وإما تشبيه مركب بمفرد
Or the subject is composite and the comparison term is single.
The described subject may consist of several interacting elements, while the reference chosen to illuminate it is one more familiar object. A unified arrangement of luminous or coloured elements could, in suitable context, be likened to a moon, provided the configuration itself is the subject.
This is not a trivial reversal of word order. We must establish whether the complex image is the subject being explained or the example brought in to explain something else. The resemblance can involve the effect created by the ensemble.