Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 419

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْفَنُّ الْأَوَّلُ، الْإِنْشَاءُ.

The first art is composition (al-insha').

فَقَالَ: مَالِي لَا أَرَاهُ عَلَى مَعْنَى أَنَّهُ لَا يَرَاهُ وَهُوَ حَاضِرٌ لِسَاتِرٍ سَتَرَهُ أَوْ غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ لَاحَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ غَائِبٌ، فَأَضْرَبَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ وَأَخَذَ يَقُولُ: أَهْوَ غَائِبٌ، كَأَنَّهُ يَسْأَلُ عَنْ صِحَّةِ مَا لَاحَ لَهُ، لَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّ الِاسْتِفْهَامَ عَلَى حَقِيقَتِهِ، وَالتَّنْبِيهُ عَلَى الضَّلَالِ نَحْوَ: ﴿فَأَيْنَ تَذْهَبُونَ﴾، وَالْوَعِيدُ كَقَوْلِكَ لِمَنْ يُسِيءُ الْأَدَبَ: "أَلَمْ أُؤَدِّبْ فُلَانًا" إِذَا عَلِمَ الْمُخَاطَبُ ذَلِكَ وَهُوَ أَنَّكَ أَدَّبْتَ فُلَانًا فَيَفْهَمُ مِنْهُ مَعْنَى الْوَعِيدِ وَالتَّخْوِيفِ وَلَا يَحْمِلُهُ عَلَى السُّؤَالِ، وَالْأَمْرُ نَحْوَ: ﴿فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ﴾ أَيْ أَسْلِمُوا، وَالتَّقْرِيرُ أَيْ حَمْلُ الْمُخَاطَبِ عَلَى الِاعْتِرَافِ.

He said: 'Why do I not see him?' in the sense that he does not see him while he is present, due to a veil that obscured him or something else; then it occurred to him that he was absent, so he turned away from that and began to say: 'Is he absent?', as if he were asking about the validity of what had occurred to him; it does not indicate that the interrogation is in its literal sense, and [it may indicate] alerting to error, such as: 'So where are you going?', and threatening, like your saying to someone who behaves rudely: 'Did I not discipline so-and-so?' when the addressee knows that, which is that you did discipline so-and-so, so he understands from it the meaning of threat and intimidation and does not take it as a question, and command, such as: 'So will you be Muslims?' meaning 'Become Muslims', and confirmation, meaning compelling the addressee to confess.

حَاصِلُهُ أَنَّ سُلَيْمَانَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ جَازِمٌ بِعَدَمِ رُؤْيَتِهِ مَعَ حُضُورِهِ وَمُتَرَدِّدٌ فِي السَّبَبِ الْمَانِعِ مِنَ الرُّؤْيَةِ مَعَ حُضُورِهِ هَلْ هُوَ سَاتِرٌ يَسْتُرُهُ أَوْ غَيْرُهُ، فَسَأَلَ الْحَاضِرِينَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ السَّبَبِ، وَقَالَ الْبَعْضُ: مُحَصَّلُهُ أَنَّ سُلَيْمَانَ لَمَّا نَظَرَ إِلَى مَكَانِ الْهُدْهُدِ فَلَمْ يُبْصِرْهُ تَرَدَّدَ فِي السَّبَبِ الْمَانِعِ لَهُ مِنَ الرُّؤْيَةِ هَلْ هُوَ سَاتِرٌ مَعَ كَوْنِهِ حَاضِرًا أَوْ غَيْبَتُهُ بِلَا إِذْنٍ، فَلَمَّا تَرَدَّدَ سَأَلَ الْحَاضِرِينَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ، وَالتَّقْرِيرُ الْأَوَّلُ أَقْرَبُ لِكَلَامِ الشَّارِحِ، وَعَلَى كُلٍّ مِنَ التَّقْرِيرَيْنِ فَالْمَسْؤُولُ عَنْهُ لَيْسَ حَالًا مِنْ أَحْوَالِ نَفْسِهِ، فَلِذَا السُّؤَالُ عَنْهُ.

The gist of it is that Solomon, peace be upon him, was certain of not seeing him while he was present, and was hesitant regarding the cause preventing the vision while he was present—is it a veil obscuring him or something else?—so he asked those present about that cause; and some said: its gist is that when Solomon looked at the place of the hoopoe and did not see him, he hesitated regarding the cause preventing him from seeing him: is it a veil while he is present, or his absence without permission? So when he hesitated, he asked those present about that; the first explanation is closer to the commentator's words, and on both explanations, what is being asked about is not a state of his own self, and therefore the question about it.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (29 verbs · 55 nouns)

• قَالَ — to say
• رَأَى — to see
• سَتَرَ — to cover
• فَنٌّ — art
• إِنْشَاءٌ — composition
• مَعْنًى — meaning