This verse (which is to me unintelligible, and probably corrupt) illustrates the figure called murá'át-i-nadhír (“the Murá'át-i-nadhír. observance of the similar”), or tanásub (“congruity”), and consists in introducing into a verse things which are naturally associated together, such as bow and arrow, night and day, sun and moon. The following English example is from Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie (p. 251), from a “Partheniade” composed by him on Queen Elizabeth:—
“Two lips wrought out of rubie rocke,
Like leaves to shut and to unlock.
As portall dore in Prince's chamber:
A golden tongue in mouth of amber.”
12. Án kunad kúshish-i-tu bá a'dá Ki kunad bakhshish-i-tu bá dínár.
Madḥ-i-muwajjah. “Thy striving does to [thy] foes what thy givingThis figure is called madḥ-i-muwajjah, or simply muwajjah, i.e., “implied praise”; for in the above verse the poet intends primarily to praise his patron's prowess on the field of battle; but by the simile which he employs—“thou scatterest thy foes by thy valour as thou scatterest thy money by thy generosity”— he also hints at another virtue.
13. Bá hawá-yi tu kufr báshad dín: Bí-riḍá-yi tu fakhr báshad 'ár.
This verse illustrates the figure called “ambiguity,” or Muḥtamalu'lwajhayn. muḥtamalu'l-wajhayn (“that which will bear two [opposite] interpretations”), for, the positions of subject and predicate being interchangeable in Persian, we may translate it either:—
“With thy love, infidelity becomes faith: Without thine approval,
pride becomes shame,”
or:—
“With thy love, religion becomes infidelity: Without thine
approval, shame becomes pride.”
Ambiguity or “amphibology” is treated by Puttenham (Arte of English Poesie, pp. 266-267) as a vice of style, which it is, unless it be deliberate, as it usually is with the Orientals, who thus outwardly praise one whom they really intend to censure. So in Morier's Hajji Baba the poet Asker ('Askar) is made to speak as follows:—
“I wrote a poem, which answered the double purpose of gratifying my revenge for the ill-treatment I had received from the Lord High Treasurer, and of conciliating his good graces; for it had a double meaning all through: what he in his ignorance mistook for praise, was, in fact, satire; and as he thought that the high-sounding words in which it abounded (which, being mostly Arabic, he did not understand) must contain an eulogium, he did not in the least suspect that they were, in fact, expressions containing the grossest disrespect. In truth, I had so cloaked my meaning that, without my explanation, it would have been difficult for any one to have discovered it.”
Rashídu'd-Dín Waṭwáṭ relates, in his Gardens of Magic, that a certain wit among the Arabs said to a one-eyed tailor named 'Amr, “If you will make me a garment such that man shall be unable to say whether it is a qabá or a jubba, I will make for you a verse such that none shall be sure whether it is intended for praise or blame.” The tailor fulfilled his part of the bargain, and received from the poet the following verse:—
Kháṭa lí 'Amrun qabá: Layta 'aynayhi siwá!
“'Amr made for me a coat: Would that his two eyes were alike!”
This may be taken as meaning: “Would that both his eyes were sound!” or “Would that both his eyes were blind!”
An English example would be:—
“All can appraise your service's extent:
May you receive its full equivalent!”*
14. Hast ráy-at zamána-rá 'ádil, Lík dast-at khizána-rá ghaddár!
Ta'kídu'l-madḥi bi-má yushbihu'dh-dhamm. “Thy judgement deals justly with the Age, The figure exemplified in this verse is called “emphasis of
praise by apparent censure” (ta'kídu'l-madḥi bi-má yushbihu'dh-
“Heaven hath none above thee: O Heaven! hold him well
and keep him well!”
This simple figure, called iltifát, or “turning from one person to another,” needs no explanation. It may be from any person (first, second, or third) to any other, and examples of each kind will be found in Gladwin's Rhetoric … of the Persians, pp. 56-58.
Íhám. 16. Bakht sú-yi dar-at khazán áyad; Rást chún but-“Fortune comes creeping to thy door, just as does the idolater
to Bahár.”
This verse contains the ingenious figure called by Mr. Gibb (History of Ottoman Poetry, vol. i, pp. 113-114) “amphibological congruity,” and depends on the employment in a verse of two or more ambiguous terms, which, from their juxtaposition, appear to be used in one sense, while they are really intended in the other. Thus, in the above verse, khazán means “autumn” and also “creeping” (from the verb khazídan, “to creep” or “crawl”); while Bahár means “spring,” but is also the name of a place in Central Asia (whence the celebrated family of Barmak, or Barmecides, came) where there existed a famous idol-temple. The reader, misled by the juxtaposition of these words, imagines at first sight that the former meaning of each is intended, while in reality it is the latter. In English, a good instance occurs in the following verse of “Look at the Clock,” in the Ingoldsby Legends:—
“Mr. David has since had a ‘serious call,’
And never drinks ale, wine, or spirits at all,
And they say he is going to Exeter Hall
To make a grand speech, And to preach and to teach
People that ‘they can't brew their malt liquor too small’;
That an ancient Welsh poet, one PYNDAR AP TUDOR,
Was right in proclaiming ‘ARISTON MEN UDOR’!
Which means ‘The pure Element Is for Man's belly meant!’
And that Gin's but a Snare of Old Nick the deluder!”
The following verse, which I have constructed to illustrate this figure, is defective as regards spelling, but correct as to sound:—
“O mother, halt! No farther let us roam;
The sun has set, and we are far from home.”
The next eight couplets, which I take together, illustrate eight different kinds of tashbíh, or simile, termed respectively Tashbíh (eight varieties). muṭlaq (“absolute”), tafḍíl (“comparative,” or “preferential”), ta'kíd (“emphatic”), mashrúṭ (“conditional”), iḍmár (“implicit”), taswiya (“equivalent”), kináya (“metaphorical”), and 'aks (“antithetical”), most of which are sufficiently explained by their names, taken in conjunction with the following exemplifications:—
1.—muṭlaq. 2.—tafḍíl. 3.—ta'kíd. 4.—mashrúṭ. 5.—iḍmár. 6.—taswiya. 7.—kináya. 17. Tígh-i-tu hamchu áftáb bi-núr Sír dárad zamánará zi nigár.18. Charkh u máhí; na, nístí tu, az ánk Níst ín har du-rá qiwám u qarár!