ABSTRCT: Abstraction

التجريد

ABSTRCT: Abstraction
Category	Linguistic Embellishments (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
Subcategory	Argumentation & Illustrative Persuasion
Built upon	5 sources
Annotation Unit
ARDT Code	ABSTRCT
Level	1 (Rhetorical device)
	↳ Has 7 subtypes
	↳ Has 2 sub-subtypes
Included in Taxonomy
ARDT	v0.1.1 v0.1.0
External Identifiers
BALAGHAScore	CE-4
BalaghaBase	Q108
OpenAlex	W4415376771
Cite this page
🔗 Live DOI	10.64393/balagha.Q108
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🏠 All rhetorical devices > Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘)

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Definition

Abstraction (al-tajrīd) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which a speaker abstracts from something possessing a quality another thing like it in that quality, as an exaggeration of the perfection of that quality in the original.

From the sources

The canonical illustration is: "In [so-and-so] I have a true friend" (lī min fulānin ṣadīqun ḥamīm), meaning that the person has reached such a degree of friendship that a second instance of that quality may be extracted from him.

The construction with min is a canonical and particularly transparent realization of tajrīd, but the device is not restricted to this construction. Arabic rhetorical sources describe the same underlying operation as occurring through several linguistic forms: with min, with bāʾ, with the bāʾ al-maʿiyya, with fī, without an intervening particle, by way of kināya, and through self-address (mukhāṭabat al-insān nafsahu).

Encyclopedia Interpretation

In this encyclopedia, the different forms of tajrīd are understood as realizations of a common operation of rhetorical extraction. Rather than being defined by a particular grammatical construction, the device treats another entity, bearer of a quality, or addressee as though it can be drawn out of the original. In its canonical form with min, a subject is presented as possessing a quality so completely that another bearer of the same quality can notionally be extracted from it. In the self-address forms, the corresponding operation is the extraction of another person or addressee from the speaker himself.

The subtypes therefore vary principally in how this extraction is linguistically realized. The familiar construction with min is one realization of the operation rather than a necessary structural condition of tajrīd.

Linguistic Operations

From the sources

• The core linguistic operation is rhetorical extraction (intizāʿ): the speaker treats another entity, bearer of a quality, or addressee as though it can be drawn out of the original. In the canonical quality-based form, something possessing a quality is treated as though another entity like it in that quality can be extracted from it, intensifying the perfection of the quality in the original.
• The extraction may be linguistically realized in several ways:
  • by means of min of abstraction (min al-tajrīdiyya), with the abstracted entity expressed through this construction;
  • by means of the bāʾ of abstraction (al-bāʾ al-tajrīdiyya), which enters upon that from which the second entity is extracted;
  • by means of the bāʾ al-maʿiyya (the bāʾ of accompaniment), which enters upon the extracted entity;
  • by means of fī, which enters upon that from which the second entity is extracted;
  • without the mediation of a particle (bidūn tawassuṭ ḥarf);
  • by way of kināya (indirect expression);
  • or through self-address (mukhāṭabat al-insān nafsahu), in which the speaker extracts from himself another person towards whom the speech is directed.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

These constructions differ in their surface syntax, but they instantiate the same underlying operation of rhetorical extraction. The familiar construction with min is therefore a canonical realization of tajrīd, rather than a necessary structural condition of the device. In the quality-based forms, the extracted entity presents the original as possessing the relevant quality to an exceptional degree; in the self-address forms, the corresponding extraction creates a distinct addressee from the speaker himself.

Recognition

From the sources

Abstraction al-tajrīd may be present when:

• A prepositional phrase of the form lī min fulānin X ("In [person], I have [quality X]") appears, implying that a second bearer of that quality is being extracted from the first.
• A prepositional phrase of the form lasʾalta fulānan latasʾalanna bihī al-baḥr ("If you ask so-and-so, you will be asking the sea") is used, attaching the abstracted entity via bāʾ to the source.
• A subject is addressed by the speaker as if a separate person, enabling the speaker to predicate qualities of himself in the second person.
• A quality is predicated of a subject without any prepositional marker in a way that implies a second, extracted entity possessing that quality to a superlative degree.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

• Ask whether the sentence implies that the subject is so completely characterised by a quality that a notional second bearer of it can be conceived as extracted from them. If yes, tajrīd is likely operative.
• Ask whether the speaker appears to address himself in the second person as a rhetorical strategy. If so, this may indicate the self-address subtype of tajrīd.

