IGNORNC: Feigned Ignorance

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    تجاهل العارف
    IGNORNC: Feigned Ignorance
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
    SubcategoryPersuasive Tricks
    Synonymsالتشكك
    Built upon6 sources
      
    Annotation Unit
    ARDT CodeIGNORNC
    Level1 (Rhetorical device)
       ↳ Has 2 subtypes
      
    Included in Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.1
    v0.1.0
      
    External Identifiers
    BALAGHAScoreCE-11
    BalaghaBaseQ117
    OpenAlexW4415405321
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 Live DOI10.64393/balagha.Q117
     
    Use this page
    DownloadPDF
    JSON

    Definition

    Feigned Ignorance (tajāhul al-ʿārif) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which the communicator asks about, or expresses doubt concerning, something they already know, as though they do not know it.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

    Background Information

    The Arabic name tajāhul al-ʿārif literally means "the feigning of ignorance by one who knows". It combines tajāhul (pretending not to know) with al-ʿārif (the one who knows), highlighting the deliberate contrast between the communicator's actual knowledge and their apparent uncertainty. This corresponds to al-Qazwīnī's description of the operation as سوق المعلوم مساق غيره لنكتة ("presenting what is known as though it were otherwise, for a rhetorical purpose").[7]

    This device is also known as tashakkuk ("doubtfulness") [2] and mazj al-shakk bil-yaqīn ("mixing doubt with certainty")[1].

    Linguistic Operations

    • The speaker deliberately presents something known to them as though it were unknown or uncertain. Al-Sakkākī describes this operation as سوق المعلوم مساق غيره لنكتة ("presenting what is known as though it were otherwise, for a rhetorical purpose").[1][4][5] Ṭabāna records the closely corresponding formulation إخراج ما تعرف صحته مخرج ما يشك فيه ("presenting something known to be true as though it were doubtful").[6]
    • The device may arise when a figurative comparison is treated as a genuine question, as though the speaker cannot distinguish the two things being compared. Al-Taftāzānī explicitly observes that the poet knows Laylā is human, despite asking whether she belongs to the antelopes.[2][1][8]

    Recognition

    Feigned Ignorance may be present when:

    • A speaker or writer poses a question or expresses doubt about something they demonstrably know or have established.[1][4][5][6]
    • A figurative comparison is framed as a genuine question, as though the speaker cannot tell whether the subject belongs to one category or another.[2][1][4][5]

    The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

    • Test 1: Confirm the speaker's knowledge — would the speaker, in context, ordinarily be expected to know the answer to the question they are posing? If yes, feigned ignorance may be operative.
    • Test 2: Identify whether the question rests on a prior figurative comparison (e.g., a beloved compared to an antelope) and whether the question treats that comparison as literal. If so, this is the metaphor-literalisation form of the device.

    Communicative Enhancements

    The following rhetorical purposes are explicitly enumerated in the sources:

    • To express amazement or wonder (taʿajjub).[1]
    • To express praise, specifically hyperbolic praise (madḥ).[1][3][4][5]
    • To express blame or dispraise, specifically hyperbolic blame (dhamm).[1][3][4][5]
    • To express attachment or coyness in love (tadalluʿ fī al-ḥubb).[1][4][5]
    • To rebuke or reprimand (tawbīkh).[1]
    • To affirm or emphasise a point (taqrīr).[1][6]

    Al-Qazwīnī and al-Taftāzānī additionally illustrate the device through purposes such as disparagement (taḥqīr) and indirect criticism (taʿrīḍ).[4][5] Al-Hāshimī (2019) notes that these purposes are among the badīʿ objectives of the device, and that they are too numerous to enumerate exhaustively.[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.

