Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 529

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْفَنُّ الْأَوَّلُ

The First Art.

الْإِيجَازُ وَالْإِطْنَابُ وَالْمُسَاوَاةُ

Conciseness (Ijaz), Prolixity (Itnab), and Equivalence (Musawat).

نَحْوُ: ﴿وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ﴾ (الْبَقَرَةُ: ١٧٩) فَإِنَّ مَعْنَاهُ كَثِيرٌ وَلَفْظُهُ يَسِيرٌ؛ وَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ حَيَاةٌ مَعْنَاهُ أَنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ إِذَا عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ مَتَى قَتَلَ قُتِلَ كَانَ ذَلِكَ دَاعِيًا لَهُ إِلَى أَنْ لَا يُقْدِمَ عَلَى الْمَقْصُودِ مِنْهُ وَلَوْ بِالِالْتِزَامِ الْقَتْلِ، فَارْتَفَعَ بِالْقَتْلِ الَّذِي هُوَ الْقِصَاصُ كَثِيرٌ مِنْ قَتْلِ النَّاسِ بَعْضِهِمْ لِبَعْضٍ، وَكَانَ ارْتِفَاعُ الْقَتْلِ حَيَاةً لَهُمْ، وَلَا حَذْفَ فِيهِ أَيْ لَيْسَ فِيهِ حَذْفُ شَيْءٍ مِمَّا يُؤَدَّى بِهِ أَصْلُ أَيْ إِبْقَاءً لِحَيَاتِهِمْ فَيَكُونُ إِيجَازُ الْقَصْرِ لَا الْحَذْفِ الْمُرَادِ وَاعْتِبَارُ الْفِعْلِ الَّذِي يَتَعَلَّقُ بِهِ الظَّرْفُ رِعَايَةً لِأَمْرٍ لَفْظِيٍّ حَتَّى لَوْ ذُكِرَ لَكَانَ "لَكُمْ" وَ"فِي الْقِصَاصِ" تَطْوِيلًا، وَفَضْلُهُ أَيْ رُجْحَانُ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ﴾ (الْبَقَرَةُ: ١٧٩) عَلَى بَلْ حَشْوًا مُبْتَدَأٌ الْأَوْجَزِ عِنْدَهُمْ قِصَاصًا خَبَرٌ مَا كَانَ عِنْدَهُمْ أَوْجَزَ كَلَامٍ فِي هَذَا الْمَعْنَى، وَهُوَ قَوْلُهُمْ: "الْقَتْلُ أَنْفَى لِلْقَتْلِ" بِقِلَّةِ حُرُوفِ ظَرْفٌ لِلْأَوْجَزِ خَبَرُ كَانَ مَا يُنَاظِرُهُ أَيِ اللَّفْظُ الَّذِي يُنَاظِرُ قَوْلَهُمُ الْقَتْلُ أَنْفَى لِلْقَتْلِ مِنْهُ أَيْ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ﴾ (الْبَقَرَةُ: ١٧٩)، وَمَا يُنَاظِرُهُ مِنْهُ هُوَ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ (الْبَقَرَةُ: ١٧٩)؛ لِأَنَّ "لَكُمْ" زَائِدٌ عَلَى مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِمُ: الْقَتْلُ أَنْفَى لِلْقَتْلِ، وَاعْتِبَارُ الْفِعْلِ جَوَابٌ عَمَّا يُقَالُ: إِنَّ فِي الْآيَةِ حَذْفًا فَلَا يَصِحُّ النَّفْيُ فِي قَوْلِ الْمَتْنِ: وَلَا حَذْفَ فِيهِ.

For example: 'And there is life for you in legal retribution' (Al-Baqarah: 179), for its meaning is vast while its wording is brief. This is because 'life' means that when a person knows that whenever he kills, he will be killed, this acts as a deterrent for him against committing murder. Thus, through the killing which is legal retribution, much of the killing of people by one another is eliminated, and the elimination of killing is life for them. There is no omission in it, meaning there is no omission of anything through which the core of the intended meaning is conveyed. The consideration of the verb to which the prepositional phrase relates is out of regard for a verbal matter, such that if it were mentioned, it would be a prolongation. Its superiority, meaning the preference of His saying, the Exalted: 'And there is life for you in legal retribution' (Al-Baqarah: 179), over what was considered by them the most concise speech on this meaning, which is their saying: 'Killing is the most effective deterrent to killing,' is due to the fewer letters in what corresponds to it, meaning the wording that corresponds to their saying 'Killing is the most effective deterrent to killing' from it, i.e., from His saying, the Exalted: 'And there is life for you in legal retribution' (Al-Baqarah: 179). What corresponds to it from it is His saying, the Exalted: 'In legal retribution is life' (Al-Baqarah: 179); because 'for you' is additional to the meaning of their saying: 'Killing is the most effective deterrent to killing.' The consideration of the verb is an answer to what is said: that there is an omission in the verse, so the negation in the text's statement 'and there is no omission in it' would not be correct.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (10 verbs · 28 nouns)

• عَلِمَ — to know
• قَتَلَ — to kill
• كَانَ — to be
• إِيجَاز — conciseness
• إِطْنَاب — prolixity
• مُسَاوَاة — equality