Ilm al-Bayan: Figurative Language and Expression

The section of Miftah al-Ulum on ilm al-bayan systematizes al-Jurjani's analysis of figurative language into the formal framework that became the standard account for the Arabic rhetorical tradition. As-Sakkaki defined ilm al-bayan as the science of how the same meaning can be expressed with different degrees of clarity or vividness through literal or figurative language, and he organized the field around the major figures: simile (tashbih), metaphor (istiara), and indirect expression (kinayah).

For tashbih (simile), as-Sakkaki provided the comprehensive classification that became standard. He identified the four components of simile (mushabbbah, mushabbbah bihi, adat, wajh), analyzed their possible variations (can the wajh be omitted? can multiple points of resemblance be combined?), and classified similes by the type of resemblance they exploit (resemblance in essence, in attribute, in relational structure). This classification system was adopted by virtually all subsequent rhetoric texts and is still taught in Arabic rhetoric courses today.

For istiara (metaphor), as-Sakkaki built on al-Jurjani's analysis of how metaphor borrows a term from one domain (the mushabbbah bihi) to apply to another (the mushabbbah), while suppressing the comparison particle and the point of resemblance. He distinguished between metaphors where the borrowed term replaces a literal alternative (istiara tahriqiyyah — transferring metaphor) and metaphors where no literal alternative exists in normal usage (istiara ashliyyah — original metaphor). He also developed the important category of istiara makniyyah (implied metaphor), where the mushabbbah bihi is not stated but is implied by an associated attribute — a subtle and powerful form of figurative language.

The treatment of kinayah (indirect expression or metonymy) extends the analysis of figurative language to cases where a literal meaning is expressed through reference to something associated with it. Saying 'he has long arms' to mean 'he is generous' is a kinayah, because long arms (the ability to reach far, to give widely) is associated with generosity without being identical to it. As-Sakkaki analyzed the types of kinayah — kinayah about an attribute, kinayah about a relation, kinayah about a thing itself — and showed how this figure functions differently from both simile and metaphor while sharing their basic mechanism of activating resemblance or association relations.