Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 2 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 18

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْفَنُّ الثَّانِي: التَّشْبِيهُ.

The second art: Simile (Tashbih).

أَعَمُّ مِنْ أَنْ يَكُونَ عَلَى وَجْهِ الِاسْتِعَارَةِ، أَوْ عَلَى وَجْهٍ يَبْتَنِي عَلَيْهِ الِاسْتِعَارَةُ أَوْ غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ، فَلَمْ يَأْتِ بِالضَّمِيرِ؛ لِئَلَّا يَعُودَ إِلَى التَّشْبِيهِ الْمَذْكُورِ الَّذِي هُوَ أَخَصُّ، وَمَا يُقَالُ: اعْتِرَاضًا عَلَى مَا تَقَدَّمَ: إِنَّ الْمَعْرِفَةَ إِذَا أُعِيدَتْ كَانَتْ عَيْنَ الْأُولَى فَلَيْسَ عَلَى إِطْلَاقِهِ، يَعْنِي أَنَّ مَعْنَى التَّشْبِيهِ فِي اللُّغَةِ الدَّلَالَةُ عَلَى مُشَارَكَةِ أَمْرٍ لِأَمْرٍ آخَرَ فِي مَعْنًى، وَهَذَا شَامِلٌ لِمِثْلِ: "قَاتَلَ زَيْدٌ عَمْرًا" أَوْ "جَاءَنِي زَيْدٌ وَعَمْرٌو"، وَالْمُرَادُ بِالتَّشْبِيهِ الْمُصْطَلَحِ عَلَيْهِ هَهُنَا أَيْ فِي عِلْمِ الْبَيَانِ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ أَيِ الدَّلَالَةُ عَلَى مُشَارَكَةِ أَمْرٍ لِأَمْرٍ آخَرَ فِي مَعْنًى بِحَيْثُ لَا تَكُونُ الدَّلَالَةُ عَلَى وَجْهِ الِاسْتِعَارَةِ التَّحْقِيقِيَّةِ، أَيْ بِالْفِعْلِ بِأَنْ حُذِفَتْ مِنْهُ الْأَدَاةُ وَالْمُشَبَّهُ كَمَا فِي قَوْلِكَ رَأَيْتُ أَسَدًا فِي الْحَمَّامِ أَوْ رَأَيْتُ أَسَدًا يَرْمِي، أَوْ عَلَى وَجْهِ إِلَخْ أَيْ بِالْقُوَّةِ، وَهُوَ التَّشْبِيهُ الْمَذْكُورُ فِيهِ الطَّرَفَانِ وَالْأَدَاةُ نَحْوَ: زَيْدٌ كَالْأَسَدِ، وَهَذَا هُوَ الْمَقْصُودُ، وَوَجْهُ بِنَائِهَا عَلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ إِذَا حُذِفَ الْمُشَبَّهُ وَأَدَاةُ التَّشْبِيهِ وَأُقِيمَتْ قَرِينَةٌ عَلَى الْمُرَادِ صَارَ اسْتِعَارَةً بِالْفِعْلِ.

It is more general than being in the form of a metaphor, or in a form upon which a metaphor is built, or otherwise; therefore, he did not use the pronoun so that it would not refer back to the aforementioned simile, which is more specific. What is said as an objection to what preceded—that when a definite noun is repeated, it is the same as the first—is not absolute. He means that the meaning of simile in language is the indication of one thing sharing a meaning with another thing, and this includes examples like 'Zayd fought Amr' or 'Zayd and Amr came to me.' The intended meaning of the technical simile here, i.e., in the science of rhetoric (Ilm al-Bayan), is that which is not—meaning the indication of one thing sharing a meaning with another—such that the indication is not in the form of an actual metaphor, i.e., in reality, by having the tool and the likened-to (mushabbah) omitted, as in your saying 'I saw a lion in the bath' or 'I saw a lion shooting,' or in the form of, etc., i.e., potentially, which is the simile mentioned in which both sides and the tool are present, such as 'Zayd is like the lion,' and this is what is intended. The way it is built upon it is that if the likened-to and the tool of simile are omitted and a context is established for the intended meaning, it becomes an actual metaphor.

أَوْ غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ بِأَنْ كَانَ التَّشْبِيهُ ضِمْنِيًّا كَمَا فِي التَّجْرِيدِ مِثْلُ: لَقِيتُ مِنْ زَيْدٍ أَسَدًا.

Or otherwise, by the simile being implicit, as in abstraction (tajrid), such as: 'I encountered a lion from Zayd.'

