قد يضمر التشبيه في النفس
A comparison may be kept implicit in the mind.
Comparing one thing to another is initially a mental act. In an ordinary simile, both sides, or at least an overt comparative construction, are available in the wording. In an implicit comparison, the second image is not independently named; a distinctive attribute points toward it.
Calling something “the claws of death” works this way if death is mentally compared with a predator. The word “death” is visible, but “predator” is not. Its presence is recoverable through a characteristic associated with predators: their claws.