هو أسد، وهو حاتم
He is a lion; he is Ḥātim.
Ordinarily the first may praise courage and the second generosity. But if the subject is cowardly or miserly, and that fact is clear from context, these same expressions may function as humorous contradiction or ironic derision. Courage versus cowardice or generosity versus miserliness becomes the source of rhetorical impact.
The crucial distinction is between ordinary figurative praise and inverted ironic description. The former amplifies the ascribed virtue; the latter exposes its absence. Sharing the same comparison term does not make the communicative intent the same.