PRAISE: Affirmed Praise

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    تأكيد المدح بما يُشبه الذم
    PRAISE: Affirmed Praise
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
    SubcategoryPersuasive Tricks
    Built upon11 sources
      
    Annotation Unit
    ARDT CodePRAISE
    Level1 (Rhetorical device)
       ↳ Has 3 subtypes
      
    Included in Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.1
    v0.1.0
      
    External Identifiers
    BALAGHAScoreCE-17
    BalaghaBaseQ113
    OpenAlexW4415413231
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 Live DOI10.64393/balagha.Q113
     
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    Definition

    Affirmed Praise (taʾkīd al-madḥ bi-mā yushbih al-dhamm) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which a subject is praised, typically by means of an exception construction (istithnaʾ), that superficially resembles dispraise but in fact conveys a further praiseworthy quality.[1][2][3][4][5]

    Background Information

    The Arabic name taʾkīd al-madḥ bi-mā yushbih al-dhamm literally means "reinforcing praise through something that resembles dispraise". It describes how an expression that initially appears to introduce a fault, criticism, or limitation instead conveys a praiseworthy quality. The apparent dispraise thus reinforces the praise rather than diminishing it. The name applies to all three subtypes, which achieve this through different exception constructions.[6][2][7]

    The figure was first identified by ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muʿtazz (d. 296/908), who named it taʾkīd al-madḥ bi-mā yushbih al-dhamm in his Kitāb al-Badīʿ and illustrated it with the canonical verse of al-Nābigha al-Dhubyānī.[8] Al-ʿAskarī named the same figure al-istithnaʾ, and Usāma ibn Munqidh called it al-rujūʿ wa-l-istithnaʾ.[8] Ibn Ḥijja al-Ḥamawī named it al-madḥ fī maʿriḍ al-dhamm, and others called it al-nafy wa-l-juḥūd.[8]

    Linguistic Operations

    The mechanism depends on the structural logic of the exception (istithnaʾ) construction and its effect on listener expectation:

    • In the first type, the speaker negates a dispraise attribute of the subject, then introduces an exception particle (illā, ghayr, sawā). Because the excepted item is normally a member of the negated class, the listener expects the exception to introduce a fault. Instead, the excepted item is a praiseworthy quality.[1][3][4]
    • In the second type, the speaker affirms a praiseworthy attribute of the subject, then introduces an exception particle, leading the listener to expect a qualification or limitation of that praise. Instead, the excepted item is a further praiseworthy quality.[1][3][2]
    • In the third type, a negated expression of blame or objection is followed by an exhausted exception (al-istithnāʾ al-mufarragh). The construction identifies a praiseworthy action or quality as the only supposed grounds for blame, without explicitly stating a general class from which it is excepted.[6][9][7]
    • Faḍl Ḥasan ʿAbbās (2007) explains that the first type works on two levels simultaneously: it functions as evidence and proof (bayyina wa-burhān) that no fault exists, and it exploits the structural logic of the connected exception (al-istithnaʾ al-ittiṣālī), by which the excepted item is understood as nominally belonging to the negated class — making the praise doubly effective.[3]
    • In the second type, Faḍl Ḥasan ʿAbbās (2007) notes that the exception particle operates in the sense of disconnected exception (al-istithnaʾ al-munqaṭiʿ), since there is no general negated category into which the praised attribute could be estimated to enter. The reinforcement of praise comes solely through the second mechanism — the overturning of the listener's expectation.[3]
    • In the first two types, the exception particle may be illā, ghayr, sawā, or bayd; in the second type, lākin (for istidraʾk) may also function in place of an exception particle.[2][3][8]
    • The figure comes in both verse and prose.[1]

    Recognition

    The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

    • Is an exception particle (illā, ghayr, sawā, bayd, or lākin) present?
    • Does the construction preceding the exception particle (a) negate a fault, (b) affirm a praiseworthy quality, or (c) negate an expression of blame or objection without explicitly stating the class of supposed faults?
    • Does the material following the exception particle introduce a praiseworthy quality or action rather than a genuine fault or limitation?

