LessonsSupplementary Practice 6: Rhetorical Dialogue, Responding to Objections and Choosing the Right ExpressionQuiz

Suppose the listener believes Khalid and Amr wrote the article together. The speaker replies:

مَا كَتَبَ الْمَقَالَ إِلَّا خَالِدٌ.
Only Khalid wrote the article.

Although the wording is unchanged, its target is now a belief in joint participation: this supports qaṣr al-ifrād. If the listener merely cannot decide which of two agents acted, the force is instead that of qaṣr al-taʿyīn, settling the uncertainty.

Listener's prior beliefRhetorical reading
Amr alone wrote itReversal (qalb)
Both wrote itExcluding partnership (ifrād)
Which of the two?Determination (taʿyīn)

Opening interactive controls...

Restriction that removes imagined participation

Supplementary Practice 6: Rhetorical Dialogue, Responding to Objections and Choosing the Right Expression

Suppose the listener believes Khalid and Amr wrote the article together. The speaker replies:

مَا كَتَبَ الْمَقَالَ إِلَّا خَالِدٌ.
Only Khalid wrote the article.

Although the wording is unchanged, its target is now a belief in joint participation: this supports qaṣr al-ifrād. If the listener merely cannot decide which of two agents acted, the force is instead that of qaṣr al-taʿyīn, settling the uncertainty.

Listener's prior beliefRhetorical reading
Amr alone wrote itReversal (qalb)
Both wrote itExcluding partnership (ifrād)
Which of the two?Determination (taʿyīn)