REVERSL: Structural Reversal

العكس، التبديل

REVERSL: Structural Reversal
Category	Linguistic Embellishments (ʿilm al-badīʿ)
Subcategory	Contrasts & Inversions
Built upon	6 sources
Annotation Unit
ARDT Code	REVERSL
Level	1 (Rhetorical device)
	↳ Has 3 subtypes
Included in Taxonomy
ARDT	v0.1.1 v0.1.0
External Identifiers
BALAGHAScore	CC-2
BalaghaBase	Q73
OpenAlex	W4415372270
Cite this page
🔗 Live DOI	10.64393/balagha.Q73
Use this page
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🏠 All rhetorical devices > Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘)

Alphabetical list

Definition

From the sources

Structural Reversal (al-ʿaks or al-tabdīl) is a rhetorical device in which linguistic material is arranged so that its letters, the letters within its constituent words, or its words or corresponding units can be read or reproduced in reversed order while yielding a formally valid and semantically interpretable expression.

The Arabic sources describe several forms of reversal using overlapping terminology and classifications. These include reversal of a complete sequence of letters, reversal of letters within individual words, and reversal involving the ordering of words or corresponding linguistic units.

Linguistic Operations

From the sources

• Structural Reversal operates by reversing the sequential order of linguistic material. The reversal may operate on a complete sequence of letters, on the letters within individual words, or on the ordering of words or corresponding linguistic units.
• In letter-based forms, reversal proceeds through the letters of the relevant expression or word; in word-order reversal, the words or corresponding linguistic units themselves occupy reversed positions.
• The resulting arrangement constitutes a formally valid and semantically interpretable expression rather than an arbitrary reversal of linguistic material.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

The three Annotation Units are distinguished by the unit and scope of reversal:

• Exact Letter Reversal: the complete letter sequence is reversed and reproduces the same sequence.
• Within-Word Letter Reversal: reversal operates on the letters within individual words.
• Word-Order Reversal: reversal operates on the ordering of words or corresponding linguistic units.

Recognition

From the sources

Structural Reversal may be present when:

• linguistic material exhibits a recoverable reversal of its sequential order;
• the reversal operates systematically on an identifiable linguistic unit, such as a sequence of letters, letters within individual words, or words and corresponding linguistic units;
• the resulting arrangement forms a valid and semantically interpretable expression rather than an arbitrary permutation of linguistic material.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

To identify the appropriate subtype, determine what has been reversed:

• If reversing the complete letter sequence reproduces that same sequence, annotate Exact Letter Reversal.
• If reversal occurs separately among the letters within individual words, annotate Within-Word Letter Reversal.
• If words or corresponding linguistic units occur in reversed positions, annotate Word-Order Reversal.

Diagnostic Communicative Enhancements

Encyclopedia Interpretation

The rhetorical effects of Structural Reversal vary according to the type of reversal and the context in which it appears:

• Formal closure and boundedness: In Exact Letter Reversal, the expression may acquire a heightened sense of structural completeness because the sequence folds back upon itself, creating an impression of formal enclosure and self-sufficiency.
• Formal astonishment: Recognition that an expression remains valid under reversal can produce surprise and admiration as an underlying structural symmetry becomes apparent.
• Wit and ingenuity: Where reversal operates within words or through word order, the device can foreground compositional virtuosity. The rhetorical pleasure lies in recognising the craftsmanship by which linguistic material sustains coherence under inversion.
• Semantic reconfiguration: Where reversal produces a different coherent meaning, the existing verbal material is reorganised into a new semantic configuration.
• Mnemonic salience: Highly patterned reversible expressions may be especially striking and memorable, aiding retention.

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 Structural Reversal

Encyclopedia Interpretation

The encyclopedia therefore treats these source traditions together under Structural Reversal, distinguishing three Annotation Units according to the linguistic material upon which reversal operates:

• Exact Letter Reversal: the letter sequence of an expression reads identically in both directions.
• Within-Word Letter Reversal: the letters within individual words are reversed.
• Word-Order Reversal: words or corresponding linguistic units occur in reversed order.

The first of these corresponds to Palindrome in established English terminology. The English term is not used for Structural Reversal as a whole because the other forms do not require an expression to read identically forwards and backwards.

REVERSL-ER: Exact Letter Reversal

Annotation Unit
ARDT	REVERSL-ER
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q373

From the sources

The complete letter sequence of an expression, when read in reverse order, reproduces the same sequence, so that the expression reads identically forwards and backwards.

