DIFSIM: Differentiating Between Similar Items

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    التفريق
    DIFSIM: Differentiating Between Similar Items
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (‘ilm al-badī‘)
    SubcategoryGrouping & Distinguishing
      
    Balaghascore.com Entry
    CodeCB-4
      
    BalaghaBase.org Entry
    CodeQ87
      
    OpenAlex.org
    IDW4415372669
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 DOI10.64393/balagha.Q87
     Download PDF
      
    Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.0, v0.1.1

    Definition

    Differentiating Between Similar Items (al-tafrīq) is an Arabic rhetorical device where the communicator takes two things of one type and produces a contrast between them.[1][2][3][4]

    Mechanism

    • The device requires two things belonging to the same type or category (nawʿ wāḥid).[1][2][3][4]
    • The communicator then produces a contrast (tabāyun) between them.[4]
    • This contrast serves a rhetorical purpose by distinguishing one from the other, sometimes producing preferential weighting (tarjīḥ).[4]
    • The device can be deployed in praise, blame, nasīb, or other literary contexts, as long as the two items share a common genus and are differentiated by the contrast.[4]

    In this encyclopedia, the mechanism may be summarised as follows:

    • Step 1 — Shared type: two entities are presented as belonging to the same category or activity (e.g. both give, both are water, both are patient).
    • Step 2 — Expression of distinction: the text introduces wording that establishes non-equivalence between the two.
    • Step 3 — Elaboration of the contrast: the specific qualitative or quantitative difference is articulated, effecting the differentiation.

    Recognition

    Differentiating Between Similar Items may be present when:

    • Two things or persons of the same type or category are present in the text.[1][2][3][4]
    • A contrast (tabāyun) is produced and explicitly articulated between them, despite their belonging to the same genus.[4]

    The following diagnostic aids identification:

    • Identify the two subjects: do they belong to the same category or perform the same activity?
    • Identify a marker of non-equivalence in the text (e.g. mā … ka-, wa-mā yastawī, or an explicit negation of equality).
    • Confirm that the distinction is elaborated in the wording of the text.

    Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects

    • Preferential weighting (tarjīḥ) and elevation of one party over another.[4]
    • Rhetorical benefit (fāʾida maʿnawiyya) for the communicator's purpose, whether in praise, blame, or other genres.[4]

    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 Rhetorical Effects section of this page in Step 4.

    Examples

    Source Example

    ما نوالُ الغمامِ وقتَ ربيعٍ كَنَوالِ الأميرِ يومَ سَخاءِ
    فَنَوالُ الأميرِ بَدرَةُ عَينٍ ونَوالُ الغِمامِ قَطرَةُ ماءِ

    The gift of the clouds at some time in the rainy season is not like the gift of the prince on a day of generosity; for the gift of the prince is a camel-load of dinars and the gift of the clouds a drop of water.

    — Rashīd al-Dīn al-Waṭwāṭ[1][2][3][4][5]

    Explanation
    Both the clouds and the prince give (nawāl) — they are of one type. The communicator then produces a contrast: the prince's gift is a purse of gold, the cloud's gift a drop of water.[4]

    Source Example

    وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْبَحْرَانِ هَـٰذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ سَائِغٌ شَرَابُهُ وَهَـٰذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ.

    The two seas are not equal: one is fresh and sweet, pleasant to drink, and this one is salty and bitter.

    — Qur'an 35:12[2]

    Explanation
    Both are seas (one type), yet they are differentiated by the contrast between sweetness and salinity.
    Source Example

    فَجُــودُ كَفَيْــهِ لَمْ تَقْلَعْ سَحَــائِبُهُ عَنِ الْعِبَادِ وَجُودُ السَّحْبِ لَمْ يَدُمِ

    The generosity of his two hands — its clouds have never ceased to pour upon the servants of God; whereas the generosity of the (rain)clouds has not lasted.

    — Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī, in praise of the Prophet[4]

    Explanation
    The two things of one type are the generosity (jūd) of the Prophet's hands and the generosity of the rainclouds — both instances of giving. The communicator produces a contrast by distinguishing their duration: the Prophet's generosity is unceasing and perpetual, while the clouds' generosity is intermittent and does not last. The differentiation serves to elevate the praised subject.[4]

    Source Example

    وَإِنَّ الَّذِي سَمَّى عَلِيًّا لَمُنْصِفُ وَإِنَّ الَّذِي سَمَّاهُ سَيْفًا لَظَالِمُهُ
    وَمَا كُلُّ سَيْفٍ يَقْطَعُ الهَامَ حَدُّهُ وَتَقْطَعُ لُزْبَاتُ الزَّمَانِ مَكَارِمُهُ

    He who named him 'Alī (the exalted) was just; but he who named him a sword did him wrong. For not every sword cuts skulls with its blade — yet his noble qualities cut through the hardships of time.

