Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 2 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 15

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

تَعْرِيفُ الْمَجَازِ وَالْكِنَايَةِ.

The definition of metaphor and metonymy.

يُفْهَمُ الْكُلُّ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْتِفَاتٍ إِلَى الْأَجْزَاءِ كَمَا ذَكَرَ الشَّيْخُ الرَّئِيسُ فِي "الشِّفَاءِ": أَنَّهُ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَخْطُرَ النَّوْعُ بِالْبَالِ وَلَا يَلْتَفِتَ الذِّهْنُ إِلَى الْجِنْسِ.

The whole is understood without attention being paid to the parts, as the Chief Sheikh mentioned in 'Al-Shifa': it is permissible for the species to cross the mind without the intellect turning to the genus.

إِجْمَالًا.

In summary.

تَعْرِيفُ الْمَجَازِ وَالْكِنَايَةِ.

The definition of metaphor and metonymy.

الَّذِي هُوَ جُزْءٌ مِنَ النَّوْعِ.

Which is a part of the species.

ثُمَّ اللَّفْظُ الْمُرَادُ بِهِ لَازِمُ مَا وُضِعَ لَهُ سَوَاءٌ كَانَ اللَّازِمُ دَاخِلًا كَمَا فِي التَّضَمُّنِ أَوْ خَارِجًا فَيَعُمُّ التَّضَمُّنَ وَالِالْتِزَامَ.

Then, the expression intended to mean the necessary consequence of what it was coined for, whether that consequence is internal as in inclusion (tadammun) or external, thus encompassing both inclusion and implication (iltizam).

كَمَا فِي الِالْتِزَامِ إِنْ قَامَتْ قَرِينَةٌ عَلَى عَدَمِ إِرَادَتِهِ أَيْ إِرَادَةِ مَا وُضِعَ لَهُ فَمَجَازٌ وَإِلَّا فَيُسَمَّى ذَلِكَ اللَّفْظُ مَجَازًا فَكِنَايَةٌ، فَعِنْدَ الْمُصَنِّفِ الِانْتِقَالُ فِي الْمَجَازِ وَالْكِنَايَةِ كِلَيْهِمَا مِنَ الْمَلْزُومِ إِلَى اللَّازِمِ؛ إِذْ لَا دَلَالَةَ لِلَّازِمِ مِنْ حَيْثُ إِنَّهُ لَازِمٌ عَلَى الْمَلْزُومِ إِلَّا أَنَّ إِرَادَةَ الْمَوْضُوعِ لَهُ جَائِزَةٌ فِي الْكِنَايَةِ دُونَ الْمَجَازِ، وَقَدَّمَ الْمَجَازَ عَلَيْهَا أَيْ عَلَى الْكِنَايَةِ؛ لِأَنَّ مَعْنَاهُ الْمَجَازَ كَجُزْءٍ مَعْنَاهَا فَقَطْ، وَمَعْنَى الْكِنَايَةِ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ هُوَ اللَّازِمُ وَالْمَلْزُومُ جَمِيعًا، وَالْمَقْصُودُ الْأَصْلِيُّ هُوَ اللَّازِمُ.

As in implication, if a contextual indicator (qarina) exists against intending it—that is, intending what it was coined for—then it is a metaphor; otherwise, that expression is called a metaphor, then a metonymy. According to the author, the transition in both metaphor and metonymy is from the necessitated (malzum) to the necessary consequence (lazim), since the necessary consequence, in its capacity as a necessary consequence, does not indicate the necessitated, except that intending the original meaning is permissible in metonymy but not in metaphor. He prioritized metaphor over it—that is, over metonymy—because its meaning, the metaphor, is only a part of its meaning, whereas the meaning of metonymy can be both the necessary consequence and the necessitated together, and the primary intended meaning is the necessary consequence.

أَشَارَ بِكَلِمَةِ "ثُمَّ" إِلَى الِانْتِقَالِ مِنْ بَحْثٍ إِلَى آخَرَ، فَإِنَّهُ انْتَقَلَ مِنْ تَعْرِيفِ الْبَيَانِ وَتَحْقِيقِ التَّعْرِيفِ إِلَى تَعْيِينِ مَا يُبْحَثُ عَنْهُ فِي الْفَنِّ.

