LessonsJamʿ, Tafriq and Taqsim: Individual, Combined and Exhaustive FormsQuiz

ما نوال الغمام وقت ربيع كنوال الأمير يوم سخاء
The cloud’s gift in spring is not like the prince’s gift on a day of generosity.

Both are called nawāl, a gift or bestowal. Yet the cloud yields rain and the prince grants wealth. The poem does not rest content with placing them under a shared name: it compares their relative worth to distinguish them.

This is not merely the informative statement “the cloud produces rain, the prince gives money.” A rhetorical contrast is made within the same broad category of giving. Simile emphasizes a likeness; tafrīq emphasizes a difference.

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The prince’s bounty and the cloud’s gift

Jamʿ, Tafriq and Taqsim: Individual, Combined and Exhaustive Forms

ما نوال الغمام وقت ربيع كنوال الأمير يوم سخاء
The cloud’s gift in spring is not like the prince’s gift on a day of generosity.

Both are called nawāl, a gift or bestowal. Yet the cloud yields rain and the prince grants wealth. The poem does not rest content with placing them under a shared name: it compares their relative worth to distinguish them.

This is not merely the informative statement “the cloud produces rain, the prince gives money.” A rhetorical contrast is made within the same broad category of giving. Simile emphasizes a likeness; tafrīq emphasizes a difference.