LessonsChapter Eight: Ijaz, Itnab and Musawah — Brevity, Amplification and BalanceQuiz

وَهُوَ تَأْدِيَةُ الْمَعْنَى بِعِبَارَةٍ زَائِدَةٍ عَنْهُ مَعَ الْفَائِدَةِ
Itnab expresses a meaning in fuller wording that contributes a benefit.

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا
He prayed: My Lord, my bones have weakened and my head has flared with grey hair. (Maryam 19:4)

“I have grown old” would communicate the bare fact. The imagery of weakened bones and hair spreading across the head conveys frailty and earnest supplication more vividly. The enlargement therefore has a genuine rhetorical function.

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Itnab: expansion that adds a benefit

Chapter Eight: Ijaz, Itnab and Musawah — Brevity, Amplification and Balance

وَهُوَ تَأْدِيَةُ الْمَعْنَى بِعِبَارَةٍ زَائِدَةٍ عَنْهُ مَعَ الْفَائِدَةِ
Itnab expresses a meaning in fuller wording that contributes a benefit.

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا
He prayed: My Lord, my bones have weakened and my head has flared with grey hair. (Maryam 19:4)

“I have grown old” would communicate the bare fact. The imagery of weakened bones and hair spreading across the head conveys frailty and earnest supplication more vividly. The enlargement therefore has a genuine rhetorical function.