Everything in this universe has a cause and a reason for its existence and formation. However, in the realm of creativity, the artist may reject the known cause of something and propose a new, inventive, and captivating literary cause that amazes and entices the audience. This is why it is considered one of the rhetorical traps that capture the admiration and approval of the audience.

Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani is regarded as the first to point to this rhetorical style in Asrar al-Balaghah (Secrets of Eloquence). This literary fabrication in the context of praise aims to elevate the status of the praised figure, thereby enhancing the beauty and nobility of the meaning. For instance, consider al-Mutanabbi’s verse:

The clouds do not imitate your bounty; rather, they were feverish from envy, and their pouring rain is mere sweat.

Here, the poet initially intended to liken the generosity of the praised figure to rain. However, he exaggerated the idea, claiming that the praised figure’s generosity surpasses rain. The rain, according to this imaginative reasoning, is merely the clouds sweating from their feverish envy. This fusion of metaphor and inventive reasoning creates a powerful artistic discourse that appeals to the audience (the praised figure) and perhaps even secures their generosity.

Similarly, another poet says:

The rain has not abandoned Egypt’s soil out of its nature, but rather out of shyness before you. Even the Nile flows slowly, as if in acknowledgment of your precedence.

Here, the poet dismisses natural causes for the lack of rain in Egypt, attributing it instead to the rain’s shyness before the praised figure. Likewise, the Nile’s slow flow is ascribed to its humble acknowledgment of the praised figure’s superiority in generosity.

Another example comes from a poet who says:

Do not let the silver gleam of gray hair alarm you, for it is but the smile of wisdom and manners.

Rather than attributing gray hair to aging, the poet reinterprets it as a symbol of intellectual radiance and refined manners.

Abu Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Amiri, in a poem about the illness of Minister Sahib ibn ‘Abbad, says:

It is impossible that an ailment afflicts your body; rather, it is the brilliance of your resolute determination.

Here, the poet denies the illness as a natural cause and instead attributes it to the minister’s unyielding determination and luminous intellect. Such reasoning reinforces the connection between the speaker and the addressee, evoking feelings of satisfaction and delight.

In the context of love poetry, consider the poet who questions the earth about its sacredness:

I asked the earth why it became a place of prayer and why it was made pure and fragrant. It answered, though silent: because it contains a beloved for every soul.

Here, the poet provides an imaginative cause for the earth’s sanctity, claiming that it contains the beloveds of all souls. This evokes admiration for the artistic creativity in his speech.

Likewise, Muhammad ibn Wahib says:

Whenever I rise to meet him, an obstacle blocks my path. Time itself wages war against me, as if it were a rival in love.

The poet personifies time, claiming it as a conscious rival vying for his beloved’s affection. This imaginative reasoning and personification enliven the discourse, transforming time into a sentient being.

Another poet says:

Do not question the beating of my heart when the beloved is present. The heart is merely its dwelling, rejoicing at the herald’s glad tidings.

The poet attributes the heartbeat not to a natural cause but to the beloved’s presence within the heart, metaphorically likening it to a house filled with joy. This inventive reasoning captivates and engages the audience.

Another example is a poet’s depiction of the moon:

I see the moon of the sky sometimes appearing and sometimes veiled by clouds. This is because, when it beheld your face, it hid in shyness and disappeared.

The poet dismisses the natural phenomenon of the moon’s intermittent appearance and instead attributes it to its shyness before the beloved’s beauty. This interplay of metaphor and inventive reasoning adds elegance and charm to the meaning.

In another instance, the poet portrays jealousy in the heart:

I punished my eyes with tears and sleepless nights, as my heart grew jealous of my sight upon you. Yet my eyes bore this willingly, relishing the joy of gazing upon you.

The poet claims that the tears and sleeplessness are due to the heart’s jealousy of the eyes for beholding the beloved. By complying with the heart’s demands, the eyes are punished with tears and insomnia, creating an emotional trap that captivates the audience.

Consider another example:

They said his eye complained, and I replied: From the abundance of killing, it grew weary. Its redness is from the blood of its victims, with the blood on the blade a wondrous testimony.

Here, the poet attributes the redness of the eye not to illness but to the blood of its victims. This implicit comparison reinforces the artistic reasoning and persuades the audience of the poet’s imaginative cause.

Even in descriptions, the interplay of metaphor and imaginative reasoning shines. Ibn Nabata, in describing a horse, says:

A dark steed borrows its darkness from the night, while the Pleiades shine between its eyes. It races behind the morning light, flying as it runs, folding the heavens beneath it. When it feared missing its goal, it clung to its hooves and face.

Here, the poet portrays the horse as if it were the night itself, with its white blaze symbolizing the Pleiades. It chases the morning light to absorb its radiance, emphasizing its swiftness and grace.

Abu Tammam’s verse provides another example:

The hills interceded with the morning breeze to carry its fragrance to the rain-laden clouds. It is as though the clouds concealed a beloved within them, and their tears rained down in grief.

The poet attributes the rain’s cause to the clouds mourning a beloved hidden within the hills. Through metaphorical reasoning and imaginative explanation, he creates an artistic vision that resonates with the audience.

While these examples are delightful and inventive, the causes they propose are not real. Instead, they aim to captivate and influence the audience by employing effective rhetorical techniques rooted in emotion and imagination. However, this rhetorical style (husn al-ta‘lil, or “elegance of reasoning”) is absent in the Qur’an and Hadith. Although imaginative elements exist in their discourse, they do not fabricate unreal causes to exalt or depict matters.

Sources

• Asrar al-Balaghah by Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, edited by Muhammad al-Hindawi
• The Debate of Phenomenon and Response: A Study of Rhetorical Traps by Imad Abd al-Latif, in Balaghah wa al-Khitab

M.D. Taghreed Abdul Amir Al-Khafaji – College of Islamic Sciences / University of Karbala