This form of reversal is referred to in the sources as al-qalb and mā lā yastaḥīlu bi-l-inʿikās. ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī defines it as speech which, when reversed beginning from its final letter and proceeding to its first, yields the same speech again. Al-Qazwīnī similarly defines it as speech such that when its letters are reversed the reading does not change (idhā qulibat ḥurūfuhu lam tataghayyar qirāʾatuhu), with the further condition that the composition be well-formed and the meanings coherent.

Cachia names this form Palindrome and attests it in both prose and poetry. In poetry, the reversible sequence may extend across an entire verse or be confined to a single hemistich; he additionally records examples in which individual words or successive pairs of words constitute palindromic units.

Source Example🔗

وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ

Quran 74:3
"And your Lord, do magnify"

Explanation

This Qurʾānic phrase is cited by Ḥātim (2010) and al-Nābulusī (as translated by Cachia) as an instance of an expression whose letters can be read forwards and backwards without the expression changing.

Source Example🔗

كُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ

Quran 36:40
"Each in an orbit"

Explanation

This Qurʾānic phrase is cited by Nāṣif (2012), ʿAkkāwī (1996), and al-Nābulusī (as translated by Cachia) as an example of an expression whose letters form the same sequence when read forwards and backwards.

Source Example🔗

كَنْ كَمَا أَمْكَنَك

"Be as you are able"

Explanation

Ḥātim (2010) cites this prose example to illustrate a phrase constructed so that its letters can be taken in both directions while still yielding a valid expression.

Source Example🔗

مَوَدَّتُهُ تَدُومُ بِكُلِّ مَوْلٍ وَهَلْ كُلُّ مَوَدَّتُهُ تَدُومُ

"His affection endures with every patron — but does every patron's affection endure?"

Explanation

ʿAkkāwī (1996) cites this verse by al-Arjānī under the heading of al-qalb as an extended poetic instance of reversal operating within a well-formed, coherent composition.

Source Example🔗

وَلَمَّا تَبَدَّى لَنَا وَجْهُهُ
أَرَانَا إِلَّا لَهُ هِلَالًا أَنَارَا

When his face appeared to us,
he showed us nothing but an illuminating crescent.

Explanation

Al-Nābulusī cites this poetic example as an instance in which one hemistich forms an exact palindrome. The second hemistich, arānā illā lahu hilālan anārā, yields the same sequence of letters when read forwards and backwards, disregarding vocalisation and spacing.

Constructed Example🔗

دَامَ مَاد

"Flowing water endured"

Explanation

A constructed Modern Standard Arabic phrase in which the full consonantal sequence, read in reverse, yields the same string. dāma māda ("it endured, it flowed") reads identically whether its letters are taken forwards or backwards, illustrating exact letter reversal within a grammatically valid expression.

REVERSL-WR: Within-Word Letter Reversal

Annotation Unit
ARDT	REVERSL-WR
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q374

From the sources

The letters within each word are reversed individually, yielding another coherent and meaningful reading even where the resulting meaning differs from the original.

Source Example🔗

كَبُرَ رَجَا أَجُرَّ رَبَّك

"Magnify the hope of your Lord's reward"

Explanation

ʿAkkāwī (1996), following al-Ḥarīrī, cites this construction to illustrate reversal within individual words: each word, when its letters are reversed, yields another coherent Arabic word.

Constructed Example🔗

رَمَى بَحْر

"The sea hurled"

Explanation

A constructed Modern Standard Arabic phrase illustrating reversal within individual words. Reversing the letters of ramā yields āmar ("he commanded"), and reversing baḥr yields raḥb ("spacious" / "vast"), producing a coherent, if semantically distinct, Arabic reading in each case.

REVERSL-SR: Word-Order Reversal

Annotation Unit
ARDT	REVERSL-SR
Level	2 (Subtype)
BalaghaBase	Q375

From the sources

Words or other corresponding linguistic units occur in one arrangement and are subsequently reproduced or related in reversed order.

ʿAkkāwī records several configurations according to the grammatical environment in which the reversal occurs, including reversal within a sentence, between nominal sentences, between verbal sentences, and between related nouns across sentences. These represent different structural environments for the same operation of word-order reversal rather than distinct Annotation Units. Nābulusī additionally distinguishes instances according to whether reversal preserves the original meaning or produces a change in meaning.