    — al-Mutanabbī[3][4]

    Explanation
    The two things of one type are the praised person and a sword — both things that cut. The communicator produces a contrast: an ordinary sword cuts only with its physical blade, but the praised person's noble qualities (makārim) cut through the hardships of time itself. The differentiation elevates the praised person far above the sword by showing the superior scope of what he "cuts".[3][4]

    Source Example

    قَاسُوكَ بِالغُصْنِ فِي التَّثَنِّي قِيَاسٌ جَهْلٌ بِلَا انْتِصَافِ
    هَذَاكَ غُصْنُ الخِلَافِ يُدْعَى وَأَنْتَ غُصْنٌ بِلَا خِلَافِ

    They compared you to a branch in its swaying — a comparison born of ignorance and injustice. For that is called the branch of the khilāf tree, whereas you are a branch without any khilāf (disagreement).

    — Anon.[3]

    Explanation
    The two things of one type are the praised person and a branch of the khilāf tree (a willow-like tree, Salix aegyptiaca) — both described as swaying branches. The communicator produces a contrast by exploiting the double meaning of khilāf: the tree branch carries the name khilāf (disagreement / contrariness), while the praised person is a branch free of any khilāf. The differentiation serves to elevate the praised person by distancing him from the negative connotation of the tree's name. The rhetorical purpose (tarjīḥ) is to show the praised person's superiority to the very thing he is compared with.[3]

    Constructed Example

    ما صبرُ الجاهلِ على الأذى كصبرِ العالِمِ؛ فصبرُ الجاهلِ عجزٌ وضعفٌ، وصبرُ العالِمِ حكمةٌ وسموٌّ.

    The patience of the ignorant person under hardship is not like the patience of the scholar; for the patience of the ignorant is helplessness and weakness, while the patience of the scholar is wisdom and elevation.

    Explanation
    Both are instances of patience (one type), but the communicator differentiates them: the first is cast negatively, the second positively.

    See Also

    Notes

    • The term al-tafrīq, literally "separation" or "differentiation", is in the technical (iṣṭilāḥī) sense the contrary of al-jamʿ ("gathering / combination"), a related badīʿ device.[4]
    • This definition is drawn from al-Sakkākī's formulation as reported by Atīq (2002): that the communicator intends two things of one type such that a contrast arises between them (huwa an taqṣuda ilā shayʾayn min nawʿ wāḥid fa-yūqiʿa baynahumā tabāyunan).[4] Al-Qazwīnī similarly defined it as producing a contrast between two things of one type (īqāʿ tabāyin bayna amrayn min nawʿ), though he restricted this to the context of praise (al-madḥ).[4] The broader application to blame, nasīb, and other literary purposes is attested in later authorities and adopted by Atīq (2002).[4]
    • The English translation "camel-load of dinars" for badra, used in Heinrichs (1998)[5], follows that source's rendering. The term badra refers to a leather pouch filled with ten thousand dirhams or similar coin.
    • Source traditions vary between shayʾayn and amrayn in wording, but no material difference in scope is indicated.[4]

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 110, ISBN 9786144162798.
    2. ↑ a b c d e Aḥmad al-Hāshimī, Jawāhir al-Balāgha fī al-Maʿānī wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ (Windsor: Hindāwī Foundation, 2019), 374-375, ISBN 9781527316386.
    3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Inʿām Fawwāl ʿAkkāwī, Al-Muʿjam al-Mufaṣṣal fī ʿUlūm al-Balāgha: Al-Badīʿ wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Maʿānī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1996), 402.
    4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 106-108.
    5. ↑ a b W. P. Heinrichs, ‘Rhetorical Figures’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey (London: Routledge, 1998), 659, ISBN 0415068088. DOI: 10.4324/9780203020425



    Page history

    You are viewing the live version of this page. Would you like to view the version included in the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1)?
    Retrieved from "https://al-balagha.com/index.php?title=DIFSIM:_Differentiating_Between_Similar_Items&oldid=9181"