GRPDDI: Rhetorical Grouping, Differentiating, and Dividing Items

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    الجمع مع التفريق والتقسيم
    GRPDDI: Rhetorical Grouping, Differentiating, and Dividing Items
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
    SubcategoryGrouping & Distinguishing
    Built upon6 sources
      
    Annotation Unit
    ARDT CodeGRPDDI
    Level1 (Rhetorical device)
      
    Included in Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.1
    v0.1.0
      
    External Identifiers
    BALAGHAScoreCB-5
    BalaghaBaseQ645
    OpenAlexW4415372668
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 Live DOI10.64393/balagha.Q645
     
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    Definition

    Rhetorical Grouping, Differentiating, and Dividing Items (al-jamʿ maʿa al-tafrīq wa-l-taqsīm) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which two or more things are first brought together under one ruling, then differentiated within that ruling, after which what is appropriate or suited to each differentiated thing is assigned to it.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

    Background Information

    The Arabic name describes the succession of three operations that constitutes the device: jamʿ groups the things together, tafrīq differentiates them, and taqsīm assigns to each differentiated thing what is appropriate to it.[1][5]

    Linguistic Operations

    • The communicator first brings together two or more things under one ruling.[1]
    • The communicator then differentiates those things within that ruling.[1]
    • The communicator subsequently assigns to each differentiated thing what is appropriate or suited to it.[1]

    In the Qurʾānic example discussed by al-Qazwīnī, al-Taftāzānī, Ṭabāna, ʿAtīq, and Maṭlūb, the souls are first grouped together under the statement that no soul will speak except by God's permission. They are then differentiated into the wretched and the blessed. What pertains to the two groups is subsequently divided between them: the former are assigned the Fire and the latter Paradise.[3][4][5][1][6]

    The operation is not restricted to two things. ʿAtīq explicitly defines the initial grouping as applying to two things or things (shayʾayn aw ashyāʾ), and his Ibn Sharaf al-Qayrawānī example applies the sequence to multiple differentiated items.[1] Maṭlūb likewise records the Ibn Sharaf example under this device.[6]

    Recognition

    The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

    • Grouping test: Are two or more things initially brought together under one shared ruling?
    • Differentiating test: Are those things subsequently differentiated within that shared ruling?
    • Dividing test: Is something appropriate or suited to each differentiated thing then assigned to it?

    Communicative Enhancements

    • Structured differentiation: The initial grouping establishes a shared frame before the differences among the items are presented.
    • Clarification of distinction: The differentiation stage makes explicit how the initially grouped items differ within that shared frame.
    • Organised allocation: The subsequent division makes clear what separately pertains to each differentiated item.

    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

    يوم يأت لا تكلم نفس إلا بإذنه فمنهم شقي وسعيد ۝ فأما الذين شقوا ففي النار لهم فيها زفير وشهيق ۝ خالدين فيها ما دامت السماوات والأرض إلا ما شاء ربك إن ربك فعال لما يريد ۝ وأما الذين سعدوا ففي الجنة خالدين فيها ما دامت السماوات والأرض إلا ما شاء ربك عطاء غير مجذوذ

    “On the Day it comes, no soul will speak except by His permission. Some of them will be wretched and others blessed. As for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire, where they will have sighing and wailing ... But as for those who are blessed, they will be in Paradise ...” (Qurʾān 11:105–108)

    Explanation
    The souls are first grouped together under the ruling that no soul will speak except by God's permission. They are then differentiated into the wretched and the blessed. What pertains to the two groups is subsequently divided: the wretched are assigned the Fire and the blessed Paradise. Ṭabāna explicitly analyses the passage in these three successive stages.[7] Al-Qazwīnī, al-Taftāzānī, ʿAtīq, and Maṭlūb also give the passage as an example of the device.[8][9][10][11]

    لمختلفي الحاجات جمع ببابه
    فهذا له فن وهذا له فن
    فللخامل العليا وللمعدم الغنى
    وللمذنب العتبى وللخائف الأمن

    “At his door are gathered people of differing needs; this one has one concern and that one another. For the obscure there is elevation, for the destitute wealth, for the offender pardon, and for the fearful security.”