Communicative Enhancements

From the sources

• Intensification through hyperbole (mubālagha) in the perfection of a quality attributed to the source entity.
• Expansion and breadth in speech (al-tawassuʿ fī al-kalām).
• When the device takes the form of self-address, the speaker is able to carry out intended attributes — whether praising himself or another — via the abstraction, being thereby excused and absolved from what it would otherwise be impermissible to say directly. This is described as one of the chief rhetorical benefits of the device.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

• Substantiation of a quality. By treating a quality as so concentrated in a person that a second bearer of it may be extracted, tajrīd gives the quality an independent rhetorical presence. The quality is no longer merely attributed to the subject but presented as though it has become a thing in its own right — substantial enough to be separated out and named.
• Indirect intensification. The device allows the speaker to communicate superlative praise or blame without stating it directly. Instead of asserting the extremity of a quality outright, the speaker implies it by extracting a second bearer, leaving the audience to infer the degree of perfection for themselves.
• Heightened imaginative participation. Because the abstracted entity is implied rather than stated, the audience must complete the rhetorical movement in their own minds. This draws the listener into active engagement with the quality being emphasised, rather than simply receiving an assertion about it.
• Affective distancing in self-address. In the self-address subtype (mukhāṭabat al-nafs), the speaker addresses himself as though he were another person. This creates emotional distance from his own condition, allowing him to counsel, console, or praise himself from an apparently external vantage point — and, crucially, to attribute praiseworthy qualities to himself while remaining formally absolved from the impropriety of direct self-praise.
• Implication of surplus. The extraction implies that the source retains the quality in full even after a second bearer has been drawn from it. The quality is presented as so abundant that it can generate a copy of itself without any loss, which intensifies the original attribution more effectively than any explicit superlative could.

Applying the Recognition Framework

The information on this page can be used to evaluate whether this device is present in a candidate lexical item using the Specific Device Recognition part of the Universal Framework for Identifying Arabic Rhetorical Devices:

• Use the Definition, Mechanism, and Recognition sections of this page in Step 1.
• Apply the substitution test in Step 2.
• Consider contextual indicators in Step 3.
• Use the Diagnostic Communicative Enhancements section of this page in Step 4.

Subtypes of Abstraction

The sources identify the following subtypes based on the means by which the abstraction is expressed.

ABSTRCT-MIN: Abstraction with min (al-tajrīd bi-wāsiṭat min al-tajrīdiyya)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-MIN
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q355
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bi-wāsiṭat min al-tajrīdiyya

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the abstracted entity is introduced by the preposition min, indicating that it is drawn out of the source.

Source Example🔗

تَرى مِنهمُ الأسدَ الغضابَ إذا سطوا وتنظرُ منهم في اللقاءِ بدوراً

You see in them wrathful lions when they attack, and you behold in them full moons at the encounter.

Explanation

The preposition min introduces the abstracted entities — lions and full moons — as if extracted from the persons described, intensifying the praise of their ferocity and brilliance.

Constructed Example🔗

لي من هذا الطبيبِ طبيبٌ حاذقٌ

In this doctor, I have a skilful physician.

Explanation

The speaker implies that the doctor has attained such a degree of medical excellence that a second, ideally skilful physician can be notionally abstracted from him, using the source-attested min construction.

ABSTRCT-BAA: Abstraction with bāʾ (al-tajrīd bi-wāsiṭat al-bāʾ al-tajrīdiyya)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-BAA
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q356
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bi-wāsiṭat al-bāʾ al-tajrīdiyya

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the preposition bāʾ attaches to the source entity, and the abstracted quality is predicated of it as an equivalent.

