قَصْرِ الْمَوْصُوفِ عَلَى الصِّفَةِ وَقَصْرِ الصِّفَةِ عَلَى الْمَوْصُوفِ إِفْرَادًا وَقَلْبًا وَتَعْيِينًا، وَفِي امْتِنَاعِ مُجَامَعَةِ "لَا" الْعَاطِفَةِ لِمَا سَبَقَ، فَلَا يَصِحُّ "مَا زَيْدٌ غَيْرُ شَاعِرٍ لَا كَاتِبٍ" وَلَا "مَا شَاعِرٌ غَيْرُ زَيْدٍ لَا عَمْرٍو".

The final constraint is thus in the position of that which occurs after 'illa' (except), so it is the restricted-to (al-maqsur 'alayhi), and it is not permissible to advance it—that is, to advance the restricted-to by 'innama'—before another element due to ambiguity, as when we say in 'innama daraba Zaydun 'Amran' (Zayd only hit 'Amr): 'innama daraba 'Amran Zaydun' (Zayd only hit 'Amr), unlike negation and exception, for there is no ambiguity in them; since the restricted-to is what is mentioned after 'illa', whether it is advanced or delayed, whereas here 'illa' is not mentioned in the wording, but rather in implication, and 'ghayru' (other than) is like 'illa' in conveying the two types of restriction: restricting the described to the attribute and restricting the attribute to the described, whether by way of specification (ifrad), reversal (qalb), or determination (ta'yin), and in the prohibition of combining it with the conjunctive 'la' (not) for the reason previously mentioned, so it is not correct to say 'ma Zaydun ghayru sha'irin la katibin' (Zayd is not other than a poet, not a writer) nor 'ma sha'irun ghayru Zaydin la 'Amrin' (there is no poet other than Zayd, not 'Amr).

فَيَكُونُ الْقَيْدُ الْأَخِيرُ أَيْ مِنْ قَيْدَيِ الْفِعْلِ وَهُمَا الْفَاعِلُ وَالْمَفْعُولُ؛ لِمَا تَقَدَّمَ أَنَّ كُلًّا مِنَ الْفَاعِلِ وَالْمَفْعُولِ قَيْدٌ لِلْفِعْلِ، وَالْفِعْلُ مُقَيَّدٌ بِهِمَا، فَالْمُرَادُ بِالْقَيْدِ الْأَخِيرِ مَا أُخِّرَ مِنْ فَاعِلٍ أَوْ مَفْعُولٍ.

The 'final constraint' means one of the two constraints of the verb, which are the subject and the object, because it has already been established that both the subject and the object are a constraint for the verb, and the verb is constrained by them; thus, what is meant by the 'final constraint' is whichever of the subject or object is placed last.

لِلِالْتِبَاسِ: أَيِ الْتِبَاسُ الْمُرَادِ بِغَيْرِ الْمُرَادِ فِي التَّقْدِيمِ، وَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ كُلًّا مِنَ الْفَاعِلِ وَالْمَفْعُولِ الْوَاقِعَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْفِعْلِ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ هُوَ الْمَقْصُورُ عَلَيْهِ دُونَ الْآخَرِ، وَلَمْ يَقْتَرِنْ أَحَدُهُمَا بِقَرِينَةٍ تَدُلُّ عَلَى كَوْنِهِ هُوَ الْمَقْصُورُ عَلَيْهِ، فَقَصَدُوا أَنْ يَجْعَلُوا التَّأْخِيرَ عَلَامَةَ الْقَصْرِ عَلَى ذَلِكَ الْمُؤَخَّرِ.

'Due to ambiguity': meaning the confusion of the intended with the unintended in the case of advancement, and that is because each of the subject and the object occurring after the verb could potentially be the restricted-to rather than the other, and neither of them is accompanied by a contextual indicator pointing to it being the restricted-to, so they intended to make the delay a sign of restriction to that delayed element.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (21 verbs · 56 nouns)

• كَانَ — to be
• جَازَ — to be permitted
• قَدَّمَ — to advance
• قَيْد — restriction
• مَنْزِلَة — status
• وَاقِع — that which is situated