    Instances of Feigned Ignorance

    ʿAkkāwī (1996) records a division of the device into two subtypes based on whether the known proposition is presented in a grammatically positive or negative way.[1]

    IGNORNC-AFI: Affirmative Feigned Ignorance (tajāhul al-ʿārif al-mūjab)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTIGNORNC-AFI
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ347
    Official Arabic nametajāhul al-ʿārif al-mūjab[9]

    A form of Feigned Ignorance in which the ignorance is expressed in an affirmative form.[1]

    ﴿أَبَشَرًا مِّنَّا وَاحِدًا نَّتَّبِعُهُ﴾

    "Are we to follow a mortal man from among ourselves?" (Qurʾān 54:24)

    Explanation
    The speakers know that the messenger is a human being; the question is framed as though this were a surprising or unknown fact, expressing contempt and refusal through feigned astonishment.[1]

    أَهَذَا الَّذِي هَزَمَ الْجَيْشَ كُلَّهُ رَجُلٌ وَاحِدٌ؟

    "Is the one who defeated the entire army really a single man?"

    Explanation
    The speaker knows that the victor is one man but frames this known fact as a question, expressing astonishment and admiration without explicitly negating his human identity. This illustrates affirmative Feigned Ignorance (mūjab) through an interrogative construction.

    "Is this really the same student who struggled to read a paragraph last year, now delivering a speech before thousands?"

    Explanation
    The speaker knows that it is the same student but presents this known identity as a question to express astonishment and admiration. The question does not explicitly deny the student's identity, illustrating the affirmative (mūjab) instance of Feigned Ignorance.

    IGNORNC-NGI: Negative Feigned Ignorance (tajāhul al-ʿārif al-manfī)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTIGNORNC-NGI
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ348
    Official Arabic nametajāhul al-ʿārif al-manfī[9]

    A form of Feigned Ignorance in which ignorance is expressed in a negative form.[1]

    ﴿مَا هَٰذَا بَشَرًا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا مَلَكٌ كَرِيمٌ﴾

    "This is not a mortal; this is nothing but a noble angel." (Qurʾān 12:31)

    Explanation
    The women who speak these words have seen a man (Yūsuf), but feign inability to categorise him as human, expressing extreme admiration through the negative form.[1]

    مَا هَذِهِ الْقَصِيدَةُ مِنْ نَظْمِ إِنْسَانٍ، إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا نَسِيمٌ تَشَكَّلَ كَلِمَاتٍ.

    "This poem is not the composition of a human being — it is nothing but a breeze that took the form of words."

    Explanation
    The speaker is fully aware that the poem was written by a person; the negative denial of that fact is a form of feigned ignorance deployed for praise (madḥ), closely parallel in structure to the Qurʾānic model (مَا هَٰذَا بَشَرًا). The negation ما… إن هي إلا performs the categorical refusal that defines the negative subtype.

    مَا هَذَا الَّذِي أَسْمَعُهُ صَوْتَ إِنْسَانٍ، إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا تَغْرِيدُ بُلْبُلٍ!

    "What I hear is no human voice; it is nothing but the song of a nightingale!"

    Explanation
    The speaker knows that the sound comes from a human singer but deliberately denies its human origin, presenting it as birdsong to express admiration. The explicit negation of a known fact illustrates negative Feigned Ignorance (manfī).

    "That wasn't a meeting; it was a three-hour endurance test."

    Explanation
    The speaker knows that the event was a meeting but deliberately denies its actual category, presenting it as something else to express criticism and frustration. The explicit negation ("wasn't a meeting") illustrates the negative (manfī) instance of Feigned Ignorance.

    Examples

    ﴿وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَىٰ هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ﴾

    "And indeed, either we or you are upon guidance or in clear error." (Qurʾān 34:24)

    Explanation
    The speaker knows with certainty which party is rightly guided; the expression of mutual doubt is a form of feigned ignorance deployed for rhetorical effect, functioning as affirmation (taqrīr).[1][4][5]

    بِاللهِ يَا ظَبَيَاتِ الْقَاعِ قُلْنَ لَنَا: هَذِي لَيْلَى أَمْ أَنْتُنَّ أَمْ هِيَ مِنْ بَشَرِ؟

    "By God, O antelopes of the plain, tell me: is my Laylā one of you, or is Laylā one of humankind?"

