LessonsConcluding the Classification of Simile: Mention, Omission, and Emphatic ForceQuiz

The four elements are the subject (mushabbah), comparison term (mushabbah bihi), respect of resemblance (wajh), and particle (adāh). In “Zayd is like a lion in courage,” they are Zayd, lion, courage, and the prefixed kāf respectively.

In this classification the comparison term remains overt, since the picture invoked for the subject must be supplied. The other three elements may each be stated or left unspoken.

Omission does not mean that the hearer has no grasp of the omitted element. Context, an earlier question, or the structure of the utterance may make it understood. For omission to serve expression rather than create confusion, the intended reference must remain recoverable.

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Four elements and how the division uses them

Concluding the Classification of Simile: Mention, Omission, and Emphatic Force

The four elements are the subject (mushabbah), comparison term (mushabbah bihi), respect of resemblance (wajh), and particle (adāh). In “Zayd is like a lion in courage,” they are Zayd, lion, courage, and the prefixed kāf respectively.

In this classification the comparison term remains overt, since the picture invoked for the subject must be supplied. The other three elements may each be stated or left unspoken.

Omission does not mean that the hearer has no grasp of the omitted element. Context, an earlier question, or the structure of the utterance may make it understood. For omission to serve expression rather than create confusion, the intended reference must remain recoverable.