Sharh Durus al-Balagha by Ibn Uthaymeen (شرح دروس البلاغة) — Page 292

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

فَلَوْ قَالَ قَائِلٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَى﴾ شُبِّهَتِ الضَّلَالَةُ بِالسِّلْعَةِ، وَحُذِفَ الْمُشَبَّهُ بِهِ، وَرُمِزَ إِلَيْهِ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ لَوَازِمِهِ وَهُوَ الِاشْتِرَاءُ، ثُمَّ اسْتُعِيرَ مِنَ الِاشْتِرَاءِ «اشْتَرَوْا».

If a speaker were to say regarding the saying of the Almighty: 'They have bought misguidance for guidance,' the misguidance is likened to a commodity, the object of comparison is omitted, and it is symbolized by one of its attributes, which is buying, then 'they bought' is borrowed from the act of buying.

فَلَوْ قَالَ قَائِلٌ: سَوْفَ أَجْعَلُ «اشْتَرَوْا» تُلَائِمُ الْمُشَبَّهَ بِهِ، وَهُوَ السِّلْعَةُ، فَأُرِيدُ أَنْ أَجْعَلَهَا تَرْشِيحًا، قُلْنَا لَهُ: هَذَا لَا يَصْلُحُ؛ لِأَنَّهُ قَبْلَ اسْتِكْمَالِ الْقَرِينَةِ.

If a speaker were to say: 'I will make 'they bought' suit the object of comparison, which is the commodity, and I want to make it a reinforcement,' we would say to him: 'This is not valid, because it is before the completion of the contextual clue.'

فَإِذَنْ لَا يُعْتَبَرُ التَّرْشِيحُ وَالتَّجْرِيدُ إِلَّا بَعْدَ تَمَامِ الِاسْتِعَارَةِ وَوُجُودِهَا بِقَرِينَتِهَا، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.

Therefore, reinforcement and abstraction are not considered except after the completion of the metaphor and its existence with its contextual clue, and God knows best.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (14 verbs · 16 nouns)

• قَالَ — to say
• تَعَالَى — to be exalted
• اشْتَرَى — to buy
• قَائِلٌ — speaker
• قَوْلٌ — saying
• ضَلَالَةٌ — misguidance