LessonsVocative Address: Calling, Rhetorical Purposes, and Declaratives Used as DirectivesQuiz

كَالْإِغْرَاءِ فِي قَوْلِكَ لِمَنْ أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْكَ يَتَظَلَّمُ: يَا مَظْلُومُ
For example, “O wronged one!” addressed to someone already approaching you with a grievance.

Ighrāʾ means inciting or encouraging. The complainant has already come forward; a new attempt to obtain attention is unnecessary. The call “yā maẓlūm” is designed to encourage the person to expand upon the injustice and complaint.

The specific description “wronged person” matters: it foregrounds the addressee’s grievance. Replacing it with a neutral “O man” would change the rhetorical effect even though the vocative grammar remains similar.

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Vocative used to encourage a grievance

Vocative Address: Calling, Rhetorical Purposes, and Declaratives Used as Directives

كَالْإِغْرَاءِ فِي قَوْلِكَ لِمَنْ أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْكَ يَتَظَلَّمُ: يَا مَظْلُومُ
For example, “O wronged one!” addressed to someone already approaching you with a grievance.

Ighrāʾ means inciting or encouraging. The complainant has already come forward; a new attempt to obtain attention is unnecessary. The call “yā maẓlūm” is designed to encourage the person to expand upon the injustice and complaint.

The specific description “wronged person” matters: it foregrounds the addressee’s grievance. Replacing it with a neutral “O man” would change the rhetorical effect even though the vocative grammar remains similar.