Relative expressions, contextual identification, magnification, correction, implied rationale and reinforcing the predication — printed pp. 148–153 Read the bilingual lesson for Defining the Subject by a Relative Pronoun: Purposes and Rhetorical Applications and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. Relative expression as a means of identification
A subject (المسند إليه) can be made definite through a proper name, demonstrative, or relative expression. Definiteness by a relative (الموصولية) uses a form such as «الذي», «التي», or «الذين» together with its relative clause (الصلة) to identify the intended referent.
Examples:
«جَاءَ زَيْدٌ» — identification through a proper name.
«جَاءَ الَّذِي نَجَحَ» — identification as “the one who succeeded.”
«جَاءَ هَذَا» — identification through a demonstrative.
All three assert an arrival; what differs is the path by which the hearer identifies the subject. The rest of the lesson examines why a skilled speaker selects the relative construction.
2. Source principle: what the addressee knows
لِعَدَمِ عِلْمِ الْمُخَاطَبِ بِالْأَحْوَالِ الْمُخْتَصَّةِ بِهِ سِوَى الصِّلَةِ
Because the addressee knows none of the relevant identifying circumstances of the subject apart from the relative clause.
The key is the limit of the audience's knowledge. A speaker may lack a person's name or title but know a particular action or attribute associated with that person. The clause then supplies the available route of identification.
This is one reason for a relative expression, not its only use. Subsequent uses retain a relative clause even when the person's identity is already known, in order to achieve an additional rhetorical purpose.
3. “The one who was with us yesterday”
الَّذِي كَانَ مَعَنَا أَمْسِ رَجُلٌ عَالِمٌ
The one who was with us yesterday is a learned man.
The relative expression «الذي» functions as the subject, «كان معنا أمس» is its identifying clause, and «رجل عالم» is the predicate. The hearer may not know the person's name but remember yesterday's encounter; the clause bridges that informational gap.
The clause is not merely an ornamental compliment. It is the practical route to identifying the referent. If the hearer has no recollection of the encounter, this particular relative description will not serve that identifying function.
4. Informative reference versus empty repetition
A grammatically complete relative clause does not automatically make an effective identifying expression. It must supply something the addressee can use to recognize the intended subject. A clause entirely unfamiliar to the listener may leave the reference obscure.
Contrast:
«الذي قابلناه أمس فقيه» — “The one we met yesterday is a jurist”: effective if that meeting is familiar.
«الذي رأيته في مكان مجهول فقيه» — an unknown meeting in an unknown setting may fail to identify the person to the audience.
This is an issue of rhetorical fitness, not simply syntax. The usefulness of the clause is measured against the listener's existing knowledge.
5. The grammatical relation of relative and clause
A relative form is definite, but its reference is normally completed by its relative clause. The clause may be verbal or nominal, and a returning pronoun (عائد) links it to the antecedent where needed. The relative word alone does not provide the full description intended by the speaker.
Examples:
«الذي اجتهد» — the one who exerted effort: a verbal clause.
«الذي أبوه عالم» — the one whose father is learned: a nominal clause.
«الذين نجحوا» — those who succeeded: a masculine plural relative.
The same grammatical device can identify, praise, disparage, or imply a reason. Its rhetorical force depends on how the clause relates to the context and the predicate.
6. Avoiding an undesirable explicit name
The text identifies استهجان التصريح بالاسم as another motive: naming someone openly may be stylistically undesirable in a particular setting. A relative description can refer to the same person more discreetly. The purpose can be courtesy, tact, or a contextual preference, not necessarily secrecy.
Applied example:
«الذي أساء إليك اعتذر» — The one who wronged you has apologized.
The clause recalls a known event while avoiding the person's name. The discussion is thereby framed through conduct rather than explicit naming. A relative phrase need not be a metaphor merely because it avoids direct naming.
7. Reinforcing the intended point
أَوْ زِيَادَةُ التَّقْرِيرِ
Or in order to reinforce the intended point.
Sometimes the referent is already identifiable, yet the relative clause recalls the very circumstance that lends the main predication force. Taqrīr (التقرير) here is not mere repetition of words; it consolidates the point by making the relevant background salient.
For instance, “The person who helps orphans every day has built them a school today” uses the clause to foreground a continuing habit; the predicate then becomes another striking instance of that established character.
