Badīʿ examines devices that enhance expression while preserving soundness and suitability to the occasion. Semantic devices work primarily through contrast, congruence, arrangement of ideas and interpretive patterns; verbal devices focus on sound, letters, rhythm, rhyme and formal arrangement.
A single expression can exhibit both kinds of excellence. Yet the presence of a verbal ornament does not by itself establish eloquence: the device should reinforce the message, not obscure it through forced technique.