    Explanation
    Al-ʿArjī asks the antelopes whether his beloved Laylā belongs to their kind, treating the conventional comparison of a beautiful woman to an antelope as though it were a genuine question of category. The feigned ignorance arises from taking a figurative comparison literally.[2][4][5]

    وَمَا أَدْرِي وَسَوْفَ أَخَالُ أَدْرِي أَقَوْمٌ آلُ حِصْنٍ أَمْ نِسَاءُ

    "I do not know — though I think I shall come to know — whether the clan of Ḥiṣn are men or women."

    Explanation
    Zuhayr feigns uncertainty about whether his adversaries are men or women, while knowing full well that they are men. The feigned ignorance expresses hyperbolic blame (dhamm) by implying their conduct is unworthy of men.[1][3][4][5][6]

    ﴿أَفَسِحْرٌ هَٰذَا أَمْ أَنتُمْ لَا تُبْصِرُونَ﴾

    "Is this sorcery, or do you not see?" (Qurʾān 52:15)

    Explanation
    The question is posed despite the answer being known; the feigned uncertainty expresses amazement (taʿajjub).[3]

    لَا أَدْرِي أَكَانَ إِغْلَاقُ الْمَكْتَبَةِ تَشْجِيعًا لِلْعِلْمِ أَمْ حَرْبًا عَلَيْهِ!

    "I cannot tell whether closing the library was an encouragement to learning or a war against it!"

    Explanation
    The speaker knows that closing the library undermines learning but deliberately presents its effect as uncertain by offering two opposing interpretations. The feigned uncertainty communicates criticism indirectly, illustrating Feigned Ignorance without assigning the occurrence to either recognised instance.

    "This decision is either pure genius or sheer stupidity."

    Explanation
    The speaker, who regards the decision as obviously foolish, deliberately presents its evaluation as uncertain by offering two opposing possibilities. The performed uncertainty conceals a known judgement and communicates criticism through Feigned Ignorance. The statement neither directly affirms nor explicitly denies the known evaluation, so it is retained at device level rather than assigned to either recognised instance.

    Notes

    • The rhetorical purpose translated here as "attachment or coyness in love" renders the Arabic tadalluʿ fī al-ḥubb. This is a specific poetic-affective purpose; it does not denote a general communicative sense of "familiarity".
    • The affirmative/negative subtype division is explicitly reported by ʿAkkāwī (1996), who attributes it to Ibn Abī al-Iṣbaʿ al-Miṣrī. The division is not presented in the consulted passages of al-Qazwīnī, al-Taftāzānī, or Ṭabāna.[9]
    • Al-Qazwīnī and al-Taftāzānī reproduce al-Sakkākī's operational formulation سوق المعلوم مساق غيره لنكتة. Ṭabāna records Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī's related description إخراج ما تعرف صحته مخرج ما يشك فيه، ليزيد بذلك تأكيدًا.[4][5][6]

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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), 287-289.
    2. ↑ a b c d e 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
    3. ↑ a b c d e f Aḥmad al-Hāshimī, Jawāhir al-Balāgha fī al-Maʿānī wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ (Windsor: Hindāwī Foundation, 2019), 386, ISBN 9781527316386.
    4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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), 285-286, ISBN 9782745139078.
    5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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), 678-680, ISBN 9782745131768.
    6. ↑ a b c d e f Badawī Ṭabāna, Muʿjam al-Balāgha al-ʿArabiyya, 3rd rev. and expanded ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Manāra; Riyadh: Dār al-Rifāʿī, 1988), 140-141.
    7. ↑ 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), 285, ISBN 9782745139078.
    8. ↑ 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), 679, ISBN 9782745131768.
    9. ↑ a b c 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), 288.



    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=IGNORNC:_Feigned_Ignorance&oldid=18038"