أنبت الربيع البقل
Spring caused the herbs to grow.
Grammatically, “spring” is the subject of the verb “caused to grow.” But spring is a season, and the real agency underlying growth is a separate semantic question. The relation between verb and subject can therefore also be studied under figurative attribution (majaz ʿaqli).
The discussion associated with al-Sakkaki also explores an implicit-comparison approach: spring is imagined as an effective agent, and the action of causing growth signals that analogy. The case exposes the boundary between metaphor in a word and transfer in a predication.