Sharh Durus al-Balagha by Ibn Uthaymeen (شرح دروس البلاغة) — Page 19

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

مُقَدِّمَةٌ فِي الْفَصَاحَةِ وَالْبَلَاغَةِ.

An introduction to eloquence and rhetoric.

الْفَصَاحَةُ فِي اللُّغَةِ: تُنْبِئُ عَنِ الْبَيَانِ وَالظُّهُورِ، يُقَالُ: أَفْصَحَ الصَّبِيُّ فِي مَنْطِقِهِ إِذَا بَانَ وَظَهَرَ كَلَامُهُ.

Eloquence in language denotes clarity and manifestation; it is said: 'The child became eloquent in his speech' when his words became clear and manifest.

وَتَقَعُ فِي الِاصْطِلَاحِ: وَصْفًا لِلْكَلِمَةِ، وَالْكَلَامِ، وَالْمُتَكَلِّمِ.

In terminology, it is applied as a descriptor for the word, the speech, and the speaker.

فَفَصَاحَةُ الْكَلِمَةِ: سَلَامَتُهَا مِنْ تَنَافُرِ الْحُرُوفِ، وَمُخَالَفَةِ الْقِيَاسِ، وَالْغَرَابَةِ.

1- The eloquence of a word is its freedom from the dissonance of letters, the violation of grammatical analogy, and obscurity.

فَتَنَافُرُ الْحُرُوفِ وَصْفٌ فِي الْكَلِمَةِ يُوجِبُ ثِقَلَهَا عَلَى اللِّسَانِ وَعُسْرَ النُّطْقِ بِهَا، نَحْوَ الظَّشِّ لِلْمَوْضِعِ الْخَشِنِ، وَالْهُعْجُعِ لِنَبَاتٍ تَرْعَاهُ الْإِبِلُ، وَالنِّقَاخِ لِلْمَاءِ الْعَذْبِ الصَّافِي، وَالْمُسْتَشْزِرِ لِلْمَفْتُولِ.

Dissonance of letters is a quality in a word that makes it heavy on the tongue and difficult to pronounce, such as 'al-zhash' for a rough place, 'al-hu'ju'' for a plant that camels graze upon, 'al-niqakh' for fresh, clear water, and 'al-mustashzir' for something twisted.

مَوْضُوعُ الْفَصَاحَةِ ثَلَاثَةٌ: الْكَلِمَةُ، وَالْكَلَامُ، وَالْمُتَكَلِّمُ، كُلٌّ مِنْهَا يُقَالُ: فَصِيحٌ، وَقَدْ فَسَّرَهَا الْمُؤَلِّفُ، فِيمَا يَلِي:

The subjects of eloquence are three: the word, the speech, and the speaker; each of them is called 'eloquent,' and the author has explained them as follows:

أَوَّلًا: أَنْ تَكُونَ الْكَلِمَةُ فَصِيحَةً، وَذَلِكَ بِسَلَامَتِهَا مِنْ:

First: That the word be eloquent, and that is by its freedom from:

تَنَافُرُ الْحُرُوفِ: يَعْنِي أَنْ تَكُونَ حُرُوفُ الْكَلِمَةِ مُتَالِفَةً غَيْرَ مُتَنَافِرَةٍ، وَمَعْنَى التَّآلُفِ أَنْ يَسْهُلَ النُّطْقُ بِهَا مُجْتَمِعَةً، وَالتَّنَافُرُ أَنْ يَصْعُبَ النُّطْقُ بِهَا مُجْتَمِعَةً.

1- Dissonance of letters: It means that the letters of the word should be harmonious, not dissonant; the meaning of harmony is that it is easy to pronounce them together, while dissonance is that it is difficult to pronounce them together.

هَذِهِ كُلُّهَا كَلِمَاتٌ مُتَنَافِرَةٌ؛ الظَّشُّ، وَالْهُعْجُعُ، وَالنُّقَاخُ.

These are all dissonant words: 'al-zhash', 'al-hu'ju'', and 'al-nuqakh'.

Vocabulary · المفردات (13 verbs · 40 nouns)

• أَنْبَأَ — to indicate
• قَالَ — to say
• أَفْصَحَ — to speak clearly
• بَانَ — to become clear
• ظَهَرَ — to appear
• وَقَعَ — to fall/occur
• أَوْجَبَ — to necessitate
• رَعَى — to graze
• فَسَّرَ — to explain
• كَانَ — to be
• عَنَى — to mean
• سَهُلَ — to be easy
• صَعُبَ — to be difficult
• مُقَدِّمَةٌ — introduction
• فَصَاحَةٌ — eloquence
• بَلَاغَةٌ — rhetoric
• لُغَةٌ — language
• بَيَانٌ — clarity
• ظُهُورٌ — appearance
• صَبِيٌّ — boy
• مَنْطِقٌ — speech
• كَلَامٌ — speech
• اصْطِلَاحٌ — terminology
• وَصْفٌ — description
• كَلِمَةٌ — word
• مُتَكَلِّمٌ — speaker
• سَلَامَةٌ — soundness
• تَنَافُرٌ — incompatibility
• حَرْفٌ — letter
• مُخَالَفَةٌ — violation
• قِيَاسٌ — analogy
• غَرَابَةٌ — strangeness
• ثِقَلٌ — heaviness
• لِسَانٌ — tongue
• عُسْرٌ — difficulty
• نُطْقٌ — pronunciation
• ظَشٌّ — rough place
• مَوْضِعٌ — place
• خَشِنٌ — rough
• هُعْجُعٌ — plant
• نَبَاتٌ — plant
• إِبِلٌ — camel
• نِقَاخٌ — fresh water
• مَاءٌ — water
• عَذْبٌ — sweet
• صَافِيٌ — pure
• مُسْتَشْزِرٌ — twisted
• مَفْتُولٌ — twisted
• مَوْضُوعٌ — subject
• ثَلَاثَةٌ — three
• فَصِيحٌ — eloquent
• مُؤَلِّفٌ — author
• تَآلُفٌ — harmony