LessonsDivisions of Simile: Single/Composite, Enfolded/Separated, Taswiya/Jamʿ, Tamthīl and ExplicitnessQuiz

FeatureQualified singleCompositeCentral focusOne object or agentArrangement of elementsFurther detailsQualifying circumstancesConstituent parts of an imageEffect of omissionChanges a term's conditionMay destroy the overall patternIllustrationA writer on waterSwords in dust and stars in a dark sky

A composite is not simply a long phrase and a single term is not necessarily one noun. Adverbs, attributes and possessive relations may qualify an otherwise single term. The relevant criterion is rhetorical structure: what arrangement is indispensable to the respect of resemblance?

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Comparison: composite terms and qualified singles

Divisions of Simile: Single/Composite, Enfolded/Separated, Taswiya/Jamʿ, Tamthīl and Explicitness

FeatureQualified singleCompositeCentral focusOne object or agentArrangement of elementsFurther detailsQualifying circumstancesConstituent parts of an imageEffect of omissionChanges a term's conditionMay destroy the overall patternIllustrationA writer on waterSwords in dust and stars in a dark sky

A composite is not simply a long phrase and a single term is not necessarily one noun. Adverbs, attributes and possessive relations may qualify an otherwise single term. The relevant criterion is rhetorical structure: what arrangement is indispensable to the respect of resemblance?