8. The relative clause in the story of Joseph
وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا عَنْ نَفْسِهِ
The woman in whose house he lived sought to entice him concerning himself.
Instead of naming the woman, the verse introduces her as the one in whose home Joseph lived. This highlights proximity, access, and the unequal circumstances in which she approached him. Against that background, the account of his chastity acquires additional force.
The relative clause does more than identify the woman; it contributes to establishing the intended portrayal of Joseph's integrity (عفة يوسف).
9. Why “in whose house he lived” matters
The phrase «التي هو في بيتها» is not simply a household address. If bare identification were the aim, a different expression might suffice. The clause instead depicts a setting in which the moral test was especially intense.
First: the woman had access to Joseph within the household.
Second: he maintained integrity despite that proximity.
Result: attention is directed not only to the attempted seduction but also to his response in these particular circumstances.
This is a case of reinforcing the point of the discourse (تقرير الغرض) through information encoded in the relative clause.
10. Identification versus rhetorical reinforcement
Every relative clause helps characterize a referent, but its dominant rhetorical purpose depends on whether the audience needs the description for identification or whether the description strengthens the effect of the predicate. Both purposes may coexist.
ExpressionChief contextual benefit
«الذي كان معنا أمس»Identifies a person whose name may be unknown
«التي هو في بيتها»Makes Joseph's challenging situation vivid
«الذي أحسن إلى الفقراء»May identify or prepare an expression of praise
The right classification requires context, the audience's knowledge, and the role of the subsequent predication—not simply spotting «الذي».
11. Magnification through the relative clause
One purpose of a relative expression is magnification or solemn presentation (التفخيم). The speaker chooses an outstanding characteristic or action by which an individual or group appears especially important. This gives the subsequent predication added gravity.
Teaching example:
«الذين حموا المدينة في الشدة حاضرون» — Those who protected the city in hardship are present.
The explicit assertion is their presence. The clause «حموا المدينة في الشدة» calls to mind an achievement, establishing an atmosphere of respect and importance before the predicate is delivered.
12. When elaboration fails to magnify
A relative clause is not grand simply because it is long. Magnification arises from the weight of the attribute or achievement it brings to attention, not from word count.
«الذي فتح باب الغرفة جاء» — The person who opened the room door came: ordinary identification.
«الذي نصر المظلومين وقت الخوف جاء» — The person who defended the oppressed in fear came: the clause suggests praise and stature.
Both are grammatical relative constructions. Their differing rhetorical force comes from the value and relevance of the information in the clause.
13. Magnification and awe
A relative clause can produce veneration (تعظيم) or awe (تهويل). In the first, it foregrounds a person's stature or merit. In the second, it presents the magnitude or gravity of an event. Both go beyond simple naming by shaping the hearer's response.
Contrasting teaching examples:
«الذي أنقذ الناس من الغرق حاضر» — The one who saved people from drowning is present: respect for a remarkable deed.
«الذي زلزل المدينة وقع ليلاً» — The event that shook the city happened at night: attention to magnitude.
These examples illustrate rhetorical potential. The actual effect depends on audience and context; descriptive detail alone does not dictate a single response.
14. Correcting an addressee’s mistaken classification
The text also identifies alerting someone to error (التنبيه على الخطأ). An addressee may have misidentified or wrongly characterized a group or person. A relative clause can bring forward a decisive characteristic that corrects that assumption.
Teaching example:
Someone calls a group ignorant. The reply is: «الذين علّموا الناس سنين كثيرة هم هؤلاء» — These are the people who taught others for many years.
The clause «علّموا الناس» directly challenges the mistaken description. Its chief function is not bare identification but correction of an erroneous judgment.
15. Why the correcting fact belongs in the clause
A bare demonstrative such as “these people” often fails to correct a mistaken description: it identifies without highlighting the contrary evidence. A relative expression can put the very fact that challenges the error before the hearer.
«هؤلاء حاضرون» — They are present: announces presence without correcting a belief.
«الذين اجتهدوا في التعليم حاضرون» — Those who labored in teaching are present: foregrounds work the addressee may have denied.
Placing the corrective clause before the predicate can adjust the hearer's prior understanding. The clause is not automatically a formal proof, however; its force is contextual.
