What crucial distinction separates “mā ḥaḍara Khālidun” from “mā ḥaḍara illā Khālidun”?

Supplementary Practice — Advanced Rhetorical Analysis and Worked Texts

• Both mean Khalid did not attend
• The first is comparison and the second metaphor
• The first denies attendance; the second restricts attendance to Khalid
• They are synonymous assertions