Source Example🔗

لَئِنْ سَأَلْتَ فُلَانًا لَتَسْأَلَنَّ بِهِ الْبَحْرَ

If you ask so-and-so, you will be asking the sea.

Explanation

The preposition bāʾ attaches to the source entity, and the abstracted quality is predicated of it as an equivalent. The person addressed is thus rhetorically equated with the sea, conventionally evoking inexhaustible generosity.

Constructed Example🔗

لئن سألتَ هذا المعلمَ لتسألنَّ به بحراً من العلم

If you consult this teacher, you will be consulting a sea of knowledge.

Explanation

The bāʾ attaches to the source entity (the teacher), and a sea of knowledge is abstracted from him as an equivalent.

ABSTRCT-BAM: Abstraction with bāʾ al-maʿiyya (al-tajrīd bi-bāʾ al-maʿiyya)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-BAM
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q357
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bi-bāʾ al-maʿiyya

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the preposition bāʾ attaches to the abstracted entity rather than to the source, indicating accompaniment.

Source Example🔗

وشوهاءَ تعدو بي إلى صارخِ الوغى — بمستلئمٍ مثلِ الفنيقِ المرحَّلِ

A swift mare runs with me to the cry of battle — alongside a fully armoured man like a laden noble camel.

Explanation

The speaker abstracts from himself a second person — a fully armoured warrior — who accompanies him into battle. The bāʾ here attaches to the abstracted entity (the armoured man), distinguishing this from the bāʾ al-tajrīdiyya subtype in which the bāʾ attaches to the source.

Constructed Example🔗

مضيتُ إلى الشدائدِ بِفَارِسٍ لا يهابُها

I went forth into hardship accompanied by a horseman who does not fear it.

Explanation

The speaker abstracts from himself a second entity — a fearless horseman — and presents that entity as accompanying him. The bāʾ attaches to the abstracted entity, fāris (“horseman”), giving the sense of accompaniment characteristic of bāʾ al-maʿiyya.

ABSTRCT-FII: Abstraction with fī (al-tajrīd bi-lafẓat fī)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-FII
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q358
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bi-lafẓat fī

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the abstraction is realized by placing the preposition fī before the source entity from which another entity is rhetorically extracted.

Source Example🔗

لَهُمْ فِيهَا دَارُ الْخُلْدِ

For them therein is the abode of eternity. (Q. 41:28)

Explanation

The abstraction is mediated by the preposition fī. Hell is itself the abode of eternity, yet another abode like it is abstracted from it and made ready for the disbelievers. The abstraction intensifies the severity of their punishment.

Constructed Example🔗

فِي قَلْبِ هٰذَا الْفَارِسِ قَلْبٌ آخَرُ لَا يَعْرِفُ الْخَوْفَ

Within this warrior's heart is another heart that knows no fear.

Explanation

The preposition fī introduces the source entity, the warrior's heart, from which a second fearless heart is rhetorically extracted. The construction intensifies the quality of courage by treating the fearless heart as though it were a distinct entity contained within the original.

English Constructed Example🔗

Within this scholar is another scholar — one who never tires of searching for knowledge.

Explanation

In this example, from "within" the original scholar, a second scholar possessing the same quality to an intensified degree is notionally extracted.

ABSTRCT-WPM: Abstraction Without a Prepositional Marker (al-tajrīd bidūn tawassuṭ ḥarf)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-WPM
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q359
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bidūn tawassuṭ ḥarf

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the abstraction is performed without any mediating preposition.

Source Example🔗

فَقَاتِلُوا أَئِمَّةَ الْكُفْرِ

Then fight the leaders of disbelief. (Q. 9:12)

Explanation

The abstraction is performed without any mediating preposition. The expression abstracts from the disbelievers a distinct class — the “leaders of disbelief” — and presents them as though they were a separate entity embodying and directing that disbelief.

Source Example🔗

فَلَئِنْ بَقِيتَ لَأَرْحَلَنَّ لِغَزْوَةٍ تَحْوِي الغَنَائِمَ أَوْ يَمُوتُ كَرِيمُ

Should I stay alive, I will embark on a raid which will bring together much booty — unless a noble man should die.

