Sharh Durus al-Balagha by Ibn Uthaymeen (شرح دروس البلاغة) — Page 20

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

شَرْحُ الْبَلَاغَةِ مِنْ كِتَابِ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ

An Explanation of Rhetoric from the Arabic Language Book.

وَمُخَالَفَةُ الْقِيَاسِ: كَوْنُ الْكَلِمَةِ غَيْرَ جَارِيَةٍ عَلَى الْقَانُونِ الصَّرْفِيِّ، كَجَمْعِ بُوقٍ عَلَى بُوقَاتٍ فِي قَوْلِ الْمُتَنَبِّي:

Contravening analogy: this is when a word does not follow morphological rules, such as the pluralization of 'buq' (horn) as 'buqat' in the words of Al-Mutanabbi:

فَإِنْ يَكُ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ سَيْفًا لِدَوْلَةٍ فَفِي النَّاسِ بُوقَاتٌ لَهَا وَطُبُولُ

If some people are a sword for a state, then among the people are horns and drums for it.

مُخَالَفَةُ الْقِيَاسِ: أَيِ الْقِيَاسُ النَّحْوِيُّ وَالصَّرْفِيُّ، فَمَا خَالَفَ هَذَا الْقِيَاسَ فَإِنَّهُ غَيْرُ فَصِيحٍ.

2- Contravening analogy: meaning grammatical and morphological analogy; whatever violates this analogy is not eloquent.

ثَانِيًا: وَصْفُ الْكَلَامِ بِأَنْ يَكُونَ عَلَى الْأُسْلُوبِ الْعَرَبِيِّ.

Second: Describing speech as being in accordance with the Arabic style.

ثَالِثًا: عَلَى الْمُتَكَلِّمِ أَنْ يَكُونَ فَصِيحًا، يَنْطِقُ بِالْفَصَاحَةِ.

Third: The speaker must be eloquent, speaking with eloquence.

اعْخُ تَنَافُرُ حُرُوفٍ؛ لِأَنَّهُ يَصْعُبُ النُّطْقُ بِهَا؛ إِذْ إِنَّ كُلَّ حَرْفٍ لَا يَتَلَاءَمُ فِي نُطْقِهِ مَا بَعْدَهُ، إِلَّا أَنَّ كَلِمَةَ «الظَّشِّ» أَهْوَنُ فِي نُطْقِهَا، وَلَيْسَ فِيهَا كَثِيرُ تَنَافُرٍ، أَمَّا كَلِمَةُ «النُّقَاخِ» فَلَيْسَ فِيهَا مِنَ التَّنَافُرِ مَا فِي قَرِينَتَيْهَا، إِلَّا أَنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ مُسْتَهْجَنَةٌ، بِمَعْنَى أَنَّ النَّفْسَ لَا تَرْتَاحُ لَهَا، فَالْمَاءُ الصَّافِي الْعَذْبُ لَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُوصَفَ بِهَذَا الْوَصْفِ.

Discordance of letters; because it is difficult to pronounce them, as each letter does not harmonize in its pronunciation with the one following it, although the word 'al-zash' is easier to pronounce and does not have much discordance. As for the word 'al-nuqakh', it does not have the same discordance as its counterparts, but it is a repulsive word, meaning that the soul is not comfortable with it, for pure, sweet water should not be described with this term.

وَمِنْ عَدَمِ الْفَصَاحَةِ قَوْلُهُمْ: «رُبَّ جَفْنَةٍ مُنْعَنْجِرَةٍ، وَطَعْنَةٍ مُسْحَنْفِرَةٍ، تَبْقَى غَدًا بِأَنْقَرَةَ»، أَيْ: جَفْنَةٌ مَلْأَى وَطَعْنَةٌ مُتَّسِعَةٌ، تَبْقَى بِبَلَدِ أَنْقَرَةَ.

Among the examples of lack of eloquence is their saying: 'Many a full bowl and a wide stab will remain tomorrow in Ankara,' meaning: a full bowl and a wide stab that will remain in the city of Ankara.

فَهَذَا الْكَلَامُ يُعَدُّ غَيْرَ فَصِيحٍ؛ لِتَنَافُرِ حُرُوفِ الْكَلِمَاتِ، وَعَلَامَةُ التَّنَافُرِ صُعُوبَةُ النُّطْقِ بِهَا.

