مَا زَيْدٌ إِلَّا كَاتِبٌ
Zayd is the writer among the options.
If the listener does not know whether Zayd is a poet or a writer and seeks a decision, “Zayd is only a writer” resolves that uncertainty. This is qasr al-taʿyīn.
In qalb a definite but wrong alternative is believed; in ifrād two alternatives are wrongly combined; in taʿyīn the listener is undecided between them. The construction’s rhetorical type follows the prior epistemic state.
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Qasr: Definitions, Real and Relative Restriction, and Ifrād, Qalb and Taʿyīn
مَا زَيْدٌ إِلَّا كَاتِبٌ
Zayd is the writer among the options.
If the listener does not know whether Zayd is a poet or a writer and seeks a decision, “Zayd is only a writer” resolves that uncertainty. This is qasr al-taʿyīn.
In qalb a definite but wrong alternative is believed; in ifrād two alternatives are wrongly combined; in taʿyīn the listener is undecided between them. The construction’s rhetorical type follows the prior epistemic state.