Verbal Embellishments: Complete and Incomplete Jinās, Reversal, Derivation and Quasi-Derivation

1. The beginning of verbal embellishments

Verbal ornaments enhance expression especially through the sound, shape, recurrence and arrangement of words. Their effect is often lost if the actual words are replaced, even while the underlying message remains intact.

Semantic ornaments depend primarily on relationships of meaning: antithesis in ṭibāq, for example, or the correspondence between items and their predicates in laff wa-nashr. For verbal ornaments, the audible or written resemblance is part of the figure itself.

Sound alone does not guarantee eloquence. A successful figure fits the intended meaning and the context without strain; a string of similar-sounding words may otherwise distract from the message.

2. The definition of jinās

«وهو تشابه اللفظين في اللفظ»
Jinās is resemblance between two expressions in their wording or pronunciation.

The words need not share a meaning. Its characteristic effect often arises when the ear recognizes verbal likeness while the mind perceives distinct meanings; the interplay gives the utterance its finesse.

The term resemblance covers exact agreement as well as partial likeness. The subsequent division into complete and incomplete jinās depends on how far the agreement extends. Mere synonymy is not jinās, nor is semantic similarity without an audible or formal relationship.

3. Four dimensions of verbal agreement

The degree of jinās is assessed along four independent dimensions: letter identity, letter count, vocalization or form, and letter order. A difference in even one prevents full formal identity.

DimensionQuestionIdentityAre the constituent letters of the same kind?NumberAre there equally many letters?FormDo their vowels and rests agree?OrderAre the letters arranged in the same sequence?

Agreement in all four yields complete jinās. The specific mode of disagreement determines the classification of an incomplete case.

4. Jinās is not mere meter or equal length

«ضَرْب» and «عِلْم» may be equal in length, yet their consonantal material differs considerably. Equal letter count alone therefore does not establish jinās. Likewise, sharing a morphological pattern, as with «ضَرْب» and «قَتْل», is not by itself sufficient.

The figure concerns an audible or orthographic relationship between expressions, not simply the same grammatical position or morphological paradigm. A common pattern may help explain resemblance, but the relationship between the actual letters must still be examined.

This prevents confusion between the grammatical concept of pattern or meter and the rhetorical figure of jinās.

5. Complete jinās: full agreement

Complete jinās requires identity of letter kind, count, vocalic form and sequence, coupled with a distinction between the intended senses. If there is no semantic distinction, the words may amount merely to repetition; the stylistic point lies in the difference of use.

The same form «ساعة» can denote the Resurrection in one place and a short duration in another. The ear registers identical wording, whereas interpretation shifts from one referent to another.

Its subdivisions also consider whether both occurrences belong to the same grammatical word class or belong to different classes, such as a noun and a verb.

6. Mumāthil: the same word class

«وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ ... مَا لَبِثُوا غَيْرَ سَاعَةٍ»
On the day the Hour rises, they will say that they remained no longer than an hour.

Both occurrences of «ساعة» are nouns. The first denotes the final Hour, whereas the second indicates a short measure of time. The wording matches across the four formal dimensions but the meanings are different: this illustrates complete jinās of the mumāthil kind.

The classification is not simply based on spelling. Full formal identity is combined with the fact that both occurrences belong to the same broad grammatical class, unlike a pairing of a noun and a verb.

7. Mustawfā: different grammatical classes

«ما مات من كرم الزمان فإنّه يحيا لدى يحيى بن عبد الله»
The generosity of the age has not died; it lives with Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh.

«يحيا» is a present-tense verb meaning “lives,” whereas «يحيى» is a proper name. Closely matching pronunciation links different grammatical categories, yielding the mustawfā variety of complete jinās.

The effect is not mere repetition of the idea of living: praise is strengthened by the elegant connection between the verb and the praised individual’s name. The difference from mumāthil lies especially in grammatical class.

8. How compound jinās works

In compound jinās, one expression is a single word while the other is composed of separate words or a compound expression that sounds like the first. The continuous acoustic stream conceals a difference in segmentation.

Correct analysis must identify word boundaries: a single lexical item on one side, multiple components on the other. Merely making two sentence endings rhyme does not establish compound jinās unless the expected likeness between the actual expressions is present.

Subtypes depend in part on whether the written form agrees. Pronunciation, spelling and composition therefore need to be analyzed together.

9. Compound jinās with matching written form

«إذا مَلِكٌ لم يكن ذا هبةٍ فدعه فدولته ذاهبة»
If a king is not a giver, leave him; his reign is passing away.

«ذا هبة» is a two-word expression, while «ذاهبة» is one word. Their sound and the visual proximity of their letters create compound wordplay, even though the points at which words begin and end differ.

The resemblance also reinforces the point of criticism: the absence of generosity is linked to the ruler’s imminent decline. This is verbal beauty serving a meaningful judgment rather than soundplay in isolation.