16. Hinting at why the predicate is appropriate
An especially important purpose is implying the grounds of the predication (الإيماء إلى وجه بناء الخبر). The relative clause states a characteristic that makes the following predicate intelligible or fitting; the audience infers the connection between them.
Example:
«الذي يحفظ الأمانة محبوب» — The one who safeguards trusts is loved.
Trustworthiness readily appears relevant to being loved. Instead of explicitly saying “because he is trustworthy,” the speaker uses the relative clause to suggest that relation. The rhetorical effect lies in the implied reason, not merely in the existence of a relative word.
17. Arrogance and warning in a Qur’anic example
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ
Those who arrogantly turn away from My worship will indeed enter Hell in humiliation.
The relative subject is «الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي». Its clause specifies arrogance toward worship, while the predicate announces humiliating punishment. The clause foregrounds a trait that helps the hearer perceive the moral appropriateness of the warning.
The relative construction therefore does more than identify a group: it hints at the basis of the predication. This is the rhetorical relation discussed in the text. (Qur'an, Ghāfir 40:60)
18. Implied rationale is not an explicit causal statement
Implied rationale works by making a meaningful relationship between the relative clause and the predicate apparent. It does not necessarily state an exhaustive or formally established cause. Treating every such hint as explicit causation would overread the rhetorical form.
Contrast:
«الذي صدق نجا» — The one who told the truth escaped: the clause may suggest why escape occurred.
«نجا لأنه صدق» — He escaped because he told the truth: the causal relation is directly expressed with «لأنه».
Imāʾ (الإيماء) is about an indicated relation. Grammar and style alone do not prove every causal detail of an actual event.
19. Indirect praise by an elevated description
إِنَّ الَّذِي سَمَكَ السَّمَاءَ بَنَى لَنَا بَيْتًا
Indeed, the one who raised the sky has built us a house.
In this poetic illustration, the clause «سمك السماء» links the builder with an exceptionally elevated act. When the predicate announces that the same agent built a house, the earlier description lends the assertion a grand, laudatory tone.
The rhetorical function is indirect magnification of the predicate (التعريض بالتعظيم لشأن الخبر). This is a literary claim in its poetic setting; its hyperbolic formulation should not be turned into an independent theological or historical assertion.
20. Magnifying the subject versus magnifying the news
Magnification may focus on the relative subject itself, whereas indirect praise of a predicate directs attention to the importance of what is asserted about it. These effects can overlap but should not be treated as identical.
Rhetorical functionPrimary focus
Magnification of the subjectThe status of the person or group mentioned
Magnification of the predicateThe importance of the deed or assertion
Implied reason for a predicateThe meaningful relationship between clause and predication
When multiple effects occur together, context determines the most important one; their mere grammatical form is insufficient to decide.
21. The relative subject in the account of Shuʿayb
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا شُعَيْبًا كَانُوا هُمُ الْخَاسِرِينَ
Indeed, those who denied Shuʿayb were the very losers.
The relative clause «كذبوا شعيبًا» states the group's conduct, followed by the predicate «الخاسرين». The arrangement makes the denial and its outcome visibly related in meaning.
The relative construction therefore does more than label the people: it connects the assertion with a characteristic that explains its appropriateness. The emphatic elements in «هم الخاسرين» are also relevant to other chapters of rhetoric. (Qur'an, al-Aʿrāf 7:92)
22. Indirect disparagement through the clause
A relative clause can also produce indirect disparagement (التعريض بالإهانة لشأن الخبر). By supplying an unfavorable attribute first, the speaker can make the subsequent announcement sound incongruous, ironic, or blameworthy.
Example:
«إن الذي لا يحسن معرفة الفقه قد صنف فيه كتاباً» — Someone who does not properly understand jurisprudence has nevertheless authored a book about it.
The clash between lack of competence and authorship generates the critical effect. The point is not to define jurisprudence but to show the mismatch between the person's qualification and the announcement about the book.
23. Strengthening the credibility or force of a report
A relative clause may function as a means of reinforcing an assertion (ذريعة إلى تحقيق الخبر). It recalls an established or vividly presented circumstance that makes the following report more forceful and intelligible.
The poem discussed on printed page 153 starts with «إن التي ضربت بيتاً مهاجرة ...». The clause evokes a woman's migration and establishment of a home before the report concerning the alteration of affection. This prepares the hearer to appreciate the report's significance.
