LessonsConditions of Excellent Metaphor: Good Simile, Clarity, and Imaginative ForceQuiz

التَّشْبِيهُ وَافِيًا بِإِفَادَةِ مَا عُلِّقَ بِهِ مِنَ الْغَرَضِ
The comparison should adequately convey the purpose assigned to it.

A shared property is not sufficient unless the figure also serves its intended rhetorical goal. A lion may be suitable when the aim is to convey courage, but using the same image to suggest gentleness would normally be a poor fit.

Different intentions can require different borrowed images. The quality of a metaphor must therefore be tested against its subject, context, and purpose rather than the isolated appeal of its wording.

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The force of the resemblance and the intended purpose

Conditions of Excellent Metaphor: Good Simile, Clarity, and Imaginative Force

التَّشْبِيهُ وَافِيًا بِإِفَادَةِ مَا عُلِّقَ بِهِ مِنَ الْغَرَضِ
The comparison should adequately convey the purpose assigned to it.

A shared property is not sufficient unless the figure also serves its intended rhetorical goal. A lion may be suitable when the aim is to convey courage, but using the same image to suggest gentleness would normally be a poor fit.

Different intentions can require different borrowed images. The quality of a metaphor must therefore be tested against its subject, context, and purpose rather than the isolated appeal of its wording.