LessonsThe Point of Resemblance: Single, Multiple and Composite FormsQuiz

والحسي من وجه الشبه سواء كان بتمامه حسياً أو ببعضه طرفاه حسيان لا غير
A sensory point, whether entirely or partly sensory, requires both compared terms to be sensory.

The relevant sensible property must be capable of belonging to the things being compared. An abstract meaning does not literally possess external colour or tangible texture in the way a body does.

One can nevertheless imagine or interpret a sensory image for an intellectual concept, as discussed in the earlier treatment of imaginative resemblance. That rhetorical operation should not be confused with the strict technical classification of a directly sensory point.

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The condition on terms for a sensory point

The Point of Resemblance: Single, Multiple and Composite Forms

والحسي من وجه الشبه سواء كان بتمامه حسياً أو ببعضه طرفاه حسيان لا غير
A sensory point, whether entirely or partly sensory, requires both compared terms to be sensory.

The relevant sensible property must be capable of belonging to the things being compared. An abstract meaning does not literally possess external colour or tangible texture in the way a body does.

One can nevertheless imagine or interpret a sensory image for an intellectual concept, as discussed in the earlier treatment of imaginative resemblance. That rhetorical operation should not be confused with the strict technical classification of a directly sensory point.