RHSHIFT: Rhetorical Shift

الالتفات

RHSHIFT: Rhetorical Shift
Category	Sentence Construction & Syntactical Stylistics (‘ilm al-ma‘ānī)
Subcategory	Referential Switches
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Corpus data	See examples
Balaghascore.com
Code	CE-8
BalaghaBase.org
Code	Q100
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ID	W4415376850
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🔗 DOI	10.64393/balagha.Q100
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Taxonomy
ARDT	v0.1.0, v0.1.1

Definition

Rhetorical Shift (al-iltifāt) is an Arabic rhetorical device where the communicator transitions speech between the speaker (first person), the addressee (second person), and the absent third party (third person), or between any two of these categories. In a broader formulation attested in the sources, it also encompasses shifts between verb tenses (past, present, future, imperative) and between sentence types (verbal and nominal).

The device is also known by the alternative name shajāʿat al-ʿarabiyya (the boldness of Arabic), because — as the courageous soldier does what others cannot — Arabic alone among languages is said to freely sustain this type of transition.

Mechanism

From the sources

• The device operates by moving from one grammatical person, tense, or sentence type to a different one, where the shift is not grammatically required but is chosen deliberately by the communicator.
• Ibn al-Muʿtazz (d. 296/908) defined it as the transition of the speaker from reporting (ikhbār) to address (mukhāṭaba), and from address back to reporting, and whatever resembles this — meaning the shift from one meaning to another meaning.
• Ibn al-Athīr (d. 637/1239) described it as derived from the physical act of turning: a person turns to face one direction, then another; in the same way, speech shifts from one grammatical form to another — for example, from addressing an absent party to addressing a present one, or from a past action to a present one.
• Al-Rāzī defined it as the transition (inṣirāf) from address to the absent third person (ghayba), or the reverse.
• The transition must serve a rhetorical purpose (fāʾida); without one, its use is inadmissible (mumtāniʿ).
• The device is considered specific to the Arabic language and is attested in both poetry and prose, including the Qur'an.
• Abd al-Ghani (2011) notes that iltifāt resembles a cinematic technique of moving between scenes, each offering a fresh angle on the whole, and that it provides the communicator with variety, economy, and concision in expression.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

In this Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric, the mechanism is described as follows: the communicator is committed to one grammatical mode (person, tense, or sentence type) by the logic of the utterance, but departs from it — without abandoning the subject matter — in order to achieve a specific rhetorical purpose. The departure from the expected mode constitutes the iltifāt; without the prior commitment and the deviation from it, there is no device.

Recognition

From the sources

Rhetorical Shift may be present when:

• The grammatical person (first, second, or third) changes mid-utterance without a change of topic or subject matter.
• The verb tense shifts (e.g., from past to present, or from future to past) without a corresponding temporal break in the meaning.
• The sentence type shifts from verbal to nominal or vice versa within a continuous passage.

Encyclopedia Interpretation

The following diagnostic tests aid identification:

• Ask: what grammatical person, tense, or sentence type does the passage commit to at its opening? If a subsequent clause departs from this without a natural contextual reason, the departure is a candidate for iltifāt.
• Ask: does the shift serve a discernible rhetorical purpose (e.g., drawing attention, evoking vividness, conveying reproach)? If so, this supports identification as iltifāt. If no purpose is apparent, the shift may be inadmissible (mumtāniʿ) by the classical criterion.

Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects

From the sources

Abd al-Ghani (2011) enumerates the following general rhetorical benefits:

• Arousing the mind (ithārat al-dhihn).
• Attracting attention (jadhb al-intibāh).
• Invigorating the listener and repelling tedium (tanshīṭ al-sāmiʿ wa-dafʿ al-malal).

Additional context-specific effects attested in the sources include:

• Heightened vividness and stylistic diversity.
• When shifting from the third person to direct address: magnifying the status of the person addressed, or achieving the opposite effect; stimulating the listener to attend actively to what is being said.
• When shifting from direct address to the third person: addressing a wider absent audience, holding up the addressed party as an example to others, or conveying reproach and censure.
• When shifting to address of the self: enabling the communicator to offer sincere counsel inwardly, making it more persuasive by removing the appearance of direct reproach.
• When reporting a past event with a present-tense verb: evoking the scene vividly so that the addressee feels as though witnessing it directly.
• When reporting a future event with a past-tense verb: expressing certainty of its occurrence, since the past tense implies a completed and established reality.

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 Rhetorical Shift

From the sources

Type 1: Person-based iltifāt

Abd al-Ghani (2011) and ʿAkkāwī (1996) both enumerate six forms of person-based iltifāt, covering all possible pairwise transitions between the three persons:

1. From first person to second person

Source Example

﴿ إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ ﴾ ﴿ فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ ﴾

Indeed, We have given you al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice. (Q108:1–2)

Explanation

The first-person plural We have given shifts to the second-person imperative pray. The expected continuation would be a further third-person statement; the shift directly engages the addressee with an imperative command.

Constructed Example

أعطيناكم النعمة، فاشكروا الله.

We have given you bounty, so give thanks to God.