This speech is considered ineloquent due to the discordance of the letters of the words, and the sign of discordance is the difficulty of pronouncing them.

قَوْلُهُ: «بُوقَات» مُخَالِفٌ لِلْقِيَاسِ؛ لِأَنَّ الْقِيَاسَ أَنْ يُجْمَعَ بُوقٌ عَلَى (أَبْوَاقٍ).

[1] His saying 'buqat' violates analogy, because the analogy is for 'buq' to be pluralized as 'abwaq'.

الْبَيْتُ فِي دُرَّةِ الْغَوَّاصِ فِي أَوْهَامِ الْخَوَاصِّ لِلْحَرِيرِيِّ (١/ ٢٣٣)، وَهُوَ كَذَلِكَ فِي الْوَسَاطَةِ بَيْنَ الْمُتَنَبِّي وَخُصُومِهِ لِلْجُرْجَانِيِّ (١/ ٨٧، ٤٤٣)، وَالْعُمْدَةِ فِي مَحَاسِنِ الشِّعْرِ لِابْنِ رَشِيقٍ الْقَيْرَوَانِيِّ (٢٩١١)، وَشَرْحِ دِيوَانِ الْمُتَنَبِّي لِلْبَرْقُوقِيِّ (٣١٤٣)، وَيَتِيمَةِ الدَّهْرِ لِلثَّعَالِبِيِّ (١/ ١٨٦) وَلَكِنْ بِرِوَايَةِ: إِذَا كَانَ بَعْضُ.

(1) The verse is in 'Durrat al-Ghawwas fi Awham al-Khawas' by Al-Hariri (1/233), and it is likewise in 'Al-Wasata bayna al-Mutanabbi wa Khusumihi' by Al-Jurjani (1/87, 443), 'Al-Umda fi Mahasin al-Shi'r' by Ibn Rashiq al-Qayrawani (2911), 'Sharh Diwan al-Mutanabbi' by Al-Barquqi (3143), and 'Yatimat al-Dahr' by Al-Tha'alibi (1/186), but with the narration: 'If some'.

Vocabulary · المفردات (12 verbs · 51 nouns)

• جَرَى — to follow/conform
• خَالَفَ — to oppose
• كَانَ — to be
• نَطَقَ — to speak
• صَعُبَ — to be difficult
• تَلَاءَمَ — to be compatible
• اِسْتَهْجَنَ — to find ugly
• اِرْتَاحَ — to be comfortable
• اِنْبَغَى — to be necessary
• وَصَفَ — to describe
• بَقِيَ — to remain
• عَدَّ — to count
• شَرْح — explanation
• بَلَاغَة — rhetoric
• كِتَاب — book
• لُغَة — language
• عَرَبِيّ — Arabic
• مُخَالَفَة — violation
• قِيَاس — analogy
• كَوْن — being
• كَلِمَة — word
• قَانُون — law
• صَرْفِيّ — morphological
• جَمْع — plural
• بُوق — horn
• قَوْل — saying
• بَعْض — some
• نَاس — people
• سَيْف — sword
• دَوْلَة — state
• طُبُول — drums
• نَحْوِيّ — grammatical
• فَصِيح — eloquent
• وَصْف — description
• كَلَام — speech
• أُسْلُوب — style
• مُتَكَلِّم — speaker
• فَصَاحَة — eloquence
• تَنَافُر — incompatibility
• حَرْف — letter
• نُطْق — pronunciation
• ظَشّ — harsh sound
• أَهْوَن — easier
• كَثِير — much
• نُقَاخ — pure water
• قَرِينَة — analogue
• مُسْتَهْجَنَة — repulsive
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• نَفْس — soul
• مَاء — water
• صَافِي — clear
• عَذْب — sweet
• عَدَم — lack
• جَفْنَة — bowl
• مُنْعَنْجِرَة — full
• طَعْنَة — stab
• مُسْحَنْفِرَة — wide
• غَد — tomorrow
• مَلْأَى — full
• مُتَّسِعَة — wide
• بَلَد — country
• عَلَامَة — sign
• صُعُوبَة — difficulty