لَيْتَ النَّهْرَ جَارٍ
If only the river were flowing.
“Layta” expresses a wish, so this is not an ordinary declarative proposition. Nonetheless, the sentence clearly contains an attribution of flowing to the river.
Water is what flows, while a river is the place of that flow. Attributing flow to the river can therefore be rational figurative predication even within a wish. The analysis does not require redefining the word “river” as water.
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Four Types of Rational Figurative Predication: Quranic and Nondeclarative Examples
لَيْتَ النَّهْرَ جَارٍ
If only the river were flowing.
“Layta” expresses a wish, so this is not an ordinary declarative proposition. Nonetheless, the sentence clearly contains an attribution of flowing to the river.
Water is what flows, while a river is the place of that flow. Attributing flow to the river can therefore be rational figurative predication even within a wish. The analysis does not require redefining the word “river” as water.