وإن كان الثاني مثله
If the later expression is of the same level as the earlier.
The later poet has borrowed and modified wording, but the result shows no demonstrable additional merit. The effectiveness of meaning, composition and rhetorical effect remains broadly comparable.
A mere lexical substitution cannot be praised as a major new achievement. Nor does equality make it meaningless; nevertheless, when there is no new merit, the original poet retains the merit of priority.
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Ighārah and Maskh: Recasting Verse, Eloquence and Literary Appraisal
وإن كان الثاني مثله
If the later expression is of the same level as the earlier.
The later poet has borrowed and modified wording, but the result shows no demonstrable additional merit. The effectiveness of meaning, composition and rhetorical effect remains broadly comparable.
A mere lexical substitution cannot be praised as a major new achievement. Nor does equality make it meaningless; nevertheless, when there is no new merit, the original poet retains the merit of priority.