Explanation

The first-person plural We have given shifts to the second-person imperative give thanks, exemplifying a transition from speaker to addressee.

2. From first person to third person

Source Example

﴿ إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنذِرِينَ ﴾ ﴿ فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ ﴾ ﴿ أَمْرًا مِّنْ عِندِنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا مُرْسَلِينَ ﴾ ﴿ رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ ﴾

Indeed, We sent it down on a blessed night — indeed, We are ever warning. On that night every wise matter is made distinct, as a command from Us — indeed, We are ever sending. As a mercy from your Lord. (Q44:3–6)

Explanation

The speech proceeds in the first person (We sent, from Us) and then shifts to the third person (from your Lord). The expected form would have been from Us. Abd al-Ghani (2011) notes that the shift imparts a tone of majesty by distancing the divine attribute into the third person.

Constructed Example

نحن الذين بنينا هذه المدرسة، وهو يسعد بنجاح طلابه.

We are those who built this school, and he rejoices at the success of his students.

Explanation

The first-person plural We shifts to the third-person he, moving the subject into the absent-party position.

3. From second person to first person

Source Example

﴿ سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا ﴾

Glory be to Him who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him some of Our signs. (Q17:1)

Explanation

The verse opens with a third-person reference to God (He who took His servant) and then shifts to the first-person plural (We have blessed, Our signs). Abd al-Ghani (2011) notes that the expected continuation would have been whose surroundings He has blessed.

Constructed Example

قال المعلم للطالب: أنت الذي اجتهد كثيراً، ونحن فخورون بك.

The teacher said to the student: You are the one who worked hard, and we are proud of you.

Explanation

The second-person address you shifts to the first-person plural we, moving from addressee to speaker.

4. From second person to third person

Source Example

﴿ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا كُنتُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ وَجَرَيْنَ بِهِم بِرِيحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ وَفَرِحُوا بِهَا جَاءَتْهَا رِيحٌ عَاصِفٌ ﴾

Until, when you are in ships and they sail with them in a fair breeze and they rejoice in it, there comes a raging wind. (Q10:22)

Explanation

The verse opens in the second person (you are in ships) and shifts to the third person (they sail, they rejoice). Atīq (2002) and Abd al-Ghani (2011) note that the shift holds the addressed party up to an absent audience as an example, enabling censure and a call for reflection.

Constructed Example

أنتم تعرفون الحق، ولكنهم يتجاهلونه.

You know the truth, yet they ignore it.

Explanation

The direct address you shifts to the third person they, moving the same referent into the absent-party position.

5. From third person to first person

Source Example

﴿ وَاللَّهُ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ الرِّيَاحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا فَسُقْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ ﴾

And God is He who sends the winds, and they stir up clouds, and We drive them to a dead land. (Q35:9)

Explanation

The verse refers to God in the third person (God is He who sends) and then shifts to the first-person plural (We drive them). Abd al-Raof (2006) also identifies a simultaneous tense shift (past to present) in this verse.

Constructed Example

الله هو الرازق، وقد رزقنا من فضله.

God is the Provider, and He has provided us from His grace.

Explanation

The third-person noun God gives way to the first-person plural us, in which God's action is now framed from the speaker's perspective.

6. From third person to second person

Source Example

طَرِبَ الحَمامُ بِذِي الأَراكِ فَشاقَني لا زِلتَ في عَلَلٍ وَأَيكَ ناضِرُ

The dove sang at Dhū al-Arāk and stirred my longing — may you never cease, while your thicket remains green.

Explanation

Jarīr first reports the dove in the third person (the dove sang) and then turns to address it directly (may you never cease). Atīq (2002) notes that the shift is motivated by the desire to invoke a blessing upon the dove, an effect that required the immediacy of direct address.

Constructed Example

كان البحرُ هادئاً تلك الليلة، يا بحرُ ما أجملَ صمتَك!

The sea was calm that night — O sea, how beautiful your silence is!

Explanation

The third-person reference the sea shifts to direct second-person address O sea, enacting the turn from absent to addressee.

Type 2: Tense-based iltifāt

Atīq (2002) follows Ibn al-Athīr in identifying a second major category of iltifāt involving shifts between verb tenses and moods, divided into three subdivisions:

1. Shift between future (present) tense and imperative

A shift from the present/future tense (muḍāriʿ) to the imperative (amr), or the reverse.

Source Example

﴿ يَا هُودُ مَا جِئْتَنَا بِبَيِّنَةٍ ﴾ ... ﴿ وَأَشْهِدُوا اللَّهَ وَاشْهَدُوا أَنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ ﴾

O Hūd, you have not brought us clear evidence... Bear witness before God, and bear witness that I am free of what you associate. (Q11:53–54)

Explanation

The expected form would be the first-person present I bear witness (ashhadu), but the imperative bear witness (ashhidū) directed to those present is used instead. Atīq (2002) explains that a declaration witnessed by others carries greater legal and moral force than the speaker's own declaration alone.

Constructed Example

سيُعلَن الحكم غداً، واسمعوا جميعاً ما سيُقال.

The ruling will be announced tomorrow — hear, all of you, what will be said.