    If all three conditions are met, the figure of taʾkīd al-madḥ bi-mā yushbih al-dhamm is likely present. The third pattern is distinguished by its exhausted exception construction, rather than merely by the presence of negation.

    Communicative Enhancements

    ʿAbd al-Ghānī (2011) explicitly lists the following effects, which overlap with ʿAtīqʾs (2002) explanation of the figureʾs rhetorical benefit:[4][1]

    • Alerting the addressee (tanbīh al-mukhaṭab): the apparent dispraise construction arrests the listener's attention.
    • Awakening the intellect (īqāẓ al-dhihn): the listener is made to work through the apparent paradox.
    • Engaging the mind to convey meaning attractively (iʿmāl al-ʿaql li-irsāl al-maʿnā bi-ṭarīqa jadhdhāba): the praise reaches the listener by an unexpected route, making it more memorable.
    • Producing delight (tudkhil al-surūr fī al-nafs): the pleasant surprise of finding praise where dispraise was expected generates pleasure.
    • Dispelling tedium (tadfaʿ al-malal): the figure enlivens praise that might otherwise sound routine.

    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 Affirmed Praise

    The sources distinguish two principal types, with a third form involving an exhausted exception (al-istithnāʾ al-mufarragh) also explicitly recognised by al-Qazwīnī, al-Taftāzānī, and Ṭabāna.[2][4][3][8][1][5][6][9][7]

    PRAISE-NDP: Negated Dispraise with Praiseworthy Exception (nafy ṣifat dhamm maʿa istithnāʾ ṣifat madḥ)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTPRAISE-NDP
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ343
    Official Arabic namenafy ṣifat dhamm maʿa istithnāʾ ṣifat madḥ[2]

    A form of Affirmed Praise in which a dispraise attribute is negated, then an exception particle is introduced. The listener expects the exception to introduce a fault (since the excepted item is normally a member of the negated class). Instead, the excepted item is a praiseworthy quality.[2][3][4][8][5]

    This type is considered more eloquent than the second type (al-nawʿ al-awwal ablagh).[2][8][3]

    وَلَا عَيْبَ فِيهِمْ غَيْرَ أَنَّ سُيُوفَهُمْ     بِهِنَّ فُلُولٌ مِنْ قِرَاعِ الْكَتَائِبِ

    "There is no fault in them, except that their swords have notches from striking [enemy] squadrons."

    Explanation
    The poet al-Nābigha al-Dhubyānī negates any fault of his subjects (lā ʿayba fīhim). The exception particle ghayr leads the listener to expect a genuine fault. Instead, the excepted quality — that their swords are notched from battle — is not a fault at all, but proof of their courage and fighting prowess. The praise is thereby reinforced.[8][10][3][4][5]

    لَا يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْوًا وَلَا تَأْثِيمًا ۝ إِلَّا قِيلًا سَلَامًا سَلَامًا

    "They will hear therein no idle talk and no sinful speech — only the saying: 'Peace, peace.'" (al-Wāqiʿa 56:25–26)

    Explanation
    The negation of idle talk and sin is followed by an exception — but what follows is the greeting of peace from the angels, a further quality of Paradise, not a fault.[4]

    لَا عَيْبَ فِي هَذَا الطَّالِبِ غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ لَا يَكُفُّ عَنِ السُّؤَالِ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ حَقِيقَةَ الأَمْرِ.

    "There is no fault in this student, except that he never stops questioning until he reaches the heart of the matter."

    Explanation
    The speaker negates any fault of the student. The exception particle ghayr leads the listener to expect a genuine shortcoming. Instead, the excepted quality — his relentless pursuit of understanding — is itself a mark of intellectual rigour, not a fault. The structure follows Type 1: a negated dispraise attribute, with the exception introducing praise.

    "There is not a single flaw in this hospital, except that its doctors refuse to give up on even the most difficult cases."

