«أَنْ يُؤْتَى بِمَعْنَيَيْنِ مُتَوَافِقَيْنِ أَوْ أَكْثَرَ، ثُمَّ بِمَا يُقَابِلُ ذَلِكَ عَلَى التَّرْتِيبِ»
“To bring two or more corresponding meanings, then the meanings opposed to them in the same order.”
Muqābalah is not just one pair of contrary terms. It establishes two related sequences, with each element of the first matched to an opposing element in the second.
Because the relation is ordered, the audience can follow the paired structure systematically. A change in matching order may obscure the intended rhetorical arrangement.