DIVITEM: Dividing Items
| DIVITEM: Dividing Items | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘) |
| Subcategory | Grouping & Distinguishing |
| Balaghascore.com | |
| Code | CB-3 |
| BalaghaBase.org | |
| Code | Q84 |
| OpenAlex.org | |
| ID | W4415372663 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q84 |
| Download PDF | |
| Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.0, v0.1.1 |
Definition
Dividing Items (al-taqsīm) is an Arabic rhetorical device where multiple things are mentioned, and each is then explicitly described in terms specific to it.[1][2][3]
Mechanism
- The communicator first mentions a subject that has multiple parts, divisions, or states.[1][2]
- Each part or state is then assigned what specifically belongs to it (mā lahu ʿalā jihat al-taʿyīn), i.e. its specific attribute, quality, or outcome is attached to it on an individualised basis.[1][3]
- In the exhaustive-enumeration usage, the divisions must collectively cover all possible cases of the subject, leaving nothing out.[2][4]
- In the states-with-attributes usage, the communicator enumerates conditions of a subject and pairs each with what befits it (mā yulāʾimuhā).[2][5]
- A semantic whole or multiple-item subject is divided into distinguishable parts, divisions, or states.
- Each division is then assigned its corresponding attribute, ruling, or condition.
- The rhetorical force lies in the ordered completeness of this assignment.
Recognition
The following diagnostic tests aid identification:
Dividing Items may be present when:
- A subject with multiple parts, divisions, or states is presented, and each part or state is individually paired with a specific attribute, outcome, or quality belonging to it.
- The pairings are explicit and individualised: it must be possible to trace each attribute back to a specific named part or state.
- In the exhaustive-enumeration usage: the listed cases are intended to exhaust the relevant logical possibilities within the communicative frame.
- In the states-with-attributes usage: conditional or circumstantial constructions (e.g. idhā, ammā...fa) pair each state with what befits it.
Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects
- Atīq (2002) cites Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī's judgment that the Quranic example (Q. al-Raʿd 12: huwa alladhī yurīkum al-barqa khawfan wa-ṭamaʿan) represents the finest taqsīm because it covers the people's states when viewing lightning (fear and hope) without a third state being possible.[6]
- Atīq (2002) records that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz marvelled at the soundness (ṣiḥḥa) of Zuhayr's exhaustive division of the possible resolutions of a legal case, and said he would have appointed Zuhayr as a judge had he known him.[7]
- Clarification (al-iḍāḥ) — dividing a subject into parts or states makes complex material easier for the addressee to process and understand.
- Exhaustiveness (al-iḥāṭa) — complete division gives the impression of comprehensiveness and mastery over the subject.
- Orderliness (al-tanẓīm) — arranging parts in a structured sequence makes the progression of thought easier to follow.
- Precision (al-taʿyīn) — each division receives its exact corresponding attribute, reducing ambiguity.
- Emphasis through structure — the formal ordering and pairing of divisions reinforces the communicative force and aids memorability.
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:
Types of Dividing Items
The classical sources identify three usages to which the term al-taqsīm is applied.[3][2][5]
Type 1: Multiple Mentions with Specific Attribution (dhikr mutaʿaddid thumma iḍāfa mā li-kull ilayhi ʿalā al-taʿyīn)
- Description
- A multiply-named subject (or multiple subjects) is mentioned, and then each is assigned the specific attribute that belongs to it individually. This is the formulation given by al-Qazwīnī as the primary definition of al-taqsīm.[1][3]
- Source Example
وَلَا يُقِيمُ عَلَى ضَيْمٍ يُرَادُ بِهِ إِلَّا الأَذَلَّانِ عَيْرُ الحَيِّ وَالوَتِدُ ‖ هَذَا عَلَى الخَسْفِ مَرْبُوطٌ بِرُمَّتِهِ وَذَا يُشَجُّ فَلَا يَرْثِي لَهُ أَحَدُ
None endures humiliation intended for him save the two most abject: the donkey of the tribe and the tent-peg — one is tethered with its rope under degradation, and the other is driven in and none pities it.
- Explanation
- The two entities (donkey and tent-peg) are mentioned together, and then each receives the specific attribute belonging to it: tethering with degradation for the donkey, being struck with no one's pity for the tent-peg.[1]
- Source Example
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ وَعَادٌ بِالْقَارِعَةِ * فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِالطَّاغِيَةِ * وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ
Thamūd and ʿĀd denied the Calamity. As for Thamūd, they were destroyed by the Thunderbolt; and as for ʿĀd, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind.
Qur'an 69:4-6- Explanation
- Two nations are mentioned together, and each is then assigned the specific form of destruction that belongs to it.[3]
- Constructed Example
أَثْنَى المُدِيرُ عَلَى مُوظَّفَيْهِ الْمُتَمَيِّزَيْنِ: سَلْمَى وَخَالِدٍ؛ فَأَمَّا سَلْمَى فَقَدْ أُشِيدَ بِدِقَّتِهَا، وَأَمَّا خَالِدٌ فَقَدْ أُثْنِيَ عَلَى مُبَادَرَتِهِ.