He indicated with the word 'then' (thumma) the transition from one discussion to another, for he moved from the definition of rhetoric (bayan) and the verification of the definition to specifying what is discussed in the discipline.

الْمُرَادُ بِهِ لَازِمٌ أَيْ إِرَادَةٌ جَارِيَةٌ عَلَى قَانُونِ اللُّغَةِ، وَإِلَّا فَمَا كُلُّ لَازِمٍ يُرَادُ بِاللَّفْظِ؛ إِذْ لَا يَصِحُّ إِطْلَاقُ لَفْظِ الْأَبِ عَلَى الِابْنِ وَالْعَكْسِ.

The intended meaning is a necessary consequence, meaning an intention that follows the rules of language; otherwise, not every necessary consequence is intended by the expression, for it is not correct to apply the word 'father' to the 'son' and vice versa.

وَإِلَّا أَيْ وَإِنْ لَمْ تَقَعْ قَرِينَةٌ عَلَى عَدَمِ إِرَادَةِ مَا وُضِعَ لَهُ مَعَ إِرَادَةِ اللَّازِمِ، وَذَلِكَ بِأَنْ وُجِدَتِ الْقَرِينَةُ الدَّالَّةُ عَلَى إِرَادَةِ اللَّازِمِ إِلَّا أَنَّهَا لَمْ تَمْنَعْ مِنْ إِرَادَةِ الْمَلْزُومِ، وَهُوَ الْمَعْنَى الْمَوْضُوعُ لَهُ وَلَيْسَ الْمُرَادُ عَدَمَ وُجُودِ الْقَرِينَةِ أَصْلًا، وَإِنْ كَانَ كَلَامُ الْمُصَنِّفِ صَادِقًا بِذَلِكَ؛ لِأَنَّ الْكِنَايَةَ لَا بُدَّ فِيهَا مِنْ قَرِينَةٍ.

And 'otherwise' means: if no contextual indicator occurs against intending what it was coined for while intending the necessary consequence. This is when the indicator pointing to the intention of the necessary consequence is found, but it does not prevent the intention of the necessitated, which is the meaning it was coined for. The intention is not the total absence of an indicator, even if the author's words might be true in that regard, because metonymy must have a contextual indicator.

فَكِنَايَةٌ مَأْخُوذٌ مِنْ كَنَى عَنْهُ بِكَذَا إِذَا لَمْ يُصَرِّحْ بِاسْمِهِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يُصَرِّحْ بِاسْمِ اللَّازِمِ مَعَ إِرَادَتِهِ كَقَوْلِكَ: "زَيْدٌ طَوِيلُ النِّجَادِ" مُرِيدًا بِهِ طُولَ الْقَامَةِ؛ فَإِنَّهُ كِنَايَةٌ؛ إِذْ لَا قَرِينَةَ تَمْنَعُ مِنْ إِرَادَةِ طُولِ النِّجَادِ طُولَ الْقَامَةِ.

So 'metonymy' (kinaya) is derived from 'he alluded to it by such-and-such' when he did not explicitly state its name, because he did not explicitly state the name of the necessary consequence while intending it, like your saying: 'Zayd is long of sword-belt,' intending by it 'tall of stature.' This is a metonymy, since there is no indicator preventing the intention of 'long of sword-belt' [to mean] 'tall of stature'.

فَعِنْدَ الْمُصَنِّفِ وَعِنْدَ السَّكَّاكِيِّ الِانْتِقَالُ فِي الْكِنَايَةِ مِنَ اللَّازِمِ إِلَى الْمَلْزُومِ.

So, according to the author and according to al-Sakkaki, the transition in metonymy is from the necessary consequence to the necessitated.

مِنَ الْمَلْزُومِ إِلَى اللَّازِمِ وَالْفَرْقُ بَيْنَهُمَا عِنْدَهُ وُجُودُ الْقَرِينَةِ الصَّارِفَةِ عَنْ إِرَادَةِ الْمَلْزُومِ فِي الْمَجَازِ وَعَدَمُ وُجُودِهَا فِي الْكِنَايَةِ.

[It is] from the necessitated to the necessary consequence, and the difference between them, according to him, is the existence of the indicator that diverts from intending the necessitated in metaphor, and its absence in metonymy.

