التَّشْبيه
al-tashbīh
Simile
Declaring that one thing shares a quality with another, by means of a particle such as ka- or ka-anna.
- التَّشْبِيهُal-tashbīhSimile
- Indicating that one thing shares with another in a meaning, by means of a particle of comparison, stated or implied.
Its four pillars
- Al-mushabbah — the thing likened.
- Al-mushabbah bihi — the thing it is likened to.
- Adāt al-tashbīh — the particle: ka-, ka-anna, mithl.
- Wajh al-shabah — the quality they share, which must be stronger in the mushabbah bihi.
العِلْمُ كَالنُّورِ
The more of the four that are dropped, the more forceful the simile becomes. Drop both the particle and the shared quality and it is called balīgh — “eloquent”: al-ʿilmu nūrun, “knowledge is light.” One step further, and the mushabbah itself disappears: that is metaphor.
Sources
- أسرار البلاغةAsrār al-Balāgha
The foundational treatment of simile and metaphor.
- تلخيص المفتاحTalkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ
The text on which the three sciences of Balagha are conventionally studied.
In the glossary
Related entries
A simile one of whose two terms has been dropped: the word is borrowed for what it does not literally name, and the likeness is what licenses the loan.
Read entryThe science by which the forms of Arabic speech are known to fit the requirement of the situation.
Read entry