LessonsThe Rhetoric of Law: Nonoccurrence, Entailment, Hypothesis and TenseQuiz

«وَلَوْ طَارَ ذُو حَافِرٍ قَبْلَهَا لَطَارَتْ وَلَكِنَّهُ لَمْ يَطِرْ»
If any hoofed creature before her had flown, she too would have flown—but it did not.

The flight of a hoofed creature is a highly remote supposition. The poet uses the impossible or extraordinary image to magnify the speed and distinction of the animal described. A counterfactual premise becomes an instrument of hyperbole.

The closing “but it did not fly” marks the gap between assumption and reality. The verse is not asserting literal flight; it creates a comparison beyond ordinary experience.

Opening interactive controls...

An impossible image in poetry

The Rhetoric of Law: Nonoccurrence, Entailment, Hypothesis and Tense

«وَلَوْ طَارَ ذُو حَافِرٍ قَبْلَهَا لَطَارَتْ وَلَكِنَّهُ لَمْ يَطِرْ»
If any hoofed creature before her had flown, she too would have flown—but it did not.

The flight of a hoofed creature is a highly remote supposition. The poet uses the impossible or extraordinary image to magnify the speed and distinction of the animal described. A counterfactual premise becomes an instrument of hyperbole.

The closing “but it did not fly” marks the gap between assumption and reality. The verse is not asserting literal flight; it creates a comparison beyond ordinary experience.