Murāʿāt al-Naẓīr, Corresponding Endings, Irṣād and Mushākalah

1. Murāʿāt al-naẓīr: congruity between meanings

Murāʿāt al-naẓīr is also known as congruity, correspondence, or harmony (tanāsub, tawāfuq, iʾtilāf). It brings together matters related by an intelligible affinity that does not essentially depend on opposition. It is semantic: similarity of sound alone is insufficient.

وهي جمع أمر وما يناسبه لا بالتضاد
It is gathering a matter with something appropriate to it, but not by way of opposition.

Mentioning the sun and moon together is fitting because they belong to a shared astronomical setting. Life and death, by contrast, primarily activate opposition and so are analyzed under ṭibāq.

2. Congruity is not antithesis

Ṭibāq organizes opposed meanings, whereas murāʿāt al-naẓīr arranges meanings with mutual affinity. One passage may contain both figures, but each specific relationship should be analyzed according to its basis.

DeviceCriterionExample
ṬibāqOppositionLight / darkness
Murāʿāt al-naẓīrCongruitySun / moon

Merely putting two objects in the same sentence does not establish congruity. Their connection must be intelligible and pertinent to the discourse.

3. Sun, moon, and measured courses

الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ
The sun and the moon follow a determined reckoning.

The two celestial bodies are appropriately joined through their ordered motions and association with the reckoning of time. The phrase bi-ḥusbān reinforces the shared idea of measure and regularity.

The merit is not simply the juxtaposition of two astronomical names. They have been selected to form a coherent picture of cosmic order, although neither term is a synonym or explanation of the other.

4. Bows, arrows and strings as a related group

القِسِيُّ — السِّهامُ — الأوتارُ
Bows, arrows, and bowstrings.

The poetic example gathers three related matters: a bow, the arrow it propels, and the string belonging to the bow. These terms occupy a coherent semantic domain of archery and its instruments.

Even though the expression uses bal to move from one image to another, the words retain their mutual affinity. Murāʿāt al-naẓīr is therefore not limited to two adjacent words; three or more suitably connected items may form a rhetorical group.

5. Congruity depends on the intended sense

The classification must follow the sense actually intended in context, rather than every meaning a word might carry. Najm can refer to a celestial star, but it may also denote a plant that grows without a stem.

The first sense fits the sun and moon; the second fits trees and vegetation. Context and syntax determine which congruity is real in a particular passage.

It would therefore be a mistake either to import every possible lexical sense into one utterance or to force a familiar sense when the actual context points elsewhere.

6. Najm: real and apparent congruity

وَالنَّجْمُ وَالشَّجَرُ يَسْجُدَانِ
And the stemless plants and the trees submit in prostration.

Here al-najm means vegetation without a trunk; it truly belongs with al-shajar, the trees. Yet because the sun and moon have already been mentioned, the hearer may momentarily associate najm with a star, giving an additional apparent association with celestial bodies.

Īhām al-tanāsub depends on an affinity suggested by a sense that is not the intended sense. In this instance the botanical association is intended, while the stellar association arises as an impression.

7. How apparent congruity works

A word's multiple senses are not sufficient by themselves. An unintended sense must suggest an apt relationship with another expression nearby. Without that contextual relationship there is no clear instance of apparent congruity.

This should not simply be equated with tawriyah. Tawriyah focuses on the interplay of a near and a remote sense and which one is meant; īhām al-tanāsub focuses on the resemblance that an unintended sense seems to create with surrounding words.

In the najm example, interpreting the word as a star would mistake an association generated by the context for the verse's intended botanical meaning.

8. Corresponding beginnings and endings

Tashābuh al-aṭrāf occurs when the ending of an utterance is fittingly related to what it began by presenting. This is not just repetition of an opening word; the closing expression completes or harmonizes with the opening theme.

Semantic congruity is the wider category. Corresponding ends highlight the relation between the beginning and the conclusion. The opening introduces a thought, and the close supplies attributes particularly apt to that thought.

A pleasant rhyme or repeated sound would not be enough unless the final expression belongs meaningfully to the earlier statement.

9. A Qur’anic ending suited to its beginning

لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْأَبْصَارَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ
Vision cannot encompass Him, while He encompasses all vision; He is the Subtle, the All-Aware.

The verse first distinguishes creaturely inability to encompass God through sight from His complete awareness of sight. The close al-Laṭīf is fitting to the theme of subtlety and imperceptibility, while al-Khabīr fittingly expresses full knowledge and awareness.

The ending does more than append two unrelated attributes. Both names correspond to the initial claims, illustrating tashābuh al-aṭrāf.

10. Three relationships within semantic congruity

The relationships in murāʿāt al-naẓīr need not all be of one kind. Words may belong to one domain, one idea may be appropriately related to another, or a concluding phrase may neatly complete an earlier assertion.

ExpressionBasis of congruity
Sun / moonShared domain and order
Najm / shajarBotanical association
al-Laṭīf / al-KhabīrEnding suited to prior meaning

These are not identical structures; what unites them is semantic fitness, while their precise relationships differ.