Taḥqīq (تحقيق) should not automatically be interpreted as a formal logical demonstration. Here it refers to a rhetorical strengthening of the assertion within the discourse.
24. The full map of rhetorical purposes
This table gathers the major functions of the relative construction. Several benefits may coexist, so the table identifies characteristic uses rather than claiming mutually exclusive categories.
PurposeRole of the relative clause
Limited hearer knowledgeIdentify through a familiar circumstance
Avoid explicit namingRefer tactfully without using a name
Reinforcement (التقرير)Make the central point more vivid
Magnification or correctionHighlight stature or challenge an error
Implied rationale (الإيماء)Suggest why the predicate is fitting
Indirect praise, blame, or verificationShape the force of the final assertion
The aim is not memorizing labels but reasoning from the relationship between clause, predicate, and context.
25. Integrated practice and transition
For each expression, identify the dominant contextual function of the relative phrase.
1. «الذي جاء معنا بالأمس عالم» — identification through yesterday's meeting, if the name is unknown.
2. «الذي حمى الضعفاء مكرَّم» — protection of the vulnerable suggests why honor is appropriate, with praise.
3. «الذي أهمل دروسه يشتكي من الرسوب» — the clause hints at an explanation for academic failure.
4. «الذي لا يعرف الطب يصف للناس دواء» — incompetence contrasted with prescribing medicine produces criticism or irony.
Core principle: grammar identifies the relative construction; rhetoric asks why it was selected for this audience and occasion. The next section turns to identification by demonstrative (الإشارة).
Practice questions
Question 1
What is the central grammatical role of the relative clause in definiteness by a relative?
- To change only the tense of the verb
- To negate the assertion in every instance
- To complete the identification conveyed by the relative
- To make the subject indefinite
Question 2
When is the clause in «الذي كان معنا أمس رجل عالم» especially effective?
- When the hearer does not know the name but recalls yesterday’s meeting
- When the hearer knows nothing of yesterday’s meeting
- When the speaker is issuing an order rather than information
- When the relative clause is entirely omitted
Question 3
Why does a long relative clause not necessarily create magnification?
- Because a long clause is always ungrammatical
- Because magnification only belongs to demonstratives
- Because the clause must have a past-tense verb
- Because magnification depends on the significance of the description, not length
Question 4
Why might a speaker use «الذي...» even when the person’s name is known?
- Because a proper name can never appear in a statement
- Because the clause foregrounds a trait that supports the discourse
- Because a relative word is always indefinite
- Because the predicate is thereby omitted
Question 5
How does «التي هو في بيتها» reinforce the passage about Joseph?
- It establishes that the woman had no house
- It gives only the date of the incident
- It underscores her access and Joseph’s integrity within that situation
- It is used only to make the woman the addressee
Question 6
What is meant by «استهجان التصريح بالاسم»?
- Explicit naming is felt unsuitable in context, so a description is used
- The hearer is incapable of understanding names
- Removing every characteristic of the subject
- Correcting a mistaken name in every case
Question 7
How can the relative clause in «الذي أحسن إلى الفقراء محبوب» relate to its predicate?
- It negates being loved
- It merely names an unrelated person
- It limits love to a particular time
- It suggests charity as a fitting reason for being loved
Question 8
What distinguishes implied rationale from an explicit causal statement?
- Implied rationale involves a meaningless clause
- Implied rationale works by relevance, while explicit causation states the reason directly
- Explicit causation always requires a relative
- There is no relevant distinction
Question 9
What role does the clause «الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي» play relative to the warning that follows?
- It turns the warned group into an unrelated audience
- It changes the warning into a question
- It links the warning to the characteristic of arrogance
- It specifies every person’s proper name
Question 10
What rhetorical role does the relative clause play in «الذين كذبوا شعيبًا كانوا هم الخاسرين»?
- It connects denial of Shuʿayb with the predicate of loss
- It deletes the predicate before stating the news
- It frames denial as praise
- It treats «الخاسرين» as the relative word
Question 11
Why is «الذين علّموا الناس سنين كثيرة هم هؤلاء» suitable as a correction?
- Because it hides their teaching
- Because the clause is unnecessary
- Because it negates every assertion
- Because it foregrounds a trait that rebuts the mistaken characterization
Question 12
What is the difference between magnifying a subject and magnifying the predicate?
