Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 2 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 67

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْفَنُّ الثَّانِي كَأَنَّمَا التَّشْبِيهُ ذَلِكَ الْأَغْيَدُ أَيِ النَّاعِمُ الْبَدَنِ عَنْ لُؤْلُؤٍ مُنَضَّدٍ مُنَظَّمٍ أَوْ بَرَدٍ هُوَ حَبُّ الْغَمَامِ يَبْسِمُ يَكْشِفُ عَنْ ثَغْرٍ كَاللُّؤْلُؤِ فِي الْخَيْطِ أَوْ أَقَاحٍ جَمْعُ أُقْحُوَانٍ وَهُوَ وَرْدٌ لَهُ نُورٌ شَبَّهَ ثَغْرَهُ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَشْيَاءَ، وَبِاعْتِبَارِ وَجْهِهِ عَطْفٌ بِفَتْحِ الْهَمْزَةِ هُوَ الْبَابُونَجُ لُؤْلُؤٌ وَبَرَدٌ وَأَقَاحٍ عَلَى قَوْلِهِ: بِاعْتِبَارِ الطَّرَفَيْنِ، إِمَّا تَمْثِيلٌ وَهُوَ مَا أَيِ التَّشْبِيهُ الَّذِي وَجْهُهُ وَصْفٌ مُنْتَزَعٌ هَيْئَةٌ مَأْخُوذَةٌ مُتَعَدِّدُ أَمْرَيْنِ أَوْ أُمُورٍ كَمَا مَرَّ مِنْ تَشْبِيهِ الثُّرَيَّا وَتَشْبِيهِ مُثَارِ النَّقْعِ مَعَ الْأَسْيَافِ مِنْ بِعُنْقُودِ مَلَّاحِيَّةٍ وَتَشْبِيهِ الشَّمْسِ بِالْمِرْآةِ فِي كَفِّ الْأَشَلِّ وَغَيْرِ ذَلِكَ، وَقَيَّدَهُ أَيِ الْمُنْتَزَعَ مِنْ مُتَعَدِّدٍ السَّكَّاكِيُّ بِكَوْنِهِ غَيْرَ حَقِيقِيٍّ، حَيْثُ قَالَ: التَّشْبِيهُ مَتَى كَانَ وَجْهُهُ وَصْفًا غَيْرَ حَقِيقِيٍّ وَكَانَ مُنْتَزَعًا مِنْ عِدَّةِ أُمُورٍ خُصَّ بِاسْمِ التَّمْثِيلِ، شَبَّهَ ثَغْرَهُ أَيْ أَسْنَانَهُ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَشْيَاءَ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُ أَوْرَدَ كَلِمَةَ أَوْ تَنْبِيهًا عَلَى أَنَّ كُلًّا مُشَبَّهٌ بِهِ عَلَى حِدَةٍ، وَكَلِمَةَ أَوْ لِلتَّسْوِيَةِ لَا لِلْإِبْهَامِ حَتَّى يَرِدَ أَنَّهُ يَنْبَغِي الْوَاوُ.

The second art is as if the simile is that of the graceful one, meaning the one with a soft body, to pearls arranged and organized, or to hail, which is the grains of clouds; he smiles, revealing a mouth like pearls on a string, or like chamomile—the plural of 'uqhwan', which is a flower that has light—he likened his mouth to three things, and regarding his face, it is a conjunction with the fatha on the hamza, which is chamomile, pearls, hail, and chamomile, based on his statement: regarding the two sides, it is either 'tamthil' (allegorical simile), which is what—meaning the simile whose face is a derived description, a form taken from multiple things or matters, as has passed regarding the simile of the Pleiades, the simile of the stirred-up dust with swords, the cluster of Mallahiya grapes, the simile of the sun to a mirror in the palm of a paralyzed person, and other than that; and al-Sakkaki restricted it—meaning that which is derived from multiple things—by it being non-real, as he said: 'When the face of the simile is a non-real description and is derived from several matters, it is specifically called tamthil'; he likened his mouth, meaning his teeth, to three things, except that he introduced the word 'or' as an alert that each is a separate object of comparison, and the word 'or' is for equality, not for ambiguity, so that the objection that 'and' should have been used does not arise.

