FOLDING: Folding and Unfolding

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    الطي والنشر / اللف والنشر
    FOLDING: Folding and Unfolding
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
    SubcategoryGrouping & Distinguishing
    Built upon9 sources
      
    Annotation Unit
    ARDT CodeFOLDING
    Level1 (Rhetorical device)
       ↳ Has 3 subtypes
      
    Included in Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.1
    v0.1.0
      
    External Identifiers
    BALAGHAScoreCB-5
    BalaghaBaseQ88
    OpenAlexW4415372665
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 Live DOI10.64393/balagha.Q88
     
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    Definition

    Folding and Unfolding (al-laff wa-al-nashr) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which the communicator mentions multiple items — this is the "Folding" (al-laff) — and then mentions what belongs to each of those items without specifying which piece of information corresponds to which item, with the correspondence left to the addressee to discern the correct pairing and attribute each piece of information to its appropriate referent.[1][2][3][4] This second part — the corresponding information — is the "Unfolding" (al-nashr).[1][3][5][6][7]

    Background Information

    Linguistic Operations

    • The communicator first presents multiple items together — the folding up.[1][3]
    • The communicator then presents corresponding descriptions — the unfolding — without explicit assignment.[1][3][2]
    • The addressee is expected to discern and attribute each piece of information to its appropriate referent.[1][2][3]
    • The folding up may be by detailed listing (tafṣīl) or summary (ijmāl).[1][3]
    • The unfolding can be:
      • In a parallel sequence (al-nashr al-murattab), where the unfolding follows the same order as the folding up.[2][3][5][6][7]
      • In a reversed sequence (al-nashr ʿalā ghayri tartīb al-laff), where the unfolding follows the reverse order of the folding up.[2][3][6]
      • In a mixed or confused sequence (al-nashr al-mushawwash), where the unfolding follows neither the original order nor its simple reversal, although the individual correspondences remain recoverable.[3][6]

    In this encyclopedia, the mechanism may be understood as operating in two stages:

    • Stage 1 — The Folding.
    • Stage 2 — The Unfolding.

    Recognition

    Folding and Unfolding may be present when:

    • Multiple entities are introduced together.
    • A corresponding set of predicates follows.
    • The addressee must reconstruct the pairings.

    Communicative Enhancements

    • The beauty of the device consists in combining ease of expression with inventive meanings.[3]
    • The communicator avoids repetitive attribution by leaving the correlation to the addressee.[1][2]

    Atīq (2002) notes that excessive accumulation of pairings can weaken stylistic elegance and turn the device into affectation.[3]

    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 Folding and Unfolding

    The following three ordering configurations are distinguished. Classical accounts commonly distinguish ordered from non-ordered unfolding; ʿAtīq and al-Taftāzānī further distinguish reversed from mixed ordering within the latter.[3][5][6][7]

    FOLDING-POU: Parallel or Ordered Unfolding (al-nashr al-murattab)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTFOLDING-POU
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ310
    Official Arabic nameal-nashr al-murattab[8]

    A form of Folding and Unfolding in which the unfolding follows the same sequence as the folding up.[2][3]

    وَمِن رَّحْمَتِهِ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ لِتَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِهِ
    Qurʾān 28:73

    And out of His mercy He made for you the night and the day, that you may rest therein and that you may seek from His bounty.

    Explanation
    Night corresponds to rest; day corresponds to seeking bounty.[2][3]

    الكتاب والفيلم متاحان الآن: يمكنك قراءته من المكتبة، أو مشاهدته على الإنترنت.

    The book and the film are both available now: you can read it at the library, or watch it online.

    Explanation
    The book is mentioned first and corresponds to reading, while the film is mentioned second and corresponds to watching. The order is preserved.

    The key and the password were missing: one from the drawer, the other from my memory.

    Explanation
    The key is mentioned first and corresponds to being missing from the drawer, while the password is mentioned second and corresponds to being missing from memory. The unfolding therefore preserves the order of the folding up, while leaving the addressee to infer the pairings.

    FOLDING-NRU: Non-Parallel or Reversed Unfolding (al-nashr maʿkūs al-tartīb)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTFOLDING-NRU
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ311
    Official Arabic namemaʿkūs al-tartīb[9]

    A form of Folding and Unfolding in which the unfolding reverses the order of the folding up.[2][3][6]

    فَمَحَوْنَا آيَةَ اللَّيْلِ وَجَعَلْنَا آيَةَ النَّهَارِ مُبْصِرَةً لِتَبْتَغُوا فَضْلًا مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ
    Qurʾān 17:12

    And We erased the sign of the night and made the sign of the day visible, that you may seek bounty from your Lord and that you may know the number of years and the reckoning.

    Explanation
    Night and day are mentioned in that order (the folding up). Seeking bounty corresponds to the day, while knowing the number of years and the reckoning corresponds to the night; the order is therefore reversed.[2]

    القمر والشمس ظاهرتان مختلفتان: إحداهما تشرق نهارًا، والأخرى تظهر ليلاً.

