In a reversed simile, the expected direction of comparison is inverted. The object ordinarily treated as the subject is rhetorically presented as the standard of the quality, suggesting that it possesses that quality more perfectly.
Ordinary form: “The caliph’s face shines like dawn.” Dawn is the familiar standard.
Reversed form: “Dawn is like the caliph’s face.” The face becomes the supposed standard.
The superiority is a rhetorical claim, not a measurable physical identity. The inversion must have a meaningful effect.