«الْعِبَارَاتِ الْمُهَذَّبَةِ وَالِاسْتِعَارَاتِ الْمُسْتَعْذَبَةِ»
Carefully refined phrases and pleasing metaphors.
Al-muhadhdhabah implies refined and properly formed expression; al-mustaʿdhabah suggests imagery experienced as pleasant or sweet. These are distinct literary merits.
One concerns the structure and polish of language; the other concerns imaginative force. The elder’s argument leaves open the possibility that writers of his own age can combine accuracy with striking imagery, instead of inheriting excellence only through a past literary canon.