LessonsRhetorical Addition: Emphasis, Explanatory Coordination, Connections and Multiple MeaningsQuiz

«وَلَا طَائِرٍ يَطِيرُ بِجَنَاحَيْهِ»
“Nor a bird flying with its two wings.” (al-Anʿām 6:38, excerpt)

Flight is expected of a bird, but “with its two wings” gives the listener a concrete, perceptible image. The added phrase makes the scene of living creation more precise; it is not necessarily an empty repetition.

Two levels of meaning can be distinguished: the bird as a creature and the description of how it flies. That is the explanatory value of addition by description. A careful translation preserves both the principal assertion and the vivid detail supplied by the phrase.

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“With its two wings”: description adds vividness

Rhetorical Addition: Emphasis, Explanatory Coordination, Connections and Multiple Meanings

«وَلَا طَائِرٍ يَطِيرُ بِجَنَاحَيْهِ»
“Nor a bird flying with its two wings.” (al-Anʿām 6:38, excerpt)

Flight is expected of a bird, but “with its two wings” gives the listener a concrete, perceptible image. The added phrase makes the scene of living creation more precise; it is not necessarily an empty repetition.

Two levels of meaning can be distinguished: the bird as a creature and the description of how it flies. That is the explanatory value of addition by description. A careful translation preserves both the principal assertion and the vivid detail supplied by the phrase.