إِذْ لَا دَلَالَةَ لِلَّازِمِ: عِلَّةُ الْمَحْذُوفِ أَيْ لَا مِنَ اللَّازِمِ إِلَى الْمَلْزُومِ كَمَا يَقُولُ السَّكَّاكِيُّ؛ فَإِنَّ اللَّازِمَ قَدْ يَكُونُ أَعَمَّ وَإِشْعَارٌ لَهُ بِأَخَصَّ مُعَيَّنٍ، فَكَيْفَ يُنْتَقَلُ مِنْهُ إِلَيْهِ؟

'Since the necessary consequence has no indication': this is the reason for the omitted part, meaning [it does] not [go] from the necessary consequence to the necessitated as al-Sakkaki says, for the necessary consequence might be more general and indicate a specific, more particular thing, so how can one transition from it to that?

وَقَدْ تَقَدَّمَ مَا يُفِيدُ الْجَوَابَ عَنِ السَّكَّاكِيِّ، وَهُوَ أَنَّ الْمُرَادَ بِاللَّازِمِ التَّابِعُ وَمِنَ الْمَلْزُومِ الْمَتْبُوعُ، وَأَنَّ الِانْتِقَالَ مِنْهُ إِلَى الْمَتْبُوعِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ مَلْزُومٌ فِي الْمَعْنَى.

What provides the answer to al-Sakkaki has already been presented, which is that what is meant by the 'necessary consequence' is the follower, and by the 'necessitated' is the followed, and that the transition is from it to the followed because it is necessitated in meaning.

Vocabulary · المفردات (24 verbs · 65 nouns)

• فَهِمَ — to understand
• ذَكَرَ — to mention
• جَازَ — to be permissible
• خَطَرَ — to occur
• لَفَتَ — to turn
• وَضَعَ — to place
• عَمَّ — to encompass
• قَامَ — to stand
• سَمَّى — to name
• قَدَّمَ — to present
• أَشَارَ — to point
• انْتَقَلَ — to move
• بَحَثَ — to research
• جَرَى — to flow
• أَرَادَ — to want
• صَحَّ — to be correct
• وَقَعَ — to occur
• وَجَدَ — to find
• مَنَعَ — to prevent
• أَخَذَ — to take
• كَنَى — to use a metonymy
• صَرَّحَ — to declare
• تَقَدَّمَ — to precede
• أَفَادَ — to benefit
• تَعْرِيف — definition
• مَجَاز — metaphor
• كِنَايَة — metonymy
• كُلّ — whole
• الْتِفَات — turning
• جُزْء — part
• شَيْخ — sheikh
• رَئِيس — chief
• شِفَاء — healing
• نَوْع — type
• بَال — mind
• ذِهْن — intellect
• جِنْس — genus
• إِجْمَال — summary
• لَفْظ — word
• مُرَاد — intended
• لَازِم — implication
• تَضَمُّن — inclusion
• خَارِج — exterior
• الْتِزَام — implication
• قَرِينَة — contextual indicator
• عَدَم — absence
• إِرَادَة — intention
• مُصَنِّف — author
• انْتِقَال — transition
• مَلْزُوم — implicated
• دَلَالَة — indication
• حَيْث — where
• مَوْضُوع — subject
• مَعْنَى — meaning
• مَقْصُود — intended
• أَصْلِيّ — original
• كَلِمَة — word
• بَحْث — research
• آخَر — other
• بَيَان — clarification
• تَحْقِيق — verification
• تَعْيِين — specification
• فَنّ — art
• جَارِيَة — flowing
• قَانُون — law
• لُغَة — language
• إِطْلَاق — application
• أَب — father
• ابْن — son
• عَكْس — opposite
• وُجُود — existence
• كَلَام — speech
• صَادِق — truthful
• اسْم — name
• قَوْل — saying
• طَوِيل — long
• نِجَاد — sword belt
• قَامَة — stature
• فَرْق — difference
• صَارِفَة — diverting
• عِلَّة — cause
• مَحْذُوف — omitted
• أَعَمّ — more general
• إِشْعَار — notification
• أَخَصّ — more specific
• مُعَيَّن — specified
• جَوَاب — answer
• تَابِع — follower
• مَتْبُوع — followed