    The moon and sun differ: one appears by day, the other by night.

    Explanation
    The moon is mentioned first and the sun second, but the first description belongs to the sun and the second belongs to the moon. The unfolding therefore reverses the order of the folding up.

    The key and the password were missing: one from my memory, the other from the drawer.

    Explanation
    The key is mentioned first and the password second, but being missing from memory corresponds to the password, while being missing from the drawer corresponds to the key. The unfolding therefore reverses the order of the folding up, while leaving the addressee to infer the pairings.

    FOLDING-CFU: Confused Unfolding (al-laff wa-l-nashr al-mushawwash)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTFOLDING-CFU
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ312
    Official Arabic nameal-laff wa-l-nashr al-mushawwash[8]

    A form of Folding and Unfolding in which the unfolding is arranged in a mixed ordering: the corresponding items do not follow either the original order of the folding up or its simple reverse, although the addressee can still determine which item of the unfolding belongs to which item in the folding up.[3]

    هو ليل وورد ومسك خدًّا ونفسًا وشعرًا

    Explanation
    The folding up presents night, rose, and musk, while the unfolding presents cheek, breath, and hair. The correspondences are night–hair, rose–cheek, and musk–breath. Their ordering is mixed rather than parallel or simply reversed, although each correspondence remains recoverable.[8]

    الجَرَسُ وَالشَّمْعَةُ وَالوَرْدَةُ مَلَأَتِ الغُرْفَةَ: بِالنُّورِ وَالعِطْرِ وَالصَّوْتِ.

    The bell, the candle, and the rose filled the room: with light, with fragrance, and with sound.

    Explanation
    The bell corresponds to sound, the candle to light, and the rose to fragrance. The unfolding follows neither the original sequence nor its simple reversal, although the individual correspondences are recoverable.

    The bell, the candle, and the rose filled the room: with light, with fragrance, and with sound.

    Explanation
    The bell corresponds to sound, the candle to light, and the rose to fragrance. The folding up presents them in the order bell–candle–rose, while the unfolding presents their corresponding attributes in the order light–fragrance–sound. The pairings remain recoverable, but the unfolding follows neither the original order nor its reversal, and is therefore confused or mixed.

    See Also

    Notes

    • The device is also referred to as al-ṭayy wa-al-nashr in Hāshimī.[2]
    • ʿAkkāwī derives the terminology from laffa al-thawb and nashr al-thiyāb, referring to folding up and spreading out garments.[4]
    • Heinrichs (1998) renders it literally as “folding up and unfolding.”[10]
    • Abdul-Raof (2006) uses the term “Epanodos” for a structurally comparable phenomenon.[11]
    • A condition reported by Germanos Farḥāt, as cited in ʿAkkāwī (1996), holds that the words of the folding up should not be antonyms (mutaḍādda).[4]

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f g Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 111-112, ISBN 9786144162798.
    2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Aḥmad al-Hāshimī, Jawāhir al-Balāgha fī al-Maʿānī wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ (Windsor: Hindāwī Foundation, 2019), 373, ISBN 9781527316386.
    3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 175-179.
    4. ↑ a b c Inʿam Fawwal ʿAkkawi, al-Muʿjam al-Mufassal fi ʿUlum al-Balagha: al-Badiʿ wa-l-Bayan wa-l-Maʿani (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1996), 633-634.
    5. ↑ a b c Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qazwīnī, known as al-Khaṭīb al-Qazwīnī, al-Īḍāḥ fī ʿUlūm al-Balāgha: al-Maʿānī wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ, ed. and comm. Ibrāhīm Shams al-Dīn (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2003), 268-269, ISBN 9782745139078.
    6. ↑ a b c d e f Saʿd al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī, al-Muṭawwal: Sharḥ Talkhīṣ Miftāḥ al-ʿUlūm, ed. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Hindāwī, Shurūḥ al-Talkhīṣ 3, 3rd ed. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2013), 654-656, ISBN 9782745131768.
    7. ↑ a b c Badawī Ṭabāna, Muʿjam al-Balāgha al-ʿArabiyya, 3rd rev. and expanded ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Manāra; Riyadh: Dār al-Rifāʿī, 1988), 392-393.
    8. ↑ a b c ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 178.
    9. ↑ Saʿd al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī, al-Muṭawwal: Sharḥ Talkhīṣ Miftāḥ al-ʿUlūm, ed. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Hindāwī, Shurūḥ al-Talkhīṣ 3, 3rd ed. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2013), 654, ISBN 9782745131768.
    10. ↑ W. P. Heinrichs, ‘Rhetorical Figures’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey (London: Routledge, 1998), 658, ISBN 0415068088. DOI: 10.4324/9780203020425
    11. ↑ Hussein Abdul-Raof, Arabic Rhetoric: A Pragmatic Analysis (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 248-250, ISBN 9780415386098. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965399


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