11. Irṣād: anticipating the close

Irṣād, sometimes called tashīm, occurs when the wording preceding a closing expression prepares the listener to anticipate that close. The merit lies not merely in rhyme, but in the earlier discourse guiding the mind toward a suitable completion.

وهو أن يجعل قبل العجز من الفقرة ما يدل عليه
It is to place before the close of a clause something that indicates that close.

The final rhyme in verse and the conclusion of a prose clause are obvious positions for the effect, but the device itself depends on anticipation created through the preceding wording and sense.

12. Anticipation differs from rhyme

Rhyme may depend primarily on sound or terminal letters. Irṣād requires the preceding expression to guide the mind toward the final word. A poet may produce an excellent rhyme that is not sufficiently prepared by the earlier thought to count as irṣād.

If a sentence has developed the themes of inability and limitation, the word tastaṭīʿ (you are able) may become an expected contrast at its close. Verbal pattern can assist, but the principal force comes from semantic preparation.

Not every lucky guess qualifies. The anticipation must arise from the internal structure and recognizable associations of the utterance.

13. An example built around ability

إِذَا لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ شَيْئًا فَدَعْهُ وَجَاوِزْهُ إِلَى مَا تَسْتَطِيعُ
If you cannot do something, leave it and turn to what you can do.

The opening lam tastaṭiʿ introduces inability. The instruction to move beyond that task and toward another leads the hearer to expect the opposite idea at the end, and tastaṭīʿ supplies that conclusion.

The effect is more than repetition or matching sound: the final verb completes the practical meaning of the instruction and has been prepared by the preceding expression.

14. Qur’anic example: anticipating yaẓlimūn

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ
God did not wrong them; rather, they were wronging themselves.

The opening denies wrongdoing on God's part. After lākin kānū anfusahum, the statement turns toward the people's responsibility for their own wrongdoing. The listener can therefore anticipate yaẓlimūn at the close.

The figure is supported by the earlier mention of injustice and the carefully organized shift in attribution. Describing the verse as simple repetition would miss the way the ending is prepared.

15. Meaning and rhyme in irṣād

The hearer's linguistic experience affects anticipation. In poetry, knowing the rhyme consonant (rawī) may greatly narrow the expected ending. Without it, the sense may still direct the listener, although more than one completion could remain possible.

When ikhtalafū (they differed) has appeared earlier in a discussion of ongoing disagreement, an ending such as yakhtalifūn may seem particularly apt. Yet no rule says the meaning must always force exactly one final lexical item.

The criterion is strong contextual preparation, not a claim that every listener can infallibly predict every closure.

16. Two clues to a closing expression

Irṣād may draw on two basic clues: a previously mentioned root or expression and a semantic progression that calls for a particular conclusion. A known rhyme consonant in verse can provide an additional constraint.

ClueEffect
Lexical memoryli-yaẓlimahum prepares yaẓlimūn
Semantic completionInability leads toward ability
Verse rhymeRestricts likely endings

These clues may work separately or together. They make the ending a fitting resolution instead of an arbitrary final addition.

17. Corresponding ends versus anticipated ends

Tashābuh al-aṭrāf judges how fittingly the end relates to the beginning. Irṣād concerns the earlier language setting up a recognizable expectation of a particular ending. The two can overlap, but their analytical focus differs.

In “Vision does not encompass Him ... the Subtle, the All-Aware,” the close corresponds to the opening meaning. In “You cannot ... what you can,” the final verb has been specifically anticipated by the preceding structure.

Both figures may occur together. A sound analysis must show what produces fitness and what produces anticipation, rather than merely listing two names.

18. A practical test for irṣād

To identify irṣād, ask three questions:
1. Does the earlier wording provide a meaningful clue to the final expression?
2. Does the ending complete the thought rather than merely rhyme with it?
3. If the close were withheld, could a competent hearer reasonably anticipate it or a narrow family of fitting endings?

In the statement denying God's wrongdoing and attributing wrongdoing to the people, the earlier use of the root and the moral contrast strongly prepare the close. Two rhyming words without such preparation would not suffice.

The test concerns functional anticipation, not an inflexible single surface pattern.

19. Mushākalah: expression shaped by its companion

Mushākalah occurs when one matter is described using the word for another because the two occur in actual or implied company. A word may recur in a similar outward form, but the intended sense at each occurrence need not be identical.

وهي ذكر الشيء بلفظ غيره لوقوعه في صحبته
It is mentioning a thing in the expression used for another because of their association in the context.

Two elements are essential: the meaning actually intended and the borrowed expression whose companionship motivates that wording. Mere repetition of a word in the same literal sense would not establish mushākalah.

20. Shared form, different function

In mushākalah the repeated word-form and the intended sense must be distinguished. The first use may be literal; the second is shaped by the wish to maintain correspondence, even though a different action is actually meant there.

The figure is treated among semantic embellishments because its force depends on the relationship between the two intended meanings. The visible lexical resemblance expresses that relationship but does not by itself explain it.

Rule: Do not assume that the same written word has the same force on both occasions. Determine the intended sense from context in each position.