Explanation

The speaker addresses himself and abstracts from himself “a noble man” (karīm) as though it were another entity sharing the same noble quality. This illustrates the self-address form of tajrīd following ʿAkkāwī (1996). Heinrichs (1998) cites this verse as an instance of tajrīd without subtype assignment. ʿAtīq (2002), however, assigns this same verse to the subtype in which abstraction occurs without a prepositional marker, interpreting karīm as the abstracted entity referring to the speaker himself.

Constructed Example🔗

إنَّ هؤلاء الجنودِ أسودَ الحربِ

These soldiers are the lions of war.

Explanation

No prepositional marker mediates the abstraction. The lions of war are predicated directly of the soldiers, as an intensification of their ferocity, following the mechanism attested for this subtype in al-Hāshimī (2019).

English Constructed Example🔗

He stepped forward - a second hero had appeared.

Explanation

In this example, a heroic second entity is notionally extracted from the original person and presented directly, without a prepositional expression mediating the abstraction.

ABSTRCT-ADR: Abstraction by Self-Address (al-tajrīd bi-mukhāṭabat al-insān nafsahu)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-ADR
Level	2 (Subtype)
	↳ Has 2 sub-subtypes
BalaghaBase	Q360
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bi-mukhāṭabat al-insān nafsahu

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the speaker abstracts from themselves a second person and directs speech towards it. In their discussion of address-based abstraction, ʿAkkāwī (1996) and ʿAtīq (2002) distinguish pure and non-pure forms.

Source Example🔗

لا خيلَ عندكَ تهديها ولا مالُ — فليسعدِ النطقُ إن لم تسعدِ الحالُ

You have neither horses to give as gifts nor wealth — so let eloquence prosper, if circumstance does not.

Explanation

Al-Mutanabbī addresses himself in the second person, abstracting from himself a separate person to whom he directs speech. Al-Hāshimī (2019) cites this as an instance of self-address in tajrīd, noting that this form allows a person to affirm for himself what it would be unseemly to state explicitly.

ABSTRCT-PUR: Pure Abstraction (al-tajrīd al-maḥḍ)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-PUR
Level	3 (Sub-subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q361
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd al-maḥḍ

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the speech is formally directed to another while the speaker intends themselves. This is described as the more eloquent of the two forms, since the speaker directs their address outwardly while intending themself, enabling them to mention praiseworthy qualities while appearing to address another, and thereby remaining absolved from what it would otherwise be impermissible to say.

Source Example🔗

وَدَّعَ هُـرَّيـرَةَ إنَّ الـرَّكْبَ مُـرْتَجِـلُ وَهَـلْ تُـطِيقُ وَدَاعـاً أيُّهـا الـرَّجُـلُ

Bid farewell to Hurraya, for the riders are departing — but are you even capable of farewell, O man?

Explanation

The speaker outwardly addresses another person ("O man") while intending himself. ʿAkkāwī (1996) cites this verse in his discussion of al-tajrīd al-maḥḍ (pure abstraction), explaining that al-Aʿshā abstracts the address from himself while actually intending himself.

Constructed Example🔗

لا مالَ عندكَ ولا جاهَ — فليكن صبرُكَ تاجَكَ

You have neither wealth nor status — so let your patience be your crown.

Explanation

The speaker outwardly addresses another person in the second person while actually intending himself. This follows the operation of al-tajrīd al-maḥḍ, in which speech is formally addressed to another while the speaker intends himself.

English Constructed Example🔗

Come now, brave man — will you really turn back?

Explanation

In this example, the speaker outwardly addresses what appears to be another person ("brave man") while actually intending himself, illustrating the operation of pure abstraction.

ABSTRCT-NPR: Non-Pure Abstraction (al-tajrīd ghayr al-maḥḍ)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-NPR
Level	3 (Sub-subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q362
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd ghayr al-maḥḍ

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the speech is formally directed to oneself rather than to another person. The speaker is both speaker and addressee, with nothing external to them. ʿAtīq (2002) notes that Ibn al-Athīr observes that between the self and the body there is no difference except that each bears a relation to the other.