    Explanation
    The people with different needs are first brought together under one ruling, then differentiated according to their distinct circumstances, and finally each is assigned what suits that circumstance: elevation, wealth, pardon, or security. ʿAtīq explicitly explains the example in terms of these three operations, and Maṭlūb also records it under this device.[12][13]

    اجتمع المتسابقون في بلوغ المرحلة النهائية؛ فمنهم من تميّز بالسرعة، ومنهم من تميّز بالدقة، ومنهم من تميّز بالإبداع؛ فمُنح الأول جائزة السرعة، والثاني جائزة الإتقان، والثالث جائزة الابتكار.

    “The competitors were alike in reaching the final stage; one distinguished himself by speed, another by precision, and another by creativity; the first was awarded the prize for speed, the second the prize for excellence, and the third the prize for innovation.”

    Explanation
    The competitors are first grouped by their shared achievement of reaching the final stage. They are then differentiated by a distinct quality, and a corresponding prize is finally assigned to each. The example deliberately uses three differentiated items to illustrate the multi-item form explicitly permitted by ʿAtīq.

    See Also

    Notes

    Historical

    • Al-ʿAkkāwī reports that al-Barrāzī discusses the device as al-jamʿ wa-l-tafrīq wa-l-taqsīm, while al-Ḥātimī calls it al-jamʿ maʿa al-tafrīq wa-l-taqsīm.[2]

    Technical

    • Al-Taftāzānī notes that the compound expression is not separately explained in the text he comments upon because its meaning is understood from the preceding explanations of the three constituent operations.[4]
    • The tafrīq stage of this compound device is not restricted to two items. ʿAtīq explicitly allows shayʾayn aw ashyāʾ (“two things or things”) and supplies the multi-item Ibn Sharaf example; Maṭlūb also records that example under the compound device.[1][6]
    • Al-Taftāzānī subsequently discusses other applications of taqsīm as an independent term. These are not treated as subtypes of the present compound device.[4]

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f g h ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 162-163.
    2. ↑ a b 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), 463.
    3. ↑ a b 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), 272, ISBN 9782745139078.
    4. ↑ a b c d 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), 660–662, ISBN 9782745131768.
    5. ↑ a b c Badawī Ṭabāna, Muʿjam al-Balāgha al-ʿArabiyya, 3rd rev. and expanded ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Manāra; Riyadh: Dār al-Rifāʿī, 1988), 131.
    6. ↑ a b c d Ahmad Matlub, Muʿjam al-Mustalahat al-Balaghiyya wa-Tatawwuruha, vol. 2, 1st ed. (Beirut: al-Dar al-ʿArabiyya lil-Mawsuʿat, 2006), 411-413.
    7. ↑ Badawī Ṭabāna, Muʿjam al-Balāgha al-ʿArabiyya, 3rd rev. and expanded ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Manāra; Riyadh: Dār al-Rifāʿī, 1988), 131.
    8. ↑ 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), 272, ISBN 9782745139078.
    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), 660–661, ISBN 9782745131768.
    10. ↑ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 162.
    11. ↑ Ahmad Matlub, Muʿjam al-Mustalahat al-Balaghiyya wa-Tatawwuruha, vol. 2, 1st ed. (Beirut: al-Dar al-ʿArabiyya lil-Mawsuʿat, 2006), 412.
    12. ↑ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 162-163.
    13. ↑ Ahmad Matlub, Muʿjam al-Mustalahat al-Balaghiyya wa-Tatawwuruha, vol. 2, 1st ed. (Beirut: al-Dar al-ʿArabiyya lil-Mawsuʿat, 2006), 412-413.



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