كَأَنَّ زَيْدًا أَسَدٌ
It is as though Zayd were a lion.
When the purpose is to emphasise Zayd’s courage, the comparison with a lion is clear. Yet not every occurrence of kaʾanna should be forced into a full analysis involving an obvious comparison image and a named shared quality. Some occurrences focus primarily on the uncertain status of a report.
Two distinct questions help: First, is the speaker asserting certainty or presenting an impression? Second, is the speaker bringing in another familiar thing to describe the subject’s property? The first concerns the epistemic force of the utterance; the second concerns simile as a rhetorical relation.