Source Example🔗

عُجْ ثُمَّ قَرِّبْ دَغَلًا آمِنًا إِنَّمَا دَغَلَ كَبْرُقٍ مُنْتَجَعٍ

"Turn aside, then draw near to a safe thicket — for only the thicket of a lightning-flash is a good pasture."

Explanation

ʿAkkāwī (1996) reports this hemistich as an instance in which the words are read in reverse order while continuing to form valid Arabic expression.

Constructed Example🔗

يَنبُعُ النُّورُ مِنَ العَقْلِ

"Light springs from reason"

Explanation

A constructed Modern Standard Arabic phrase illustrating reversal at the level of word order. Reading the words in reverse sequence yields al-ʿaqli mina l-nūru yanbuʿu, which, while syntactically marked, remains a grammatically parsable and semantically coherent Arabic expression conveying the same propositional content.

Source Example🔗

عادات السادات سادات العادات

The habits of the masters are the masters of the habits.

Explanation

The words ʿādāt (habits) and sādāt (masters) occur in one order and then in the reverse order within the same sentence, illustrating the configuration that ʿAkkāwī describes as inversion between parts of a sentence.

Source Example🔗

قَوْلُ الْإِمَامِ إِمَامُ الْقَوْلِ

The speech of the imam is the imam of speech.

Explanation

The terms qawl (speech) and al-imām (the imam) occur in one order and then in the reverse order within the same sentence.

Source Example🔗

حُرُّ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ الْحُرِّ

Free speech is the speech of the free man.

Explanation

The terms ḥurr (free) and al-kalām (speech) occur in one order and then in the reverse order within the same sentence.

Constructed Example🔗

حِكْمَةُ الْعُقَلَاءِ عُقَلَاءُ الْحِكْمَةِ

The wisdom of the sages is the sages of wisdom.

Explanation

The terms ḥikma (wisdom) and ʿuqalāʾ (sages) reverse their syntactic positions between the two halves of the sentence.

Source Example🔗

لا مجدَ في الدنيا لمن قلّ مالُهُ، ولا مالَ في الدنيا لمن قلّ مجدُهُ

There is no glory in this world for him whose wealth is little,
and no wealth in this world for him whose glory is little.

— Al-Mutanabbī

Explanation

The two terms majd (glory) and māl (wealth) appear in one order in the first nominal clause and are switched in the second, illustrating ʿAkkāwī's nominal-sentence configuration.

Source Example🔗

لَا هُنَّ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُنَّ

Quran 60:10
They (women) are not lawful for them (men), nor are they (men) lawful for them (women).

Explanation

In the first clause, the feminine pronoun hunna precedes the masculine lahum; in the second clause, the masculine hum precedes the feminine lahunna, giving the corresponding elements reversed positions.

Constructed Example🔗

لَا نَجَاحَ لِمَنْ يَفْقِدُ الصَّبْرَ، وَلَا صَبْرَ لِمَنْ يَفْقِدُ النَّجَاحَ

There is no success for one who lacks patience, and no patience for one who lacks success.

Explanation

The terms najāḥ (success) and ṣabr (patience) appear in one order in the first clause and are switched in the second, illustrating word-order reversal across corresponding nominal clauses.

Source Example🔗

وَلاَ تَخْشَ النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَاهُ

Do not fear the people, while God has more right that you should fear Him. Quran 33:37.

Explanation

ʿAkkāwī (1996), citing Ibn Ḥujja al-Ḥamawī, gives this as an example where what is advanced in the speech is later delayed, and what is delayed is later advanced, illustrating reversal across verbal constructions.

Source Example🔗

يُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ

Quran 30:19
He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living.

Explanation

The terms al-ḥayy (the living) and al-mayyit (the dead) appear in one order in the first verbal clause and in the reverse order in the second, illustrating ʿAkkāwī's verbal-sentence configuration.

Constructed Example🔗

يَصْنَعُ الْعِلْمُ الرِّجَالَ، وَيَصْنَعُ الرِّجَالُ الْعِلْمَ

Knowledge makes men, and men make knowledge.

Explanation

The terms al-ʿilm (knowledge) and al-rijāl (men) occupy reversed syntactic positions in the two verbal clauses, with their roles as agent and object inverted.

Source Example🔗

أَصْبِرْ عَلَى خُلُقٍ مَنْ تُعَاشِرُهُ، وَاصْحَبْ صَبُورًا عَلَى مَنْ خَالَفَهُ

Be patient with the character of the one you associate with, and accompany one who is patient with whoever differs from him.