لِئَلَّا يَعُودَ إِلَخْ أَيْ كَمَا هُوَ الظَّاهِرُ الْمُتَبَادِرُ، وَعَوْدُهُ إِلَى الْمُطْلَقِ الَّذِي فِي ضِمْنِ الْمُقَيَّدِ خِلَافُ الظَّاهِرِ، وَالْحَمْلُ عَلَى الِاسْتِخْدَامِ أَيْضًا خِلَافُ الظَّاهِرِ.

'So that it would not refer back to, etc.' means as is the apparent and immediate understanding, and its reference to the absolute which is within the restricted is contrary to the apparent, and interpreting it as usage (istikhdam) is also contrary to the apparent.

الَّذِي هُوَ أَخَصُّ فَعُلِمَ أَنَّ اللَّامَ فِي التَّشْبِيهِ الْأَوَّلِ الْمَذْكُورِ فِي التَّرْجَمَةِ لِلْعَهْدِ، وَفِي الثَّانِي لِلْجِنْسِ.

'Which is more specific,' so it is known that the 'al' (definite article) in the first 'simile' mentioned in the heading is for reference (ahd), and in the second it is for the genus (jins).

وَمَا يُقَالُ إِلَخْ: جَوَابٌ عَمَّا يُقَالُ: إِنَّ الظَّاهِرَ كَالضَّمِيرِ فِي الْعَوْدِ إِلَى الْمَذْكُورِ؛ لِأَنَّ الْمَعْرِفَةَ إِذَا أُعِيدَتْ مَعْرِفَةً كَانَتْ عَيْنَ الْأُولَى، فَلَا يَتِمُّ التَّوْجِيهُ السَّابِقُ، فَأَجَابَ بِأَنَّ هَذَا أَكْثَرِيٌّ لَا كُلِّيٌّ.

'And what is said, etc.' is an answer to what is said: that a noun (al-zahir) is like a pronoun in referring back to what was mentioned, because when a definite noun is repeated as a definite noun, it is the same as the first, so the previous justification does not hold. He answered that this is a majority rule, not a universal one.

وَهَذَا شَامِلٌ: أَيْ تَعْرِيفُ التَّشْبِيهِ اللُّغَوِيِّ الْمَذْكُورِ شَامِلٌ لِمِثْلِ قَاتَلَ زَيْدٌ عَمْرًا؛ فَإِنَّهُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى مُشَارَكَةِ زَيْدٍ لِعَمْرٍو فِي الْمُقَاتَلَةِ، وَ"جَاءَنِي زَيْدٌ وَعَمْرٌو"، فَإِنَّهُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى مُشَارَكَتِهِمَا فِي الْمَجِيءِ، وَمِثْلُهَا "زَيْدٌ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ عَمْرٍو"، فَإِنَّهُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى اشْتِرَاكِهِمَا فِي الْفَضْلِ أَيْ مَعَ أَنَّ هَذَا كُلَّهُ لَيْسَ تَشْبِيهًا لُغَوِيًّا، فَكَانَ الْوَاجِبُ أَنْ يَزِيدَ بِالْكَافِ وَنَحْوِهَا لَفْظًا أَوْ تَقْدِيرًا لِإِخْرَاجِ مِثْلِ هَذَا، وَإِدْخَالِ "زَيْدٌ أَسَدٌ" وَنَحْوِهِ، فَقَدِ اتَّضَحَ لَكَ أَنَّ مَقْصُودَ الشَّارِحِ الِاعْتِرَاضُ عَلَى تَعْرِيفِ التَّشْبِيهِ اللُّغَوِيِّ، كَمَا هُوَ مُفَادُ كَلَامِ الْعَلَّامَةِ السَّيِّدِ خِلَافًا لِمَا قَالَهُ بَعْضُهُمْ مِنْ أَنَّ مُرَادَ الشَّارِحِ بَيَانُ الْوَاقِعِ لَا الِاعْتِرَاضُ عَلَى التَّعْرِيفِ، وَقَدْ يُجَابُ بِأَنَّ مَا عَرَّفَ بِهِ الْمُصَنِّفُ مِنْ بَابِ التَّعْرِيفِ بِالْأَعَمِّ، وَهُوَ شَائِعٌ عِنْدَ أَهْلِ اللُّغَةِ، أَوْ يُقَالُ: مُرَادُ الْمُصَنِّفِ الدَّلَالَةُ الصَّرِيحَةُ، فَخَرَجَ مَا ذُكِرَ مِنَ الْأَمْثِلَةِ؛ فَإِنَّ الدَّلَالَةَ فِيهَا عَلَى الْمُشَارَكَةِ غَيْرُ صَرِيحَةٍ.

