أنشبت المنية أظفارها
Death drove its claws in.
Here “death,” the target of the comparison, is overt. The predator used as the source is left unnamed, while “claws,” one of its associated characteristics, evokes that source.
Distinguishing explicit and implicit metaphor is not a matter of counting figurative words. The crucial question is whether the source is expressly named or signaled through an associated attribute. In al-Sakkākī’s analysis this involves an imagined predication as well.
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Definitions of Literal and Figurative Use and the Technical Divisions of Metaphor
أنشبت المنية أظفارها
Death drove its claws in.
Here “death,” the target of the comparison, is overt. The predator used as the source is left unnamed, while “claws,” one of its associated characteristics, evokes that source.
Distinguishing explicit and implicit metaphor is not a matter of counting figurative words. The crucial question is whether the source is expressly named or signaled through an associated attribute. In al-Sakkākī’s analysis this involves an imagined predication as well.