Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 437

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْفَنُّ الْأَوَّلُ، الْإِنْشَاءُ، الِاسْتِفْهَامُ وَلَيْسَ شَيْئًا آخَرَ بِرَأْسِهِ؛ لِأَنَّ الْهَمْزَةَ فِيهِ لِلِاسْتِفْهَامِ دَخَلَتْ عَلَى الْإِنْكَارِيِّ، أَيِ الْعَرْضُ، الْمِثَالُ الْمَذْكُورُ فِعْلٌ مَنْفِيٌّ، وَامْتَنَعَ حَمْلُهَا عَلَى حَقِيقَةِ الِاسْتِفْهَامِ لِلْعِلْمِ بِعَدَمِ النُّزُولِ مَثَلًا، وَتَوَلَّدَ عَنْهُ حَمْلُ الِاسْتِفْهَامِ بِمَعُونَةِ قَرِينَةِ الْحَالِ غَرَضَ النُّزُولِ عَلَى الْمُخَاطَبِ وَطَلَبَهُ مِنْهُ وَيَجُوزُ تَقْدِيرُ الشَّرْطِ فِي وَهُوَ الْعِلْمُ بِعَدَمِ النُّزُولِ غَيْرِهَا أَيْ فِي غَيْرِ هَذِهِ الْمَوَاضِعِ لِقَرِينَةٍ تَدُلُّ عَلَيْهِ نَحْوُ: ﴿أَمِ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ فَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْوَلِيُّ﴾ (الشُّورَى: ٩) أَيْ إِنْ أَرَادُوا وَلِيًّا بِحَقٍّ فَاللَّهُ هَذَا هُوَ الشَّرْطُ الْمُقَدَّرُ هُوَ الَّذِي يَجِبُ أَنْ يَتَوَلَّى وَحْدَهُ وَيُعْتَقَدُ أَنَّهُ الْمَوْلَى وَالسَّيِّدُ

The first art is creative composition, [specifically] interrogation, and it is not something else in itself; because the hamza in it for interrogation entered upon the deniability [form], meaning the presentation, the mentioned example is a negated verb, and it was impossible to interpret it as the reality of interrogation due to the knowledge of the non-descent, for example, and from it was generated the interpretation of the interrogation, with the aid of the circumstantial evidence, for the purpose of presenting the descent to the addressee and requesting it from him, and it is permissible to estimate the condition in—which is the knowledge of the non-descent—other than these, meaning in other than these places, due to evidence indicating it, such as: 'Or have they taken protectors besides Him? But Allah is the Protector' (Ash-Shura: 9), meaning if they wanted a protector in truth, then Allah—this is the estimated condition—is the One who must protect alone and is believed to be the Master and the Lord.

وَقِيلَ: لَا شَكَّ أَنَّ قَوْلَهُ ﴿أَمِ اتَّخَذُوا﴾ (الشُّورَى: ٩) الِاسْتِفْهَامُ أَيِ الْإِنْكَارِيُّ؛ لِأَنَّهُ فِي مَعْنَى النَّفْيِ، وَقَدْ دَخَلَ عَلَى فِعْلٍ مَنْفِيٍّ فَيُفِيدُ ثُبُوتَ الطَّلَبِ، وَبِمَا عَلِمْتَ مِنْ أَنَّ هَذَا الِاسْتِفْهَامَ إِنْكَارِيٌّ وَأَنَّ إِنْكَارَ النَّفْيِ إِثْبَاتٌ ظَهَرَ لَكَ صِحَّةُ تَقْدِيرِ الشَّرْطِ مُثْبَتًا بَعْدَهُ؛ لِأَنَّ الشَّرْطَ الْمُقَدَّرَ بَعْدَ هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءِ يَجِبُ أَنْ يَكُونَ مِنْ جِنْسِهَا - أَعْنِي الْإِثْبَاتَ وَالنَّفْيَ - فَلَا يَجُوزُ تَقْدِيرُ الْمُثْبَتِ بَعْدَ الْمَنْفِيِّ وَبِالْعَكْسِ.

It was said: There is no doubt that His saying 'Or have they taken' (Ash-Shura: 9) is the interrogation, meaning the deniable one; because it is in the meaning of negation, and it has entered upon a negated verb, so it indicates the establishment of the request, and by what you have known—that this interrogation is deniable and that the denial of negation is affirmation—it became clear to you the correctness of estimating the condition as affirmed after it; because the condition estimated after these things must be of their kind—I mean affirmation and negation—so it is not permissible to estimate the affirmed after the negated and vice versa.

لِأَنَّ الْهَمْزَةَ إِلَخْ حَاصِلُهُ أَنَّ الْهَمْزَةَ فِي الْمِثَالِ الْمَذْكُورِ لِلِاسْتِفْهَامِ دَخَلَتْ عَلَى فِعْلٍ مَنْفِيٍّ وَيَمْنَعُ حَمْلَهُ عَلَى حَقِيقَتِهِ وَهُوَ الِاسْتِفْهَامُ عَنْ عَدَمِ النُّزُولِ لِلْعِلْمِ بِهِ فَحُمِلَ عَلَى الْإِنْكَارِ لِعَدَمِ النُّزُولِ، فَتَوَلَّدَ مِنْهُ عَرْضُ النُّزُولِ عَلَى الْمُخَاطَبِ.

Regarding 'because the hamza, etc.', its essence is that the hamza in the mentioned example is for interrogation, entered upon a negated verb, and it prevents interpreting it as its reality, which is the interrogation about the non-descent due to the knowledge of it, so it was interpreted as denial of the non-descent, and from it was generated the presentation of the descent to the addressee.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (22 verbs · 78 nouns)

• دَخَلَ — to enter
• امْتَنَعَ — to refrain
• تَوَلَّدَ — to be generated
• فَنّ — art
• إِنْشَاء — composition
• اسْتِفْهَام — interrogation