LessonsAl-Sakkaki on Derivative Metaphor, Implicit Metaphor, and the Role of Imaginative CluesQuiz

يَا أَرْضُ ابْلَعِي مَاءَكِ
O earth, swallow your water.

This is part of Qur’an 11:44. The earth is directly addressed and told to swallow water. The absorption of water is represented as though a living creature were taking something into its mouth.

One may analyze where the expression “swallow” transfers its meaning, or how the earth is implicitly compared to a living swallower, with the imperative serving as an associated clue. The grammatical construction remains the same even when rhetorical theories locate the figure differently.

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The direct address to the earth

Al-Sakkaki on Derivative Metaphor, Implicit Metaphor, and the Role of Imaginative Clues

يَا أَرْضُ ابْلَعِي مَاءَكِ
O earth, swallow your water.

This is part of Qur’an 11:44. The earth is directly addressed and told to swallow water. The absorption of water is represented as though a living creature were taking something into its mouth.

One may analyze where the expression “swallow” transfers its meaning, or how the earth is implicitly compared to a living swallower, with the imperative serving as an associated clue. The grammatical construction remains the same even when rhetorical theories locate the figure differently.