GENSHFT: Genre Shifting

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    الافتنان
    GENSHFT: Genre Shifting
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
    SubcategoryArgumentation & Illustrative Persuasion
    Built upon5 sources
      
    Annotation Unit
    ARDT CodeGENSHFT
    Level1 (Rhetorical device)
      
    Included in Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.1
    v0.1.0
      
    External Identifiers
    BALAGHAScoreCF-1
    BalaghaBaseQ102
    OpenAlexW4415377154
      
    About this page
    Created22 April 2024
    Modified2 November 2026
     
    Cite this page
    🔗 DOIhttps://doi.org/10.64393/balagha.Q102
     
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    Definition

    Genre Shifting (al-iftinān) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which the communicator combines two or more different literary genres or rhetorical purposes within a single compact utterance or composition.[1][2][3][4][5]

    Background Information

    The Arabic name al-iftinān is closely connected with the device's combination of different funūn (modes or rhetorical purposes): al-Hāshimī defines it as “the combining of two different funūn” (al-jamʿ bayna fannayn mukhtalifayn), while Nāṣif et al. describe it as combining one fann after another.[2][1]

    Linguistic Operations

    • The speaker or poet combines two different literary genres or rhetorical purposes — such as ghazal, ḥamāsa, madḥ, hijāʾ, taʿziya, and tahniʾa — within a single compact utterance or composition.[1][2][3][4]
    • Ṭabbāna explicitly describes the two funūn as potentially contrasting, giving combinations such as nasīb with ḥamāsa, and madīḥ with hijāʾ.[5]
    • The combination may be highly localised: ʿAkkāwī (1996) describes two distinct genres occurring within a single verse or sentence, while al-Nābulsī, as presented by Cachia (1998), specifies one or two lines of poetry.[3][4]

    Recognition

    Genre Shifting may be present when:

    • A single utterance combines two recognisably different literary genres or rhetorical purposes.[1][2][3]
    • The transition between the two genres remains part of one unified composition, rather than separate independent passages.[3]

    The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

    • Each segment could plausibly stand on its own as an instance of its respective genre.
    • The shift involves a change in communicative function, not merely a change in topic.

    Communicative Enhancements

    • Communicative economy: By combining two genres within a single utterance, the speaker can fulfil multiple communicative purposes without dividing the discourse into separate compositions. Condolence and congratulation, for example, can be delivered together in a compact unified form.
    • Compound emotional register: When distinct genres carrying different emotional valences are brought into immediate proximity — such as grief and celebration — the utterance acquires an emotionally layered character that reflects the complexity of the situation more effectively than a single genre could.
    • Rhetorical tact: Where the situation requires the simultaneous communication of opposing or delicate social functions — such as condolence alongside congratulation — the combination of genres allows the speaker to distribute emotional weight across the utterance, softening abruptness and preserving decorum.
    • Situational fidelity: By combining multiple genres, the utterance can mirror situations that themselves contain multiple simultaneous realities — such as loss and succession, grief and honour, or love and conflict — giving the discourse a closer fit to lived experience.
    • Craftsmanship: The successful integration of distinct generic registers within a unified composition can display the communicator's control over multiple expressive modes, inviting admiration from a rhetorically literate audience.

    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.

    Examples

    The words of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hammām al-Salūlī, upon entering the presence of Yazīd after the death of his father Muʿāwiya, who had left him as his successor to the caliphate:

    قَوْلُ عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ هَمَّامٍ السَّلُولِيِّ حِينَ دَخَلَ عَلَى يَزِيدَ وَقَدْ مَاتَ أَبُوهُ مُعَاوِيَةُ وَخَلَّفَهُ هُوَ فِي المُلْكِ:
    «آجَرَكَ اللهُ عَلَى الرَّزِيَّةِ، وَبَارَكَ لَكَ فِي العَطِيَّةِ، وَأَعَانَكَ عَلَى الرَّعِيَّةِ، فَقَدْ رُزِئْتَ عَظِيمًا، وَأُعْطِيتَ جَسِيمًا، فَاشْكُرِ اللهَ عَلَى مَا أُعْطِيتَ، وَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا رُزِئْتَ، فَقَدْ فَقَدْتَ الخَلِيفَةَ، وَأُعْطِيتَ الخِلَافَةَ، فَفَارَقْتَ خَلِيلًا، وَوُهِبْتَ جَلِيلًا.»
    اصْبِرْ يَزِيدُ فَقَدْ فَارَقْتَ ذَا ثِقَةٍ ... وَاشْكُرْ حَيَاءَ الَّذِي بِالمُلْكِ أَصْفَاكَ
    لَا رُزْءَ أَصْبَحَ فِي الأَقْوَامِ نَعْلَمُهُ ... كَمَا رُزِئْتَ وَلَا عُقْبَى كَعُقْبَاكَ
    - عبد الله بن همام السلولي

    "May God reward you for your loss, and bless you in your gift, and aid you over your subjects. You have suffered a grievous bereavement and received a mighty bestowal; so give thanks to God for what you have been given, and be patient over what you have lost. You have lost a caliph and been given the caliphate; you have parted from a dear companion and been granted something magnificent."
    Be patient, Yazīd — for you have parted from a man of trust ... and give thanks to the grace of Him Who has made sovereignty flow purely to you.
    No bereavement among the peoples, as we know it ... has been like yours — and no recompense like yours.
    - ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hammām al-Salūlī

