ʿIlm al-bayān examines different ways of communicating an intended meaning. Simile makes resemblance explicit; majāz uses a word or construction beyond its literal application with the support of context; and kināyah reaches a further meaning by association while, in principle, allowing the literal sense to remain intended.
Taʿrīḍ, talwīḥ, ramz, īmāʾ and ishārah further specify the direction and clarity of that movement.
The next discipline, ʿilm al-badīʿ, treats the rhetorical enhancements of expression and meaning.