    Explanation
    The speaker explicitly negates any flaw in the hospital. The exception leads the listener to expect a shortcoming, but instead introduces the doctors' extraordinary dedication, which reinforces the praise.

    PRAISE-APR: Affirmed Praise with Additional Praiseworthy Exception (ithbāt ṣifat madḥ wa-istithnāʾ ṣifat madḥ ukhrā)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTPRAISE-APR
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ344
    Official Arabic nameithbāt ṣifat madḥ wa-istithnāʾ ṣifat madḥ ukhrā[2]

    A form of Affirmed Praise in which a praiseworthy attribute is affirmed, then an exception particle is introduced, leading the listener to expect a qualification of that praise. Instead, the excepted item is a further praiseworthy quality.[2][3][4][8][5]

    The exception particle in this type may be illā, ghayr, bayd, or lākin (for istidraʾk).[2][3][8]

    فَتًى كَمُلَتْ أَوْصَافُهُ غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ     جَوَادٌ فَمَا يُبْقِي مِنَ الْمَالِ بَاقِيًا

    "A young man whose qualities are complete, except that he is so generous he keeps nothing of his wealth."

    Explanation
    The speaker affirms the young man's complete virtues. The exception particle ghayr annahu leads the listener to expect a qualification of those virtues. Instead the "exception" — his extraordinary generosity — is itself a further praiseworthy quality. The verse is attributed to al-Nābigha al-Jaʿdī.[8][4][3][5]

    أَنَا أَفْصَحُ العَرَبِ بَيْدَ أَنِّي مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ

    "I am the most eloquent of the Arabs, except that I am from Quraysh."

    Explanation
    The Prophet ﷺ affirms his own eloquence. The exception particle bayd annī leads the listener to expect a qualification. Instead, being from Quraysh — the tribe renowned for the purest Arabic speech — is itself a further mark of eloquence and nobility, not a limitation.[3][8]

    هِيَ كَاتِبَةٌ مُتَمَكِّنَةٌ مِنْ أُسْلُوبِهَا، غَيْرَ أَنَّهَا تُمْضِي سَنَوَاتٍ فِي صَقْلِ كُلِّ عَمَلٍ قَبْلَ نَشْرِهِ.

    "She is a writer with complete command of her style, except that she spends years refining every work before publishing it."

    Explanation
    The speaker affirms the writer's mastery of her craft. The exception particle ghayr annahā leads the listener to expect a qualification of that mastery. Instead, the excepted quality — her painstaking care before publication — is itself a further praiseworthy attribute. The structure follows Type 2: an affirmed praise attribute, with the exception introducing additional praise.

    "The architect designed a magnificent building, except that she also made it accessible to everyone, regardless of disability."

    Explanation
    The speaker first affirms the architectural achievement. The apparent exception suggests a qualification, but instead introduces another praiseworthy quality: the building's accessibility.

    PRAISE-EXH: Affirmed Praise through an Exhausted Exception (taʾkīd al-madḥ bi-l-istithnāʾ al-mufarragh)

    Annotation Unit
    ARDTPRAISE-EXH
    Level2 (Subtype)
    BalaghaBaseQ646
    Official Arabic nametaʾkīd al-madḥ bi-l-istithnāʾ al-mufarragh[6]

    A form of Affirmed Praise in which a negated expression of blame is followed by an exhausted exception (al-istithnāʾ al-mufarragh) that identifies a praiseworthy quality or action as the only supposed reason for blame.[6][9][7]

    In this subtype, the exception is grammatically exhausted (mufarragh): the general class from which the exception is made is not explicitly stated. Instead, the material following the exception particle completes the preceding negated construction. In the rhetorical use described by the sources, this construction presents a praiseworthy quality or action as the only supposed grounds for blame or objection.[6][9][7]

    وَمَا تَنقِمُونَ مِنَّا إِلَّا أَنْ آمَنَّا بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا لَمَّا جَاءَتْنَا

    "You resent us for nothing except that we believed in the signs of our Lord when they came to us." (al-Aʿrāf 7:126)

