The Implicit Metaphor in the Book Lum' al-Mulah by Ibn al-Hadhayri al-Warraq, Known as Dallal al-Kutub (568 AH)

Abstract

The implicit simile is regarded as one of the most distinguished rhetorical arts in the Arabic tradition, for it relies on suggestion and concealment rather than explicitness and clarity. Neither the subject of comparison nor its counterpart is openly stated; instead, the task of discerning the relationship between them is left to the intelligence and perceptiveness of the recipient. In this way, this form of simile acquires a distinctive artistic character, combining depth with brevity, stirring the imagination and widening the horizons of interpretation.

Classical rhetoricians devoted much attention to this mode: Ibn al-Athīr distinguished it from metaphor, while al-Jurjānī considered it a branch of the representative simile, and others described it as a metonymic or implicit simile. The Arabs, guided by their innate rhetorical instinct, resorted to this style for the precision and economy it affords; thus their poetic images, proverbs, and maxims were infused with subtle allusion, leaning more towards implication than declaration. The more hidden and delicate such expressions became, the greater their eloquence and profundity.

Accordingly, the implicit simile stands as a vast field in which the brilliance of Arabic eloquence is manifest: it unites the beauty of imagery with the force of suggestion, and reveals the language’s capacity to convey the deepest emotions in the briefest, most indirect of expressions.