'And this includes': meaning the definition of the linguistic simile mentioned includes examples like 'Zayd fought Amr,' for it indicates Zayd's sharing with Amr in the fighting, and 'Zayd and Amr came to me,' for it indicates their sharing in the coming, and similar to it is 'Zayd is better than Amr,' for it indicates their sharing in excellence, meaning even though all of this is not a linguistic simile. Therefore, it was necessary to add 'with the kaf' or similar, explicitly or implicitly, to exclude such things and include 'Zayd is a lion' and the like. It has become clear to you that the commentator's intention is to object to the definition of the linguistic simile, as is the import of the words of the scholar al-Sayyid, contrary to what some have said—that the commentator's intention is to state the reality, not to object to the definition. It may be answered that what the author defined is a case of defining by the more general, which is common among linguists, or it may be said: the author's intention is the explicit indication, so the mentioned examples are excluded, for the indication of sharing in them is not explicit.

وَجْهُ الِاسْتِعَارَةِ: فَإِنْ كَانَتْ تِلْكَ الدَّلَالَةُ عَلَى وَجْهِ الِاسْتِعَارَةِ الْمَذْكُورَةِ بِأَنْ طُوِيَ ذِكْرُ الْمُشَبَّهِ وَذُكِرَ لَفْظُ الْمُشَبَّهِ بِهِ مَعَ قَرِينَةٍ دَلَّتْ عَلَى إِرَادَةِ الْمُشَبَّهِ، فَذَلِكَ اللَّفْظُ لَمْ يَكُنْ تَشْبِيهًا فِي الِاصْطِلَاحِ.

'The form of the metaphor': If that indication is in the form of the aforementioned metaphor, by having the mention of the likened-to (mushabbah) folded away and the word of the likened-to (mushabbah bihi) mentioned with a context indicating the intention of the likened-to, then that word is not a simile in the technical sense.

Vocabulary · المفردات (29 verbs · 46 nouns)

• كَانَ — to be
• اِبْتَنَى — to be based on
• أَتَى — to come
• عَادَ — to return
• ذَكَرَ — to mention
• قَالَ — to say
• تَقَدَّمَ — to precede
• أَعَادَ — to repeat
• شَبَّهَ — to liken
• قَاتَلَ — to fight
• جَاءَ — to come
• اِصْطَلَحَ — to agree upon
• حَذَفَ — to delete
• رَأَى — to see
• رَمَى — to throw
• أَقَامَ — to establish
• صَارَ — to become
• لَقِيَ — to meet
• عَلِمَ — to know
• تَمَّ — to be completed
• أَجَابَ — to answer
• دَلَّ — to indicate
• فَضَلَ — to excel
• اِشْتَرَكَ — to participate
• زَادَ — to increase
• اِتَّضَحَ — to become clear
• عَرَّفَ — to define
• شَاعَ — to spread
• طَوَى — to fold
• فَنٌّ — art
• تَشْبِيهٌ — simile
• وَجْهٌ — aspect
• اسْتِعَارَةٌ — metaphor
• ضَمِيرٌ — pronoun
• مَعْرِفَةٌ — definite noun
• لُغَةٌ — language
• دَلَالَةٌ — indication
• مُشَارَكَةٌ — participation
• أَمْرٌ — matter
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• بَيَانٌ — rhetoric
• أَدَاةٌ — tool
• مُشَبَّهٌ — likened object
• أَسَدٌ — lion
• حَمَّامٌ — bath
• طَرَفٌ — side
• قَرِينَةٌ — contextual evidence
• تَجْرِيدٌ — abstraction
• مُطْلَقٌ — absolute
• مُقَيَّدٌ — restricted
• تَرْجَمَةٌ — translation
• عَهْدٌ — covenant
• جِنْسٌ — genus
• جَوَابٌ — answer
• تَوْجِيهٌ — orientation
• أَكْثَرِيٌّ — majority-based
• كُلِّيٌّ — universal
• تَعْرِيفٌ — definition
• مُقَاتَلَةٌ — fighting
• مَجِيءٌ — coming
• فَضْلٌ — virtue
• كَافٌ — letter kaf
• لَفْظٌ — word
• تَقْدِيرٌ — estimation
• شَارِحٌ — commentator
• اعْتِرَاضٌ — objection
• مُفَادٌ — content
• كَلَامٌ — speech
• عَلَّامَةٌ — scholar
• وَاقِعٌ — reality
• مُصَنِّفٌ — author
• بَابٌ — chapter
• أَهْلٌ — people
• أَمْثِلَةٌ — examples
• اصْطِلَاحٌ — terminology