REQUEST: Finesse of Requesting
| REQUEST: Finesse of Requesting | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘) |
| Subcategory | Persuasive Tricks |
| Balaghascore.com | |
| Code | CF-6 |
| BalaghaBase.org | |
| Code | Q124 |
| OpenAlex.org | |
| ID | W4415413214 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q124 |
| Download PDF | |
| Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.0, v0.1.1 |
Definition
Finesse of Requesting (Barāʿat al-Ṭalab) is an Arabic rhetorical device where the communicator alludes to his need or desire without explicit statement, by means of refined and pleasant words, such that the addressee perceives what is intended without it being openly disclosed.[1][2] In the majority of definitions, the allusion is combined with praise or glorification of the addressee (taʿẓīm al-mamdūḥ).[1]
Mechanism
- The petitioner alludes to the request rather than stating it directly.[2][1]
- The request is conveyed through refined and pleasant wording (alfāẓ ʿadhba muhadhdhaba).[1]
- Explicit statement (al-taṣrīḥ) and insistence (al-ilḥāḥ) are avoided.[1]
- The addressee perceives the petitioner’s need from the wording without direct disclosure.[1][2]
- In some formulations, the request is joined to praise or glorification of the addressee (taʿẓīm al-mamdūḥ), though this is not made explicit in all definitions.[1]
Recognition
Finesse of Requesting may be present when:
- A need or desire is implied rather than directly requested.[2][1]
- The wording is refined and pleasant.[1]
- The utterance avoids explicit demand or insistence.[1]
- The addressee can perceive the unstated request from the wording.[2][1]
Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects
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:
Examples
- Source Example
وَفِي النَّفْسِ حَاجَةٌ وَفِيكَ فَطَانَةٌ / سُكُوتِي كَلَامٌ عِنْدَهَا وَخِطَابُ
“In the soul is a need, and in you is discernment; my silence concerning it is speech and address.”
- Explanation
- This example illustrates the core mechanism of the device: the speaker does not state the need explicitly, but relies on the addressee’s discernment to understand it.[2]
- Source Example
أَأَذْكُرُ حَاجَتِي أَمْ قَدْ كَفَانِي / حَيَاؤُكَ إِنَّ شِيمَتَكَ الْحَيَاءُ
“Shall I mention my need, or has your modesty already sufficed me, if modesty is your very nature?”
- Explanation
- This example presents the request indirectly while praising the addressee. The petitioner implies his need without direct asking, allowing the request to be understood through the praise itself.[1]
- Source Example
إِذَا أَثْنَى عَلَيْكَ الْمَرْءُ يَوْمًا / كَفَاهُ مِنْ تَعَرُّضِهِ الثَّنَاءُ
“When a man praises you one day, that praise itself suffices as his solicitation.”
- Explanation
- This verse reinforces the principle that praise itself can function as the vehicle of request, without explicit petition.[1]
- Constructed Example
مَا أَجْمَلَ مَنْ يَجُودُ بِعِلْمِهِ عَلَى طُلَّابِهِ، وَفِي صَدْرِي مَسَائِلُ تَنْتَظِرُ مَنْ يَحِلُّهَا
"How fine is one who bestows his knowledge upon his students — and in my breast are questions awaiting one who might resolve them."
- Explanation
- The speaker does not petition the addressee directly, but opens with praise of generosity in teaching, then alludes to his own unresolved questions. The addressee is left to perceive the implicit request from the juxtaposition of the two halves, without any explicit demand or insistence.[1]
Different From
- al-Idmāj: In al-Idmāj, the intended meaning is embedded within another meaning. In Barāʿat al-Ṭalab, the request itself remains the intended purpose, but is expressed indirectly.[1]
Notes
- ʿAkkāwī (1996) records closely related definitions from numerous later rhetoricians — among them al-Zanjānī, Jermaous Farḥāt, al-Suyūṭī, al-Ḥalabī, al-Nuwayrī, Ibn al-Jawzī, Ibn Ḥijja al-Ḥamawī, al-Nābulusī, al-Mawṣilī, al-Kharrazī, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-ʿAlawī — all revolving around indirect, refined petition.[1]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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), 265-266.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 129, ISBN 9786144162798.
Page history
- 2026-02-11 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CH-15: Finesse of Requesting to REQUEST: Finesse of Requesting.
- 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
- 2024-04-22 - Page created: Finesse of Requesting.
