The Second Article The Element of Rhetoric and Eloquence

THE ELEMENT OF RHETORIC

AND ELOQUENCE

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

All good words are God's, and may benedictions be upon His Prophet

The Second Article

The Second Article

In explanation of several matters related

to the spirit of eloquence

The First Matter

The First Matter

History teaches us regretfully that when, attracted by the Arabs' rule the non-Arabs intermingled with them, the non-Arabs both confused Qur'anic eloquence, known as the natural speech of the Mudarī, [^1] and, although novices, when they adopted the art of Arabic rhetoric, they changed rhetorical taste from composition following the meanings, which is the natural course of ideas and essence of eloquence, into composition based on the words themselves. As follows:

[^1]:This refers to the Arabic spoken by the tribe, Muḍar, whose speech in that era was reputed to be the most eloquent and whose dialect was favoured when differences arose on the Qur'an being put down in writing.

The natural channel for ideas and emotions is the ordering of the meanings expressed. The arrangement of the meanings is constructed firmly through the rules of logic. Logic progresses step by step towards truths. And thought reaches truths when it penetrates the subtleties of the natures of things (mâhiyat). The subtleties of the essences of things are derived from and reinforce the world's