REVWORD: Reversal of Word Order

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    العكس، التبديل
    REVWORD: Reversal of Word Order
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (‘ilm al-badī‘)
    SubcategoryContrasts & Inversions
      
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    CodeCC-2
      
    BalaghaBase.org
    CodeQ73
      
    OpenAlex
    IDW4415372270
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 DOI10.64393/balagha.Q73
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    Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.0, v0.1.1

    Definition

    Reversal of Word Order (al-ʿaks or al-tabdīl) is an Arabic rhetorical device where speech or an idea involving two terms is reversed, so that what appears in the first part is switched in the second part.[1][2][3][4] Heinrichs (1998) describes it as “mentioning an idea involving two terms and then switching the two terms in a quasi-paradox”.[1] ʿAkkāwī (1996) records the definition of al-ʿaks as making what occurs in the last part occur in the first, and what occurs in the first part occur in the last.[2]

    Mechanism

    • The device is produced by reversing the arrangement of speech, so that an element placed in the first part is placed in the second part after inversion, and an element placed in the second part corresponds to what appeared first.[2][3]
    • Heinrichs (1998) describes the mechanism as switching two terms after an idea involving them has been mentioned.[1]
    • Abdul-Raof (2006) describes the corresponding device, labelled “Chiasmus (antimetabole)”, as occurring when two parts of the same proposition contain word order in which the first part is reversed and placed sentence-finally.[5]
    • Ibn al-Athīr distinguishes between reversal at the level of words (ʿaks al-alfāẓ) and reversal at the level of letters (ʿaks al-ḥurūf).[2]
    • Al-ʿAskarī also describes a form in which a meaning is mentioned from one perspective and then reversed to give its opposite meaning.[2]
    • Usāma ibn Munqidh defines it as one sentence being the reverse of another.[3]

    Recognition

    Reversal of Word Order may be present when:

    • An idea involving two terms is mentioned and the two terms are then switched.[1]
    • The later part of the speech corresponds to the earlier part in reversed order.[2][3]
    • Two parts of the same proposition show reversed word order, with the first part reversed and placed sentence-finally.[5]

    The following diagnostic tests aid identification. These criteria are not explicitly presented by the sources as a recognition checklist, but are derived from the source-attested mechanism of the device.

    • Identify two significant terms or units in the first clause or hemistich. Check whether the same terms or units reappear in the second clause or hemistich with their order reversed.
    • Check that the later wording does not merely repeat the first part, but reverses its arrangement.

    Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects

    • Heinrichs (1998) states that the switching of the two terms occurs in a “quasi-paradox”.[1]
    • Structural reciprocity: The inversion creates an impression of mutual implication or reciprocal relation between the two terms, presenting the connection as formally balanced and self-contained.
    • Formal symmetry and closure: By returning the original terms in reversed order, the utterance acquires a bounded and symmetrical structure, producing a sense of completeness and rhetorical finish.
    • Logical or proverbial force: The balanced reversal can lend the statement an air of logical inevitability or aphoristic authority, as though the relationship expressed is internally coherent and self-sufficient.
    • Cognitive surprise and memorability: The reappearance of familiar terms in unexpected syntactic positions creates a momentary surprise, drawing attention to the craftsmanship of the utterance and increasing its mnemonic force.
    • Structural intensification of contrast: When the reversed terms also carry semantic opposition, the inversion reinforces the contrast by enacting it syntactically as well as semantically, intensifying the force of the opposition.
    • Reciprocal framing of relations: In contexts involving mutual obligations, permissions, or relations, the inversion can foreground reciprocity itself by giving each side equivalent structural prominence.

    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 Rhetorical Effects section of this page in Step 4.

    Types of Reversal of Word Order

    Type 1: Inversion within a single sentence

    Definition
    The inversion occurs when the end of one part of a sentence, together with what is attached to it, corresponds inversely to the other part.[2]
    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) are reversed between the two parts of the sentence.[2][5]
    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) are reversed between the two parts of the sentence.[4]
    Source Example

    حُرُّ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ الْحُرِّ

    Free speech is the speech of the free man.

    Explanation
    The terms ḥurr (free) and al-kalām (speech) are reversed between the two parts of the sentence.[4]
    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.

    Type 2: Inversion between two nominal sentences

    Definition
    The inversion occurs between two terms placed at the ends of two nominal sentences.[2]
    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 clause and are switched in the second clause.[1]
    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.[2][5]
    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.

    Type 3: Inversion between two verbal sentences

    Definition
    The inversion occurs between two related verbs placed in two verbal sentences.[2]
    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.[3]
    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 clause and in the reverse order in the second clause.[2][5]
    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 subject position in the first and second verbal sentences respectively, with their roles as agent and object fully inverted.

    Type 4: Inversion involving two related nouns in two sentences

    Definition
    The inversion occurs between two related nouns placed in two sentences.[2]
    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 form in which the inversion occurs between two related nouns in two sentences.[2]
    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.

    Different From

    • PARONOM: Paronomasia - Ibn al-Athīr explicitly distinguishes reversal of words (the device treated here) from reversal of letters.[2]
    • 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

    • Terminology — The device is attested under multiple names, including al-ʿaks, al-tabdīl, al-maʿkūs, taʿākus al-jumal, al-inʿikās, al-qalb, and al-qahqarā.[2][3]
    • English equivalent — Abdul-Raof (2006) identifies the device with “Chiasmus (antimetabole)”.[5]
    • Scope of the English terminology — The distinction between “chiasmus” and “antimetabole” in wider English rhetorical terminology is not discussed in the uploaded sources. It has therefore not been used as a source-grounded distinction in this entry.

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f W. P. Heinrichs, ‘Rhetorical Figures’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey (London: Routledge, 1998), 657, ISBN 0415068088. DOI: 10.4324/9780203020425
    2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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), pp. 278–280.
    3. ↑ a b c d e f 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), pp. 604–606.
    4. ↑ a b c Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 120, ISBN 9786144162798.
    5. ↑ a b c d e f Hussein Abdul-Raof, Arabic Rhetoric: A Pragmatic Analysis (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 247-248, ISBN 9780415386098. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965399



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