Ilm al-Bayan
- Author died
- 1396 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Nahdah al-Arabiyyah lil-Tiba'ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Ilm al-Bayan (علم البيان, "The Science of Rhetorical Figures") is a work on Arabic rhetoric by Abd al-Aziz Atiq (d. 1396 AH / 1976 CE), originating as lectures delivered to second-year undergraduate students in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Beirut Arab University.
Contents and Structure
The book is arranged into two principal parts:
- Part One (Historical Development): Surveys the history and evolution of ilm al-bayan from its beginnings as scattered rhetorical observations to its establishment as an autonomous, systematically defined discipline through the work of Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, al-Zamakhshari, al-Sakkaki, and subsequent scholars. This section profiles individual rhetoricians and their treatises, analyzes their analytical methods and mutual influences, and examines whether their contributions fostered the vitality or stagnation of Arabic rhetorical study.
- Part Two (Analytical Study of Rhetorical Figures): Presents a detailed analytical study illustrated with examples and textual citations (shawahid) covering the primary branches of bayan: simile (al-tashbih), literal and figurative expression along with its subdivisions (al-haqiqa wa-l-majaz), and metonymic allusion (al-kinaya).
Publication
The work was published in Beirut by Dar al-Nahda al-Arabiyya.
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