- The first is always false and the second always true
- The first highlights the referent’s stature, the second the significance of the assertion
- The first concerns only past and the second only future
- Neither involves a relative expression
Question 13
Why does the poem use the clause «سمك السماء» before speaking of the house?
- To specify the house’s geographic location
- To make the line interrogative
- To lend grandeur to the report through the grandeur of the described builder
- To replace assertion with command
Question 14
What effect arises in «الذي لا يحسن معرفة الفقه قد صنف فيه كتاباً»?
- Criticism through the contrast between incompetence and authorship
- A full technical definition of jurisprudence
- Identification of a city only
- Only the distinction between past and present verbs
Question 15
When does the relative construction serve reinforcement (زيادة التقرير)?
- When the relative clause is omitted
- When the audience has absolutely no context
- When the predicate is converted into a command
- When the clause recalls context that strengthens the assertion’s intended point
Question 16
Which expression chiefly uses its relative clause to identify an otherwise unnamed person?
- “The one who wronged the weak was rewarded,” in an ironic setting
- “The one we met yesterday is a teacher,” when the meeting is remembered
- “The one ignorant of medicine prescribes drugs,” in criticism
- “Those who defended the oppressed are honored,” in praise
Question 17
What best distinguishes «التي هو في بيتها» from «الذي كان معنا أمس» in these examples?
- The first has no clause, the second does
- The first is imperative and the second interrogative
- The first reinforces the discourse’s point, the second chiefly identifies the referent
- Both only indicate the tense of a verb
Question 18
If a clause suggests why a predicate applies without explicitly saying «لأن», which rhetorical notion is most relevant?
- الإيماء إلى وجه بناء الخبر
- Omission of the subject
- Separation and connection of sentences
- Restrictive inversion
Question 19
What determines whether avoiding explicit naming is appropriate?
- Whether every Arabic noun is diptote
- Whether the audience is always uninformed
- Whether each sentence rhymes
- A relevant contextual consideration of tact or audience
Question 20
Which statement correctly distinguishes magnification from correction of an error?
- Both always omit the clause
- Magnification highlights stature; correction challenges a misconception
- Magnification exclusively negates the predicate
- Correction aims to preserve an error
Question 21
What is decisive when assigning a rhetorical purpose to a relative expression?
- Only the number of words in the clause
- Only the spelling of the relative word
- The hearer’s knowledge, context, and relationship of clause to predicate
- Only the final case ending
Question 22
What can a relative clause contribute when used to reinforce an assertion?
- It recalls circumstances that make the assertion more compelling and intelligible
- It necessarily deletes all parts of the predicate
- It disconnects the audience from the assertion
- It merely changes case and makes the subject indefinite
Question 23
In «إن الذين كذبوا شعيبًا كانوا هم الخاسرين», what is the role of «الذين»?
- A negative particle at the end
- The relative noun serving as the subject governed by «إن»
- An imperfect verb
- A vocative particle
Question 24
What is the usual function of an ʿāʾid (عائد) in a relative clause?
- To force a future tense
- To make the relative noun indefinite
- To complete rhyme only
- To link the relative clause back to the relative noun
Question 25
Which example most clearly permits indirect disparagement?
- The one who helped the patients is respected
- The one who planted a tree is present
- The person unable to calculate checks everyone’s accounts
- The one we met yesterday has arrived
Question 26
How should one analyze a clause that both identifies and praises a referent?
- Several rhetorical benefits can coexist in the same clause
- Only one meaning can ever be present
- Rhetorical analysis must always be abandoned
- It must be called an emphatic simile
Question 27
Why is it wrong to treat «الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي» as unrelated to the warning?
- Because the verse is only a grammatical exercise
- Because arrogance is meaningfully connected to the warning
- Because there is no predicate
- Because «يستكبرون» is a demonstrative
Question 28
What is the distinction between «الذي يحفظ الأمانة محبوب» and an explicit “loved because trustworthy” formulation?
- The first is meaningless
- The second has no predication
- The first implies rationale through a clause; the second expressly states the cause
- Neither allows any causal interpretation
Question 29
The mere use of «الذي» proves that magnification of the subject is intended.
Question 30
The identifying usefulness of «الذي كان معنا أمس» can depend on the hearer remembering the previous day’s meeting.
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