21. Actual companionship in mushākalah

Actual companionship means the word that motivates the altered expression is explicitly present in the discourse. The hearer can observe both occurrences and understand that the second expression has been chosen to correspond with the first.

If ṭabkh first means literally cooking food, and the preparation of clothing is then called ṭabkh in the same exchange, the second usage is generated by the actual presence of the first.

The relation is not merely an external analogy between activities. The presence of the expression in the conversation makes the choice of wording rhetorically intelligible.

22. Cooking a gown and shirt: a playful illustration

قالوا اقترح شيئاً نجد لك طبخه
They said: Suggest something that we can cook for you.

The poet replies in effect, “Cook me a gown and a shirt.” The first ṭabkh is literal food preparation, whereas when applied to clothing it signifies making the garments, not putting them into a cooking pot.

The second verb adopts the form of the first through actual conversational companionship. This is mushākalah, and the humor depends on understanding that identical wording denotes different activities.

23. Calling a just response a sayyiʾah

وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِثْلُهَا
The recompense for a wrong is a corresponding response of equal measure.

The first sayyiʾah denotes an actual wrong. The second repeats the word, but refers to a permitted corresponding recompense within its limits. It need not carry the first act's moral blame.

The central qualification is proportional response. Translating the second word without qualification as a fresh sin could distort the intended judgment. Mushākalah concerns the form of expression, not an assertion that wrong and lawful recompense have the same moral status.

24. Rhetorical identity need not imply moral identity

In the verse on recompense, the question “Why is the response called a wrongdoing?” requires distinguishing the original transgression from a lawful measured response. The shared word aligns them rhetorically, without making their ethical or legal standing identical.

OccurrenceIntended sense
First sayyiʾahThe initial wrongdoing
Second sayyiʾahA corresponding permitted response

The example shows why simply naming a figure does not finish interpretation. The context and the qualifications governing the response must also be understood.

25. Nafs used in distinct senses

تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ
You know what is within me, while I do not know what is known to You.

The first nafs is related to Jesus's own person and inward state. The second occurrence corresponds verbally to the first, but it does not attribute creaturely bodily or psychological conditions to God. The passage contrasts God's complete knowledge with the servant's limited knowledge.

The relevance of mushākalah is precisely that repetition of a lexical form need not entail identical referential or theological implications in both occurrences.

26. Implied rather than explicit companionship

In another form the motivating word is not explicitly present, but the context allows it to be understood as implied. This is implied companionship (taqdīrī). The expression responds to an already understood wording, practice, or framing.

If a community's ritual is spoken of as a kind of “dyeing” and an answer describes faith by the corresponding “color,” the latter term can reflect the presupposed earlier expression even if the two are not quoted side by side in the sentence.

Analysis needs restraint. Without evidence for the implied context, inventing a missing word to label every figurative use as mushākalah would be unsound.

27. Ṣibghat Allāh as implied mushākalah

صِبْغَةَ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللَّهِ صِبْغَةً
The coloring of God—and whose coloring is better than God's?

In the interpretive context treated here, ṣibghah responds to a known religious use of “dyeing” or immersion as a ritual expression. Divine guidance and faith are then expressed with the corresponding term. It is not a claim about applying physical paint to the body.

On this reading, the figure is implied mushākalah: the associated practice or expression is presupposed rather than necessarily stated in the same sentence. The context is therefore essential to the rhetorical analysis.

28. Comparing explicit and implied mushākalah

TypeStatus of the companion expressionExample
ActualExplicit in discourseṬabkh / uṭbukhū
ActualThe initial wrong is namedSayyiʾah / sayyiʾah
ImpliedUnderstood from contextṢibghat Allāh

Both types depend on the second wording being motivated by the company of another expression. The distinction is whether that motivating expression is actually stated or only understood.

A complete analysis identifies the two intended senses, the presence or absence of the motivating word, and the evidence for any implied background.

29. Mushākalah among other semantic devices

Murāʿāt al-naẓīr, irṣād, and mushākalah all involve relations among expressions, but the operative relationship differs: semantic fitness, anticipation of the ending, and adoption of wording through companionship.

FigureDiagnostic question
Murāʿāt al-naẓīrAre the meanings congruent?
IrṣādWas the close anticipated?
MushākalahWas wording adopted through association?

In “sayyiʾah ... sayyiʾah,” repetition alone is not the decisive clue. The second occurrence adopts the wording of the first while performing a different semantic function.

30. Worked classification of four passages

1. al-Shams wa-al-qamar bi-ḥusbān — a harmonious pairing of celestial bodies; murāʿāt al-naẓīr.
2. Lā tudrikuhu al-abṣār ... wa-huwa al-Laṭīf al-Khabīr — a conclusion specially suited to the opening; tashābuh al-aṭrāf.
3. Wa-mā kāna Allāhu li-yaẓlimahum ... anfusahum yaẓlimūn — the final verb is prepared in advance; irṣād.
4. Wa-jazāʾu sayyiʾatin sayyiʾatun mithluhā — the second sayyiʾah follows the wording of the first while having a distinct force; mushākalah.

These figures are classified through their meaningful structure, not by visual word patterns alone. Multiple figures may coexist, but each needs a separate justification.