10. Mafrūq: difference in written segmentation

«كلُّكم قد أخذ الجامَ ولا جامَ لنا ... ما الذي ضرَّ مديرَ الجامِ لو جاملنا»
All of you received a cup and none was ours; what would the keeper of the cup have lost by showing us some favor?

The sequence «لو جاملنا» is related in sound to neighboring expressions whose word boundaries and written form differ. The listener hears a connected pattern that belongs to different lexical divisions.

Classification calls for examining the entire relevant sound sequence, not merely a shared ending. In one subtype the spelling of the compound closely matches; in mafrūq the division in writing is conspicuously different.

11. Marfūʿ: a compound made from part of a word

Marfūʿ jinās involves a single expression resembling a sound sequence assembled from the end of one word and another complete word. The likeness is produced across a word boundary and may use only a part of the preceding word.

«أهذا مُصابٌ أم طَعْمُ صابٍ»
Is this a calamity, or the bitter taste of ṣāb?

The sounds of «مصاب» recur across the boundary in «طَعْمُ صابٍ»: the final mīm of ṭaʿm followed by the separate word ṣāb. In the first occurrence «مصاب» is a single word; in the second the comparable sound sequence straddles two words. This makes the case distinct from complete jinās between two independent simple words.

12. Compound wordplay versus repetition

Compound jinās has two analytically distinct layers: (1) resemblance in sound and (2) divergence in lexical segmentation. Repeating a single word lacks the second layer. Likewise, simply rhyming two different phrases is not enough to meet the definition.

“Dhā hibah” means “possessing a gift,” whereas “dhāhibah” means “departing.” The first is a short expression consisting of separate units; the second is a single derived word. The rhetorical figure depends on this difference.

That also distinguishes compound jinās from mumāthil, in which the two matching expressions are single words of the same broad grammatical type.

13. Incomplete jinās: classifying the difference

Incomplete jinās retains verbal likeness while missing full agreement in at least one of letter identity, count, vocalic form or order. The correct label follows the nature of that disagreement.

DifferenceTypical classificationVowels or restsMuḥarraf: vocalization differsDots or writingMuṣaḥḥaf: graphic similarityNumberNāqiṣ / extra-letter patternsLetter identityMuḍāriʿ or lāḥiq: substitutionOrderQalb: rearrangement

Begin by identifying what is shared, then name the specific axis of variation; “incomplete” on its own is not a sufficiently precise analysis.

14. Muḥarraf: different vocalization

«بُرْد» and «بَرْد»
Burd may denote a cloak, whereas bard denotes coldness.

The constituent consonants, their number and their order agree. What differs is vocalization, making this a typical case of muḥarraf jinās. In Arabic, a seemingly small change of vowel can produce a different lexical meaning.

«جُبَّةُ البُرْدِ جُنَّةُ البَرْدِ»
A cloak or garment provides protection from the cold.

Several phonetic pairings occur within the expression; each requires its own analysis. The mere presence of several similar words does not make every pairing the same subtype.

15. Gemination and the form of a letter

A shaddah adds intensity or gemination in pronunciation. Rhetorical classification does not automatically treat every doubled pronunciation as an independent extra root letter creating a difference in letter count.

A pair distinguished by a geminated and a nongeminated sound can therefore be considered under form or vocalization rather than simple difference of number. But if actual letters or their sequence also change, the analysis must take those changes into account.

Vowel variation such as “burd/bard” and the heavy-versus-light articulation of a consonant both belong to the broader question of form, while their immediate phonetic causes differ.

16. Muṣaḥḥaf: resemblance in written form

In muṣaḥḥaf jinās, two expressions are particularly close in their graphic shape, while a difference in dotting or a comparable distinguishing sign yields distinct words. The role of visual form must be distinguished from that of pronunciation.

Muḥarraf usually changes vowel or rest while preserving consonantal material. Muṣaḥḥaf is based on the kind of letterform similarity in which changing a dot, or its equivalent graphic distinction, alters the reading.

Arabic letters such as bāʾ, tāʾ and thāʾ, or jīm, ḥāʾ and khāʾ, illustrate graphic proximity. Yet not every pair of words containing such letters automatically forms muṣaḥḥaf jinās; the whole expression must exhibit the relevant likeness.

17. Incomplete jinās caused by letter count

In number-based incomplete jinās, one expression contains a letter not present in the other, while enough verbal resemblance remains. The addition may appear initially, medially or finally.

A change in count should be distinguished from a change in letter identity. For instance, «ساق» and «مساق» share a recognisable sequence, with an extra mīm at the beginning of one form. This is not merely a matter of vowels or inverted order.

Morphological descriptions such as prefix, suffix or root letter may explain how a form is built, but the rhetorical classification still compares the complete uttered expressions.