Explanation

The future tense will be announced shifts to the imperative hear, directing the addressee to active rather than passive reception.

2. Shift between past tense and imperative

A shift from the past tense (māḍī) to the imperative, with the purpose of affirming and emphasising the obligation entailed by the past action.

Source Example

﴿ قُلْ أَمَرَ رَبِّي بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَقِيمُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ ﴾

Say: My Lord has commanded justice — so set your faces at every mosque and call upon Him, making religion sincerely His. (Q7:29)

Explanation

The past tense has commanded shifts to the imperative set and call upon. Atīq (2002) explains that the imperatives serve to impress the obligation of worship upon the soul of the addressee, since prayer is among the most firmly required of God's commands on His servants.

Constructed Example

أمر القائد بالتقدم، فتقدّموا ولا تترددوا.

The commander ordered the advance — so advance, and do not hesitate.

Explanation

The past tense ordered shifts to the imperatives advance and do not hesitate, reinforcing the command as a present and active obligation.

3. Shift between past and present tenses

A shift in which a past event is reported using a present-tense verb, or a future event is reported using a past-tense verb.

a. Reporting a past event with a present-tense verb

The present tense conveys the scene as though it were unfolding before the addressee's eyes, producing heightened vividness.

Source Example

﴿ وَاللَّهُ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ الرِّيَاحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا فَسُقْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ فَأَحْيَيْنَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ﴾

And God is He who sends the winds, and they stir up clouds, and We drive them to a dead land, and We revive the earth with it after its death. (Q35:9)

Explanation

The past tense sent (arsala) is followed by the present tense stir (tuthīru). Atīq (2002) explains that the shift to the present tense evokes the stirring of clouds as a scene held before the addressee's imagination.

Constructed Example

فتح الجيشُ المدينةَ وتدخلُ الجنودُ الأزقةَ واحدةً واحدة.

The army conquered the city, and the soldiers enter its alleyways one by one.

Explanation

The past tense conquered shifts to the present enter, bringing the historical scene into the present moment for the addressee.

b. Reporting a future event with a past-tense verb

The past tense expresses certainty: it implies that the future event is as established as something already completed.

Source Example

﴿ وَيَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ فَفَزِعَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْضِ ﴾

And the day the trumpet is blown, and those in the heavens and earth were stricken with terror. (Q27:87)

Explanation

The future event of the Day of Judgment is described using the past tense were stricken with terror (fazaʿa). Atīq (2002) explains that the past tense is used because it conveys that an action has definitively occurred, thus communicating the certainty and inevitability of the event.

Constructed Example

وجاء يوم النصر وابتهج الناس.

And the day of victory came, and the people rejoiced.

Explanation

A future day of victory is described in the past tense, conveying the communicator's certainty that it will come to pass.

Type 3: Sentence-type iltifāt

Abd al-Raof (2006) identifies a third category: a shift between verbal sentences (verb-initial) and nominal sentences (noun-initial).

Source Example

﴿ وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم ... وَاللَّهُ فَضَّلَ بَعْضَكُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ ... وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ ... اللَّهُ ضَرَبَ مَثَلًا ... وَاللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ ﴾

And God created you... and God has favoured some of you over others... and they worship besides God... God presents an example... and God extracted you from the wombs of your mothers. (Q16:70–78)

Explanation

The first and second clauses are nominal (noun-initial: God created, God has favoured). The third and fourth are verbal (verb-initial: they worship, presents an example). The fifth returns to nominal. Abd al-Raof (2006) identifies this alternation as a sentence-type iltifāt.

Constructed Example

الملكُ أصدر أمره، ثم يمضي الجنود إلى ميادين القتال.

The king issued his command, then the soldiers proceed to the battlefields.

Explanation

The nominal sentence The king issued his command (noun-initial) shifts to the verbal sentence the soldiers proceed (verb-initial), illustrating a sentence-type iltifāt.

Notes

• The term al-iltifāt (الالتفات) literally means "turning aside" or "turning the face," derived from the verb iltafata (to turn). Ibn al-Athīr traced the rhetorical term to this physical meaning: just as a person turns now to the right, now to the left, speech turns from one grammatical form to another. The term al-iltifāt may also apply to the use of a parenthetical aside for rhetorical purposes; this is a distinct secondary sense attributed to Qudāma b. Jaʿfar.
• The classification of subtypes varies between classical scholars. Ibn al-Muʿtazz identified three types (person-based); Ibn al-Athīr systematised three divisions covering person, mood/tense alternation, and tense-in-reporting; al-Sakkākī placed it in ʿilm al-maʿānī; later authorities (e.g., al-Qazwīnī) returned it to ʿilm al-badīʿ. Abd al-Ghani (2011) follows the six-form enumeration of person-based iltifāt.
• Abd al-Ghani (2011) notes that a shift between an active verb and an active participle may be considered a related phenomenon, but does not present it as a distinct subtype of iltifāt.

Page history

• 2026-02-10 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CG-1: Rhetorical Shift to RHSHIFT: Rhetorical Shift.
• 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
• 2024-04-22 - Page created: Rhetorical Shift.

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