    Explanation
    The speakers identify their belief in God's signs as the only supposed reason for resentment. The exhausted exception introduces something praiseworthy rather than a genuine fault.[6][9][7]

    قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ هَلْ تَنْقِمُونَ مِنَّا إِلَّا أَنْ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلُ

    "Say, O People of the Book, do you resent us for anything except that we believe in God and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before?" (al-Māʾida 5:59)

    Explanation
    The rhetorical question presents belief in God and divine revelation as the only supposed reason for resentment. The exhausted exception identifies something praiseworthy rather than a genuine fault.[6][9][7]

    وَمَا لَامُوهُ إِلَّا أَنَّهُ أَنْقَذَ الْغَرِيقَ مُعَرِّضًا نَفْسَهُ لِلْخَطَرِ.

    "They blamed him for nothing except risking his life to save a drowning stranger."

    Explanation
    The negative expression of blame is followed by an exhausted exception identifying an act of courage as its only supposed justification. The supposed fault is thus revealed to be a virtue.

    "They condemned the journalist for nothing except exposing the corruption that everyone else had ignored."

    Explanation
    The speaker negates any grounds for condemnation other than the journalist's exposure of corruption. The exception identifies a praiseworthy action as the only supposed justification for blame, reinforcing praise through the exhausted exception construction.

    Notes

    • The English rendering "affirmed praise" is an editorial translation of taʾkīd al-madḥ bi-mā yushbih al-dhamm. Hussein Abdul-Raof (2006) uses the term "Asteism" for the figure,[11] and W. P. Heinrichs (1998) retains the Arabic name in transliteration.[10] Neither source provides a standard English equivalent.
    • The Arabic term fululun in the canonical al-Nābigha verse means notches or nicks in a sword blade caused by striking armour or weapons in battle. Faḍl Ḥasan ʿAbbās (2007) glosses it as جمع فَلّ, meaning a notch produced when a sword blade strikes another hard surface.[3] Al-Hāshimī (2019) glosses it similarly.[2]
    • The term bayd functioning as an exception particle (in the sense of ghayr) is attested in the hadith "أنا أفصح العرب بيد أني من قريش". Faḍl Ḥasan ʿAbbās (2007) and ʿAkkāwī (1996) both note its function in the second type of this figure.[3][8]

    Different From

    • DSPRAIS: Affirmed Dispraise - the structural converse of this rhetorical device, in which a subject is dispraised by means of an exception construction that superficially resembles praise but conveys a further blameworthy quality.[4][1][3]

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f g ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Atīq, ʿIlm al-Badīʿ (Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-ʿArabiyya lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2002), 164–169.
    2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Aḥmad al-Hāshimī, Jawāhir al-Balāgha fī al-Maʿānī wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ (Windsor: Hindāwī Foundation, 2019), 377-378, ISBN 9781527316386.
    3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Faḍl Ḥasan ʿAbbās, Al-Balāgha: Funūnuhā wa-Afnānuhā - ʿIlm al-Bayān wa-al-Badīʿ (Amman: Dār al-Furqān lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ, 2007), 290–292.
    4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ayman Amin Abd Al-Ghani, Al-Kāfī fī al-Balāgha: Al-Bayān, wa al-Badiʿ wa al-Maʿānī (Cairo: Dār al-Tawfīqiyya lil-Turāth, 2011), 265–270.
    5. ↑ a b c d e f Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 114, ISBN 9786144162798.
    6. ↑ a b c d e f g h 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), 282, ISBN 9782745139078. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qazwini" defined multiple times with different content
    7. ↑ a b c d e f g Badawī Ṭabāna, Muʿjam al-Balāgha al-ʿArabiyya, 3rd rev. and expanded ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Manāra; Riyadh: Dār al-Rifāʿī, 1988), 37-39.
    8. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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), 276–277.
    9. ↑ 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), 672-676, ISBN 9782745131768.
    10. ↑ a b 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
    11. ↑ Hussein Abdul-Raof, Arabic Rhetoric: A Pragmatic Analysis (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 247, ISBN 9780415386098. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965399



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