18. Addition at the beginning

«وَالْتَفَّتِ السَّاقُ بِالسَّاقِ ... إِلَى رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمَسَاقُ»
The leg is entwined with the leg ... on that day the driving is toward your Lord.

Relative to «الساق», «المساق» retains a recognizable sound sequence while adding a mīm. The meanings are also distinct: the first evokes the physical leg, the second the act or destination of being driven.

The similar sounds help bind the solemn scene, but the different number of letters rules out complete jinās. The meaningful connection in the verse is as important as the audible echo.

19. Addition in the middle

«جَدِّي جَهْدِي»
My earnest endeavor is my labor or effort.

The pair shares a closely related pattern of sounds while diverging in the central consonantal structure. It illustrates why medial variation is examined separately among imperfect forms of jinās.

A complete analysis identifies the shared sequence, the position of the inserted material, and the independent meanings. Simply observing that both words begin with jīm would not establish the specific subtype.

20. Final addition: muṭarraf and mudhayyal

When extra material appears at the end of an expression, the case differs from an initial or medial insertion. Distinctions involving a single or multiple additional final letters lead to names such as muṭarraf and mudhayyal.

In «عواص» versus «عواصم», the final mīm produces a distinct word with strong initial overlap but unequal letter count. Some poetic figures similarly obtain their effect from related final sequences.

Rhyme alone is not enough: the subtype of jinās must be determined by comparing the relevant whole words, not just the endings of lines.

21. Jinās through letter substitution

If two expressions are similar in length and order but one letter changes identity, the figure differs from extra-letter jinās. The classification then depends in part on whether the substituted sounds have nearby or distant articulation points.

Muḍāriʿ jinās involves relatively close articulation, making the phonetic resemblance more immediate. Lāḥiq jinās concerns more distant consonants. The label muḍāriʿ here is rhetorical, not the grammatical term for an imperfect verb.

Identifying the differing consonant is only the first step; the relationship between its articulation and that of the corresponding consonant determines the more precise designation.

22. Muḍāriʿ: nearby articulation

«بيني وبين كَنِّي ليلٌ دامسٌ وطريقٌ طامسٌ»
Between me and my desired refuge lie a dark night and a path whose traces are obscured.

«دامس» and «طامس» share most of their consonantal material but differ initially between dāl and ṭāʾ. Their place and manner of articulation are sufficiently related for the audible likeness to be noticed. Pairs of this kind illustrate the logic of muḍāriʿ jinās.

Their meanings are not interchangeable: the first evokes darkness and the second the obliteration or obscurity of a path. The contrast of meaning works alongside the closeness of sound.

23. Lāḥiq: more distant substitution

«وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ»
Woe to every slanderer and faultfinder.

«هُمَزَة» and «لُمَزَة» share their length, structure and most of their letters, but have different initial consonants. The more distant articulation points provide a useful illustration of the principle behind lāḥiq jinās.

The two words also refer to related but distinguishable forms of disparagement. Rather than simple repetition, the near-sound pairing widens the force of the censure.

24. Where a substituted letter occurs

In substitution-based jinās, the changed consonant may occur initially, medially or finally. Position is a separate analytical question from whether the two articulation points are near or far.

«وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ وَيَنْأَوْنَ عَنْهُ»
They forbid others from it while they themselves withdraw from it.

«ينهون» and «ينأون» show a recognizable phonetic relationship between two different verbs: forbidding and distancing oneself. The audible likeness emphasizes their coordinated yet distinct actions.

25. Qalb: rearrangement of letters

In qalb jinās, the underlying letters are the same or closely matched in identity and number, but their sequence changes. Rather than adding a new consonant, the expression redistributes the existing ones.

«حُسامُه فَتحٌ لأوليائه حَتفٌ لأعدائه»
His sword brings victory to his allies and death to his enemies.

The words «فتح» and «حتف» rearrange essentially the same consonantal material. Their opposed meanings, victory and death, heighten praise by creating a concise and forceful verbal correspondence.

26. Total and partial reversal

Qalb can be subdivided into total reversal and partial rearrangement. In a total reversal, the whole consonantal sequence is inverted. In a partial case, only some letters exchange positions while others remain in place.

«اللهم استر عوراتنا وآمن روعاتنا»
O Allah, conceal our vulnerabilities and grant security against our fears.

«عوراتنا» and «روعاتنا» reorganize portions of the same consonantal material. This is better understood as partial reversal than as a simple difference of one sound. The paired petitions for concealment and safety are linked by sound and sense.

27. Winged reversal at the two ends

«لاحَ أنوارُ الهدى ... في كلِّ حال»
The lights of guidance have appeared in every circumstance.