Source Example🔗

أقـولُ لـلنفسِ تـأسّاءَ وتعـزيـةً — إحـدى يـدَيَّ أصـابتني ولم تـرد

I say to myself, in consolation and comfort: one of my own hands has struck me, without intending to.

Explanation

The speaker addresses his own self directly rather than outwardly addressing another person. ʿAtīq (2002) cites this verse as an example of al-tajrīd ghayr al-maḥḍ (non-pure abstraction).

Source Example🔗

أقـولُ لها كـلَّما جشَّأت وَجَاشَت — مَكَـانَـكِ تُحْمَـدي أَوْ تَسْتَـريحي

I say to it, whenever it heaves and surges: hold your place — you will be praised, or you will find rest.

Explanation

The speaker addresses his own soul directly, making himself both speaker and addressee. ʿAtīq (2002) cites this verse as an example of al-tajrīd ghayr al-maḥḍ (non-pure abstraction).

English Constructed Example🔗

My soul, be patient; this hardship will pass.

Explanation

In this example, the speaker directly addresses his own soul rather than outwardly addressing another person, illustrating the operation of non-pure abstraction.

ABSTRCT-KIN: Abstraction by kināya (al-tajrīd bi-ṭarīq al-kināya)

Annotation Unit
ARDT	ABSTRCT-KIN
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q363
Official Arabic name	al-tajrīd bi-ṭarīq al-kināya

From the sources

A form of Abstraction in which the abstraction is effected indirectly, via implication rather than explicit statement. Al-Hāshimī (2019) cites a verse by al-Aʿshā as an example: the phrase "he does not drink a cup by the hand of one who is miserly" implies that he drinks only by his own hand, from which a generous person (karīm) is thereby abstracted — since drinking by the hand of a non-miser entails drinking by the hand of a generous one.

Source Example🔗

يا خيرَ من ركبَ المطيَّ ولا يشربُ كأساً بكفِّ من بخلا

O best of those who rode camels — one who does not drink a cup by the hand of a miser.

Explanation

The generosity of the subject is not stated directly but abstracted by implication: since he drinks only by his own hand, and drinking by a non-miser's hand implies drinking by a generous person's hand, a generous person is extracted from him indirectly. Al-Hāshimī (2019) classifies this as the kināya subtype of tajrīd.

Constructed Example🔗

هو لا يمشي إلى بابِ من يذلُّه

He does not walk to the door of one who humiliates him.

Explanation

The speaker's dignity is not stated directly but abstracted by implication: since he walks only to doors that do not humiliate him, a person of dignity and self-respect is extracted from him indirectly. The abstraction operates via implication rather than explicit statement, following the kināya mechanism as described by al-Hāshimī (2019).

English Constructed Example🔗

He drinks only from his own hand — never from the hand of a miser.

Explanation

In this example, the subject's generosity is not asserted directly but is inferred from the implication that his own hand is the opposite of a miser's, allowing a generous person to be notionally extracted from him by indirect expression.

Notes

• The lexical root of the term conveys stripping or peeling away (tajrīd al-shayʾ ʿan ghayrihi), which al-Hāshimī (2019) gives as the literal meaning before providing the technical definition.
• ʿAkkāwī (1996) surveys multiple scholarly definitions across the tradition, noting broad agreement on the core mechanism of extracting a like entity as an intensification of the quality, with minor terminological variation.
• The term al-tajrīd al-maḥḍ and al-tajrīd ghayr al-maḥḍ are the terms used by ʿAkkāwī (1996) for the self-address subclassification.
• The English rendering "tajrīd" is retained in transliteration following Heinrichs (1998), who glosses it as "abstracting a general attribute from an individual."
• ʿAtīq (2002) expands the subtype taxonomy beyond the shorter pedagogical lists found in al-Hāshimī (2019) and Ḥafnī Nāṣif et al. (2012), adding additional prepositional forms such as fī and bāʾ al-maʿiyya.

Page History

• 2026-02-11 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CG-9: Abstraction to ABSTRCT: Abstraction.
• 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
• 2024-04-22 - Page created: Abstraction.

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