Explanation

ʿAkkāwī (1996) cites this as an example of the configuration in which reversal occurs between related nouns in two sentences.

Constructed Example🔗

أَكْرِمِ الْكَرِيمَ تَنَلْ كَرَامَتَهُ، وَاحْذَرِ اللَّئِيمَ تَسْلَمْ مِنْ لُؤْمِهِ

Honour the generous man and you will receive his generosity; beware the base man and you will be safe from his baseness.

Explanation

The two related nouns al-karīm (the generous man) and al-laʾīm (the base man) anchor parallel imperative clauses; the second noun and its attendant quality invert the moral and relational stance established by the first, illustrating the related-noun configuration recorded by ʿAkkāwī.

Source Example🔗

يَا بَدَنِي بِالْفِرَاقِ مِتَّ كَمَدًا ۝ مِتَّ كَمَدًا بِالْفِرَاقِ يَا بَدَنِي

O body of mine, now we are parted, die of grief!
Die of grief now we are parted, O body of mine!

Explanation

Nābulusī gives this as an example of word-order reversal in which the wording of the first hemistich is recast in reversed order in the second while the meaning is retained.

Constructed Example🔗

بِالْعِلْمِ يَرْتَفِعُ الْإِنْسَانُ ۝ يَرْتَفِعُ الْإِنْسَانُ بِالْعِلْمِ

Through knowledge a person rises;
A person rises through knowledge.

Explanation

The same elements, bi-l-ʿilm (through knowledge) and yartafiʿu al-insān (a person rises), occur in reversed order in the second part while expressing the same proposition, illustrating Nābulusī's meaning-preserving form of reversal.

Source Example🔗

أَحْدَاقُهُ مُلِئَتْ مِنَ الْأَقْدَاحِ ۝ أَمْ أَقْدَاحُهُ مُلِئَتْ مِنَ الْأَحْدَاقِ

Have his eyes been filled from the wine-cups,
or have the wine-cups been filled from his eyes?

— Al-Tilimsānī

Explanation

Nābulusī gives this as an example of word-order reversal in which rearranging the terms produces a change in meaning.

Constructed Example🔗

يَخْدُمُ الْمُعَلِّمُ الطَّالِبَ ۝ يَخْدُمُ الطَّالِبُ الْمُعَلِّمَ

The teacher serves the student;
the student serves the teacher.

Explanation

The same principal terms, al-muʿallim (the teacher) and al-ṭālib (the student), occur in reversed syntactic positions. The reversal changes who performs the action and who receives it, illustrating Nābulusī's meaning-changing form of word-order reversal.

Different From

From the sources

• Paronomasia — jinās al-qalb: Both may involve reversal of letters. In jinās al-qalb, two distinct words whose letters occur in reversed order form a paronomastic pair. In letter-based Structural Reversal, reversal operates on the letter sequence of the expression or within its constituent words. Cases organised around a paronomastic relationship between two distinct mirror words are treated under Paronomasia.
• Tardīd - both devices may repeat the same wording, but al-tardīd is based on recurrence, whereas al-ʿaks requires reversal or rearrangement. Nābulsī rejects defining al-ʿaks merely as using a word earlier and later in the discourse because such a definition would also encompass al-tardīd.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

• Antithesis- al-ṭibāq operates through semantic opposition between two terms. al-ʿaks operates through inversion of position; the two may co-occur.
• Parallel Antithesis - al-muqābala operates through parallel oppositional sequencing, whereas al-ʿaks operates through inversion of terms.

Notes

• The letter-reversal phenomenon is referred to in the sources variously as al-qalb, mā lā yastaḥīlu bi-l-inʿikās, and al-maqlūb al-mustawī.
• ʿAkkāwī (1996) notes that ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī referred to this device as al-ʿaks wa-l-tabdīl in his Nafaḥāt al-Azhār.
• The encyclopedia's distinction between Exact Letter Reversal and the paronomastic jinās al-qalb is an editorial systematisation based on the linguistic operation and distribution of examples in the sources. The sources themselves do not explicitly establish this boundary using the criterion of continuity.
• Palindrome is retained as the established English description of Exact Letter Reversal rather than as the English name of Structural Reversal as a whole.

Page History

• 2026-02-10 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CB-5: Reversal of Word Order to REVWORD: Reversal of Word Order.
• 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
• 2025-04-12 - Page created: Reversal of Word Order.

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