The consonants of «لاح» appear in reverse order in «حال». When a passage sets one reversed form near its beginning and the other toward its end, the special arrangement is known as winged reversal (maqlūb mujannaḥ).

Two features matter: reversal of the letters and placement at opposite ends. An analysis concerned with the words alone would miss why this positional label is used.

28. Paired or successive wordplay

Related-sounding words may occur directly next to each other, at a short interval, or at separate positions in a sentence or verse. Labels for such configurations—paired, repeated or recurrent—highlight the arrangement of the similar expressions.

The central condition remains phonetic or formal resemblance with distinct meanings. Ordinary meter or rhyme should not be mistaken for a fully specified category of jinās.

«وَجِئْتُكَ مِنْ سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ»
I have come to you from Sabaʾ with reliable news.

The proximity of «سبإ» and «نبإ» produces a striking verbal echo at the beginning of the message.

29. Two figures related to jinās

Some word pairs evoke the effect of jinās without meeting its strict central conditions. They are treated as figures associated with jinās because the sound resemblance remains rhetorically effective though its source is different.

The first is ishtiqāq: words derived from a shared root or source of meaning. The second is shibh al-ishtiqāq: an apparent derivational likeness that does not withstand analysis of the roots.

Neither should be treated as a simple substitute for complete or incomplete jinās. Accurate classification requires investigating derivational relations and root identity, not sound alone.

30. Ishtiqāq: shared letters and semantic root

«فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ الْقَيِّمِ»
So set your face toward the upright religion.

«أقم» and «القيم» are connected to the root **q-w-m**, sharing the semantic field of standing, establishment and uprightness. Their derived patterns differ while the fundamental root and related meaning remain.

That is the value of ishtiqāq as an ornament: several related forms activate a common semantic core. It does not require identical pronunciation, letter count and order in the way complete jinās does.

31. Quasi-derivation: resemblance without common root

«قَالَ إِنِّي لِعَمَلِكُمْ مِنَ الْقَالِينَ»
He said, “I am among those who detest your deed.”

The first «قال» belongs to the verb of saying; «القالين» belongs to a different lexical root associated with aversion. Their visible and audible proximity can suggest a derivational relation, but they do not actually derive from the same root.

This is quasi-derivation (shibh al-ishtiqāq). A shared-looking sequence of letters is not enough: the root and the semantic history must be examined.

32. Why major derivation is a different issue

In minor derivation, the root consonants and their order remain relevant; broader discussions of major derivation may allow permutations of the same consonants. Mere likeness in sound must not be used to invent a shared morphological root.

«أَثَّاقَلْتُمْ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ أَرَضِيتُمْ بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا»
Did you cling heavily to the earth? Have you become content with the life of this world?

«الأرض» and «أرضيتم» resemble one another in their visible sequence, yet it is not correct to regard them as derivatives of a single morphological root. The example illustrates a further case of quasi-derivation: appearances suggest a common origin, while linguistic analysis reveals a different derivation.

33. Comparison of the main jinās types

TypeDefining featureExampleComplete, mumāthilAll four aspects agree; same word classal-sāʿah / sāʿahComplete, mustawfāFormal identity; different word classyaḥyā / YaḥyāCompoundA single word versus a phrasedhā hibah / dhāhibahMuḥarrafDifference of vowels or formburd / bardIncomplete by countAdditional or missing letterssāq / masāqMuḍāriʿ/lāḥiqConsonant substitution and articulationdāmis / ṭāmis; humazah / lumazahQalbReordered lettersfatḥ / ḥatfIshtiqāqShared rootaqim / al-qayyim

A passage may exhibit more than one phonetic feature. Classification should identify the specific decisive condition instead of assigning a label from a superficial resemblance.

34. A method for analysing new examples

When approaching a new pair, proceed in four stages: (1) establish the senses; (2) compare letter identity, number, form and order; (3) identify the location and cause of any difference; and (4) explain the figure’s contribution to the message.

For «فتح / حتف», the senses are victory and death, the core letters are shared, their order changes, and the contrast praises a benefactor’s power toward allies and enemies. Thus it is a clear instance of qalb.

For «أقم / القيم», investigation of the root reveals an ishtiqāq relationship. Classifying from sound alone could lead to a less accurate designation.

35. The rhetorical value of verbal figures

Effective jinās brings together verbal correspondence, sound meaning, and unforced suitability to context. Words selected only to create likeness can weaken the message and make the ornament seem contrived.

The two senses of “the Hour,” the opposition between victory and death in “fatḥ/ḥatf,” and the derivational link in “aqim/al-qayyim” all show that the sound pattern is most effective when it supports the meaning.

Mastery therefore requires more than memorizing terms. The learner should translate the passage, compare the exact expressions and account for the rhetorical purpose. The next figure concerns the deliberate correspondence between the beginning and end of a statement or verse.