وَبِاعْتِبَارِ وَجْهِهِ يَعْنِي بِاعْتِبَارِ وَجْهِهِ لَهُ ثَلَاثُ تَقْسِيمَاتٍ أَوَّلِيَّاتٍ الْأَوَّلُ: تَقْسِيمُهُ إِلَى التَّمْثِيلِ وَغَيْرِ التَّمْثِيلِ، وَالثَّانِي: تَقْسِيمُهُ إِلَى مُجْمَلٍ وَمُفَصَّلٍ، وَالثَّالِثُ: تَقْسِيمُهُ إِلَى قَرِيبٍ وَبَعِيدٍ.

And regarding its face, he means that regarding its face, it has three primary divisions: the first is its division into tamthil and non-tamthil, the second is its division into mujmal (concise) and mufassal (detailed), and the third is its division into qarib (near) and ba'id (far).

إِمَّا تَمْثِيلٌ لَا يَرِدُ أَنَّهُ تَقْسِيمٌ لِلشَّيْءِ إِلَى نَفْسِهِ وَإِلَى غَيْرِهِ؛ لِأَنَّ التَّمْثِيلَ يُرَادِفُ التَّشْبِيهَ؛ لِأَنَّهُ مُشْتَرَكٌ بَيْنَ مُطْلَقِ التَّشْبِيهِ، وَأَخَصُّ مِنْهُ، وَمَا هُوَ نَفْسُ الْمُقَسَّمِ الْمَعْنَى الْأَعَمُّ، وَالْقِسْمُ مَا هُوَ أَخَصُّ فَلَا إِشْكَالَ أَمْرَيْنِ أَوْ أُمُورٍ: فِيهِ إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى نُكْتَةِ اخْتِيَارِ مُتَعَدِّدٍ دُونَ أُمُورٍ تَشْبِيهُ الثُّرَيَّا: اعْلَمْ أَنَّ وَجْهَ الشَّبَهِ فِي كُلِّهَا مُنْتَزَعٌ مِنْ أُمُورٍ مُتَعَدِّدَةٍ، حِسِّيٌّ بَعْضُهَا وَعَقْلِيٌّ فِي بَعْضِهَا، وَالطَّرَفَانِ فِي بَعْضِهَا مُفْرَدَانِ وَفِي بَعْضِهَا مُرَكَّبَانِ، وَفِي بَعْضِهَا أَحَدُهُمَا مُفْرَدٌ وَالْآخَرُ مُرَكَّبٌ، وَقَدْ مَرَّ تَفْصِيلُهُ وَتَشْبِيهُ مَثَلِ الْيَهُودِ بِمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ تَمْثِيلٌ عِنْدَهُمَا؛ لِأَنَّ وَجْهَهُ - وَهُوَ حِرْمَانُ الِانْتِفَاعِ إِلَخْ - أَمْرٌ غَيْرُ حَقِيقِيٍّ؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ تَقَرُّرٌ فِي ذَاتِ الْمَوْصُوفِ بَلْ هُوَ أَمْرٌ تَصَوُّرِيٌّ مُنْتَزَعٌ مِنْ أُمُورٍ مُتَعَدِّدَةٍ، وَقَدْ مَرَّ.

Regarding 'either tamthil', the objection does not arise that it is a division of a thing into itself and into something else, because tamthil is synonymous with tashbih (simile); because it is shared between absolute simile and what is more specific than it, and what is the very thing being divided is the more general meaning, and the division is what is more specific, so there is no problem regarding 'two things or matters': in it is an indication of the point of choosing 'multiple' rather than 'matters' regarding the simile of the Pleiades: know that the face of the simile in all of them is derived from multiple matters, some of which are sensory and some of which are intellectual, and the two sides in some of them are singular and in some are compound, and in some one of them is singular and the other is compound, and its detail has passed, and the simile of the example of the Jews to the example of the donkey is tamthil according to both of them; because its face—which is the deprivation of benefit, etc.—is a non-real matter; because it has no establishment in the essence of the described, but rather it is a conceptual matter derived from multiple things, and it has passed.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (20 verbs · 78 nouns)

• شَبَّهَ — to liken
• بَسَمَ — to smile
• كَشَفَ — to reveal
• فَنٌّ — art
• تَشْبِيهٌ — simile
• أَغْيَدُ — supple (male)