The secret of clarity: Term, meaning, or structure?
Traditional Arabic rhetorical literature is full of in-depth studies of issues of expression in the form of rhetoric, eloquence, ingenuity, and clarity. It witnessed the formation of rhetorical schools that established various approaches to the fine expressive industry. The debate raged in regard to the secrets of rhetoric and ingenuity, is it primarily due to terms, or is it fundamentally related to meanings.
Is there not a third way? Arabic-Islamic thought has always been successful in avoiding the sharp, conflicting dualisms, like Western thought. Accordingly, a middle school between the two term and meaning camps sought a fair balance between term and meaning giving each its value and contribution in clarifying the intentions of the speaker or writer with high clarity. This school is distinguished by the theory of versification by Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (died in 471 or 474 AH), which states that eloquence is found in the arrangement of words, one after another in a distinct order, similar to the arrangement of knots. This concept is explained in his famous book, Dala’il al-I’jaz (Proofs of I’jaz).
Suppose we have a variety of beads in color, shape, size, and texture, and we give these beads to ten people. Do you see these people organizing the beads in one similar way? No, this will not happen because people have different tastes, which makes them vary in the ways they organize the beads. Usually, some of them will be more beautiful than others, due to the ingenuity of the organization and the organizer’s taste. This applies to the linguistic expression according to the theory of versification for it confirms that expressive ingenuity lies in the good collocation of words with their terms and meanings, a collocation by which the word extracts the best meaning of the collocated word, and vice versa, producing, along with the rest of the collocations, a legible expressive, splendor clarity, pretty rhythm.
Expressive writing: Do we begin with the term or with the meaning?
The argument was resolved through voluntary reconciliation between the two parties of the expression following the wise and fair Jurjanial contractual form where Neither party appears as the victor, nor does one party weaken the other. Instead, they reached a state of harmony, cooperation and unity. This is a positive and expressively reassuring outcome, isn’t it? However, there is something that caught my attention in a particularly noteworthy phrase in Dala’il al-I’jaz (Proofs of I’jaz), by Al-Jurjani in his discussion of eloquence and ingenuity. He states that when describing a word, one should use the most accurate meaning and choose a term that is specific, revealing, complete, and dignified, in order to highlight its distinctive features. This brings us closer to achieving the standard of eloquence and clarity, which is represented by conveying the best and complete connotation of a word, and presenting it in a beautiful, splendid, elegant and capitative form that captures the desires of the soul and obtain greater luck of admiring.
This foundational statement goes beyond the question of Which is more important? It takes us to the station of high linguistic expression, raising a more effective and deeper question, which do we begin with, the term or the meaning? Here, Al-Jurjani gives a wonderful recommendation by placing the guidance in terms of beginning – not in terms of importance – in the hands of the meaning. He emphasizes in another place, stating that if you have finished positioning the meanings within your mind, you do not need to think about the word order. Instead, you will find them in order for you because they are servants of the meanings, subordinate and subsequent to them. The meaning, which we bring first when we want to express something, has two combined connotations, namely:
- The general meaning of the ideas or feelings that we want to convey to the other party in speech or linguistic expression. This connotation is general, as it refers to the message that I aim to convey to the other party.
- The special meaning of each word that we choose to be part of the speech with which we express our meaning. This connotation is special, as it focuses on the closest or most accurate meaning by capturing the most appropriate word for this idea or that feeling.
What does Al-Jurjani want to tell us?
What I understand from this foundational statement is that Al-Jurjani emphasizes the importance of starting with the meaning rather than the word when expressing. He advises that when describing a word, one should use the most accurate meaning and choose a term etc. According to Al-Jurjani recommendation, the achieved eloquence involves first understanding the meaning then selecting the appropriate term that expresses it fully and clearly. For example, when writing, one should focus on the general connotations (=the general message or idea), and the specific connotations of the message (=the detailed meanings or ideas), rather than just the terms, as this will prevent the meaning from being overshadowed by verbal mannerism.
Such mannerism usually occurs among novice writers (=those who do not have enough vocabulary inventory), as they tend, in the early stages of their writing practices, to use verbal embellishment and formal display of linguistic and stylistic repertoires. It is possible that one of these writers might have read or memorized words, phrases, or styles that he liked, and is arbitrarily expressing and forcing these words, phrase or style in the context, not for the sake of conveying the meaning in a more beautiful or brighter image, but rather for an internal writing motive (= achieving the manneristic linguistic self). While this expressive method can enhance creativity, it may sometimes impact clarity of meaning or the quality of verse. It’s important for writers to actively expand their vocabulary to maximize their effectiveness and avoid potential challenges.!
Try to focus on meaning while you engage in writing expressive texts. By doing so, you will gain many benefits from adopting this wonderful spontaneous expressive approach. I will highlight it in three major advantages of following this approach:
- Compliance with the theory of versification:
Whoever focuses on the meaning before thinking of the term will find his writing complies with the theory of versification in its splendor and depth. This will lead him to ensure the meaning with the utmost precision and caution. In addition, those who seek this sincerely and have good knowledge in literature will then have sufficient ability to choose the terms that convey meanings in an attractive way.
- Capturing the reader’s heart
Whoever focuses on the meaning before thinking of the term will find his writing to be a bridge to the heart of his readers before their minds. How can this be? The writer comes up with the terms, but the reader is the one who understands the meaning, while narrowing or extending his scope of understanding according to the requirements of the method and thought. Therefore, presenting meaning while engaging in the expressive process reflects the expressive altruism, which the reader feels and values highly, as the writer presented what is for the reader over what is for him. The reader soon translates this approach into a wonderful familiarity with the text and its writer, even if he deduced an opinion contrary to the fundamental idea presented in the text.
- Applying linguistic economics
One of the key benefits of considering meaning before the term is that it allows for brevity and directness in writing, which is highly desirable for the attentive and serious reader. This means that if a concept can be conveyed in four words, it should not be stretched to five, as this would make the expression short and the text more concise. In my opinion, this is the essence of rhetoric. One of the qualities of a well-written text is its lack of unnecessary or redundant words, in a declaration of something or alluding to it. The value of summarizing the text is increasing among modern people who are fond of speed and agility. This is evidenced by a recent study that found linguistic economy to be a key factor in successful communication on social media platforms .
A call to focus on meaning!
I was illuminated by the previous foundational statement of Al-Jurjani, which led me to ponder the following question: Why is meaning given priority in expression? After some contemplation, I arrived at a satisfactory answer with the main aspects of the issue. I have included this answer in the title of this text: Expression is Based on Connotations and Each Individual intends a Specific Meaning for Their Expression! I think some of you may have already picked up on the approach I have taken. It is an approach to intention, as stated in the famous hadith of the Prophet: Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended. Fascinating is the matter of facts, as they reproduce, intertwine, and emanate from one stream!
We shall focus on meaning and establish our thoughts and feelings in it. Whoever pursues to focus on meaning, will spontaneously find himself focusing on eloquence and smooth ingenuity. Whoever relies on hollow terms or an exaggerated style to enhance their writing, their focus will be revealed through their work! This is what makes us conclude by saying if intention is the pillar of good deeds, then meaning is the pillar of successful expression.
T1688