    Explanation
    This passage combines taʿziya (condolence), acknowledging the death of Muʿāwiya, with tahniʾa (congratulation), celebrating Yazīd's accession to the caliphate. Both Nāṣif et al. (2012) and al-Hāshimī (2019) cite this as the canonical classroom example of al-iftinān.[1][2]
    ʿAntara ibn Shaddād, combining nasīb and ḥamāsa within a single verse (metre: al-Kāmil):[3]

    إِنْ تُغْدِفِي دُونِي القِنَاعَ فَإِنَّنِي ... طَبٌّ بِأَخْذِ الفَارِسِ المُسْتَلْئِمِ
    - عنترة بن شداد

    If you draw the veil down before me, know that I am skilled at seizing the fully-armoured knight.
    - ʿAntara ibn Shaddād

    Explanation
    ʿAkkāwī (1996) states explicitly that the first hemistich is nasīb and the second is ḥamāsa.[3]
    Abū Nuwās, combining condolence with congratulation:[3]

    نَعَزُّ أَبَا العَبَّاسِ عَنْ خَيْرِ هَالِكٍ ... بِأَكْرَمَ حَيٍّ كَانَ أَوْ هُوَ كَائِنُ
    حَوَادِثُ أَيَّامٍ تَدُورُ صُرُوفُهَا ... لَهُنَّ مَسَاوِي مَرَّةً وَمَحَاسِنُ
    وَفِي الحَيِّ بِالمَيِّتِ الَّذِي غَيَّبَ الثَّرى ... فَلَا أَنْتَ مَغْبُونٌ وَلَا المَوْتُ غَابِنُ
    - أبو نواس

    We console you, Abū al-ʿAbbās, for the best of those who have perished, with the noblest of the living.
    - Abū Nuwās

    Explanation
    ʿAkkāwī (1996) cites this as an instance combining taʿziya and tahniʾa.[3]
    Al-Nābulsī, combining praise and condolence:[3]

    طُوبَى لَكُمْ مَعْشَرَ الإِسْلَامِ فِيهِ وَبَا ... خُسْرَانَ مَنْ كَفَرُوا يَا طُولَ حُزْنِهِم
    - النابلسي

    Glad tidings to you, O community of Islam ... and loss to those who disbelieved; how long their grief.
    - النابلسي

    Explanation
    ʿAkkāwī (1996) cites this as an instance combining madḥ and taʿziya.[3]
    Abū Dulaf, combining nasīb and ḥamāsa:[4][5]

    أُحِبُّكِ يَا ظَلُومُ وَأَنْتِ مِنِّي ... مَكَانَ الرُّوحِ مِنْ جَسَدِ الجَبَانِ
    وَلَوْ أَنِّي أَقُولُ مَكَانَ رُوحِي ... خَشِيتُ عَلَيْكِ بَادِرَةَ الطِّعَانِ
    - أبو دلف

    I love you, O tyrant, and you hold in me
    as dear a place as life in a coward's body;
    were I to say: as dear as my own life,
    I should fear that you be placed in the forefront of battle.
    - Abū Dulaf

    Explanation
    Al-Nābulsī, as presented by Cachia, and Ṭabbāna cite these lines as an instance of al-iftinān. The expression combines nasīb with ḥamāsa: the opening declaration of love belongs to the former, while the imagery of cowardice, combat, and the thrust of weapons introduces the latter.[4][5]

    إِنَّ فِقْدَانَ الأُسْتَاذِ الدُّكْتُورِ سَامِي العُمَرِي خَسَارَةٌ جَلَلٌ، فَقَدْ كَانَ مِنَّارَةً لِطُلَّابِهِ وَمَرْجِعًا لِزُمَلَائِهِ، وَأَدْعُو اللهَ أَنْ يَتَغَمَّدَهُ بِرَحْمَتِهِ الوَاسِعَةِ.
    وَإِنَّ الجَائِزَةَ الَّتِي مُنِحَتْ لَهُ اليَوْمَ لَهِيَ شَهَادَةٌ حَقَّةٌ عَلَى عَطَائِهِ، وَاعْتِرَافٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَهُ لِلْعِلْمِ وَأَهْلِهِ.
    - من كلمة التأبين

    The loss of Professor Sāmī al-ʿUmarī is a grave calamity; he was a beacon to his students and a point of reference for his colleagues, and I pray that God enfold him in His vast mercy.
    And the prize awarded to him today is a true testimony to his contribution, and a recognition of what he gave to knowledge and its people.
    - From a memorial address

    Explanation
    This constructed passage combines taʿziya (condolence) with madḥ (praise) and tahniʾa (congratulation) within a single unified address. The opening mourns the deceased and prays for his soul; the closing acknowledges a posthumous honour. Each segment retains the communicative function and conventional phrasing of its respective genre.

    Congratulations on taking command of the expedition — and may the mountains be gentle with those brave enough to follow you.

    Explanation
    This example combines congratulation with an expression of apprehension or warning within one compact utterance. The first part celebrates the recipient's appointment, while the second shifts into concern about the danger ahead; two distinct rhetorical purposes are therefore brought together within the same statement.

    Different From

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