ing a usual quality (vasf-i cârî) which is other than the subject (gayr-i men hüve leh), so diverting the sun of truth from its course. Such people have evidently never studied the Arabs' literary styles, for the Arabs say: "The mountains came to us then departed, then the peak of another appeared, then disappeared and parted from us," and so on. As explained in the Miftāḥ of al-Sakkaki, [^41] imaginary inversion (kalb-i hayali), a literary device of the science of figurative speech (beyan), is used in many places to elucidate its mysteries. It is a subtle art which is based on fallacious imaginings. I'm now going to cite two important examples by way of explanation, to pursue the discussion:

[^41]:Sirāj al-Dīn al-Sakkākī al-Khwārazmī (d. 626/1229), influential rhetorician and author of Miftāḥ al-'Ulūm, a work covering nearly all the linguistic disciplines. The work's third part, on what came to be known as the science of rhetoric ('ilm al-balāgha), became a major source for the teaching of that subject in medrese education.

And He sends down from the sky mountain masses [of cloud] wherein is hail (24:43). ∗ The sun runs its course to its point of rest (36:38).

These two verses are truly striking. To ascribe them a rigid apparent meaning is to deny rhetoric its right. For the fine metaphor of the first is so warm it melts frozen, solid things such as ice, and like lightning rends the veil of the apparent, such as cloud. While the eloquence of the second is so firm and brilliant that it halts the sun's travel. Similar to this is the verse, "Crystal-clear, made of silver"(76:16), which comprises a fine metaphor, as follows: the food dishes of Paradise are neither crystal nor silver. The difference between the two constitutes the indicator (karine) of the metaphor. That is to say, with its transparency the crystal and with its shining whiteness, the silver are two samples to depict the paradisaical goblets which the Beneficent Maker has sent to this world to excite with His wares the appetites of customers desirous of Paradise, and to stimulate demand.

Similarly, a fine metaphor may be distilled from "mountain masses [of clouds] wherein is hail" which is based on imagining a