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

Sometimes the common respect is not explicitly named, but an attribute attached to a subject or comparison term strongly signals what the audience should infer. We must still distinguish an attribute of a term from an explicit statement of the shared respect.

A speaker may liken someone to a model whose defining feature is mentioned in the expression. That feature can guide interpretation, but it does not automatically make the simile detailed (mufaṣṣal) if the shared respect itself has not been stated as such.

The example shows why both grammatical placement and rhetorical function matter. Not every adjective in a simile is technically its named common respect.

Opening interactive controls...

When an attribute of a term signals the common respect

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

Sometimes the common respect is not explicitly named, but an attribute attached to a subject or comparison term strongly signals what the audience should infer. We must still distinguish an attribute of a term from an explicit statement of the shared respect.

A speaker may liken someone to a model whose defining feature is mentioned in the expression. That feature can guide interpretation, but it does not automatically make the simile detailed (mufaṣṣal) if the shared respect itself has not been stated as such.

The example shows why both grammatical placement and rhetorical function matter. Not every adjective in a simile is technically its named common respect.