The manager praised his two outstanding employees, Salmā and Khālid: as for Salmā, she was commended for her precision; and as for Khālid, he was praised for his initiative.
- Explanation
- Two employees are mentioned together, and each is then assigned the specific quality belonging to them individually: precision for Salmā, and initiative for Khālid.
Type 2: Exhaustive Enumeration of Divisions (istīfāʾ aqsām al-shayʾ)
- Description
- All possible divisions or cases of something are enumerated, leaving no remainder. This is, in logical terms, a complete disjunction.[5][2][8]
- Source Example
وَأَعْلَمُ مَا فِي اليَوْمِ وَالأَمْسِ قَبْلَهُ وَلَكِنَّنِي عَنْ عِلْمِ مَا فِي غَدٍ عَمِي
I know what is in today and in yesterday before it, but I am blind to the knowledge of what will be tomorrow.
- Explanation
- The three divisions of time (today, yesterday, tomorrow) are exhaustively enumerated, with no fourth division possible within the cited analysis. Each receives its specific characterisation.[2][5]
- Constructed Example
الطالب إما أن ينجح في الامتحان، وإما أن يرسب، وإما أن يغيب عنه.
The student will either pass the exam, fail it, or be absent from it.
- Explanation
- Three logically relevant outcomes are enumerated as a complete division within the communicative frame.
Type 3: States of Something with Corresponding Attributes (dhikr aḥwāl al-shayʾ muḍāfan ilā kull minhā mā yulāʾimuhā)
- Description
- The states or conditions of something are mentioned, with each state receiving what befits it and is appropriate to it.[3][2][5]
- Source Example
سَأَطْلُبُ حَقِّي بِالقَنَا وَمَشَايِخَ كَأَنَّهُمُو مِنْ طُولِ مَا الْتَثَمُوا مُرْدُ ‖ ثِقَالٌ إِذَا لَاقَوْا خِفَافٌ إِذَا دُعُوا كَثِيرٌ إِذَا شَدُّوا قَلِيلٌ إِذَا عُدُّوا
I shall seek my right with the spear and elders who, from long veiling, have become like beardless youths — heavy when they meet [the enemy], light when called [for help], many when they attack, few when counted.
- Explanation
- The warriors are described in four different states (meeting the enemy, being called, attacking, being counted), and each state receives the attribute that befits it.[3][5]
- Constructed Example
الجيشُ إذا تقدَّمَ ثبتَ، وإذا حوصِرَ صبرَ، وإذا انتصرَ تواضعَ.
The army, when it advances, stands firm; when surrounded, remains patient; and when victorious, remains humble.
- Explanation
- The same subject is presented in three states, and each state is paired with what suits it.
Different From
- FOLDING: Folding and Unfolding (al-ṭayy wa-al-nashr) — in al-ṭayy wa-al-nashr, multiple items are mentioned and their attributes are later mentioned without explicit specification, relying on the addressee to determine the pairing. In al-taqsīm, each attribute is explicitly assigned to its corresponding item on specification.[2]
See Also
Notes
- The term al-taqsīm is also applied in the sources to two further usages: the exhaustive enumeration of all divisions of something, and the mention of states of something with each state receiving what befits it.[3][2][5]
- ʿAkkāwī discusses al-taqsīm and its alternative names al-tajziʾa and al-tafrīq.[9]
- ḥusn al-taqsīm is treated by ʿAkkāwī as identical with al-taqsīm itself.[10]
- Atīq (2002) identifies a third usage of the term al-taqsīm in classical sources — al-taqsīm bil-taqṭīʿ — which refers to the division of a single verse's words into prosodically equal segments. This usage is specific to the metrical analysis of poetry and is not treated as a rhetorical device of the same type as the three usages above.[11]
- Atīq (2002) also discusses flaws of al-taqsīm (ʿuyūb al-taqsīm), identifying two: (1) failure to exhaust all divisions of the meaning, and (2) one of the divisions being subsumed under another.[4]
References
- ↑ a b c d e ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 134-135.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 111, ISBN 9786144162798.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Aḥmad al-Hāshimī, Jawāhir al-Balāgha fī al-Maʿānī wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ (Windsor: Hindāwī Foundation, 2019), 375, ISBN 9781527316386.
- ↑ a b ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 140-141.
- ↑ a b c d e f g W. P. Heinrichs, ‘Rhetorical Figures’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey (London: Routledge, 1998), 660, ISBN 0415068088. DOI: 10.4324/9780203020425
- ↑ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 134.
- ↑ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 137-138.
- ↑ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 137-138.
- ↑ 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), 412-415.
- ↑ 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), 538.
- ↑ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 139-141.
Page history
- 2026-02-10 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CE-4: Dividing Items to DIVITEM: Dividing Items.
- 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
- 2025-04-14 - Page created: Al-Taqsīm.
