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Second Edition > Tad jn s

Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

Tad jn s
(3,554 words)

(A.), a technical term for a rhetorical figure (alternative names, all from the same root, are
d jins [very common], mud j nasa , mud j nas , and tad j nus ), variously translated as
paronomasia, pun, homonymy, and alliteration. The last two terms, however, do not cover all
the types that have traditionally been subsumed under this heading, while pun has also been
used to render tawriya [q.v.], the difference being that tawriya is a one-term pun (double
entendre). A general definition of tad jns would be: a pair of utterances (mostly, but not
necessarily single words), within a line or colon, which are semantically different but
phonetically, either completely or partially, identical. The alternative completeness or lack of
such is the basis for distinguishing the various sub-types that the rhetoricians have
discovered. Since words that are only partially identical are very likely to be semantically
different anyway, it becomes clear that two notions have merged in the tad jns concept: a
narrow one which covers only the case of complete phonetic identity (this is the tad jns tmm
, which some say, or imply, is the original and correct meaning of the term), and a broader
one in which the two terms of the tad jns show any kind of lesser degrees of assonance, down
to root-repetition ( ish ti , figura etymologica). Some authors deny that ish ti is a sub-type
of tad jns.
I. Literary history
Tad jns is without doubt one of the most popular and sought-after rhetorical figures, especially
in later Arabic poetry and ornate prose, whence it became also a favourite in other Islamic
literatures. Word plays are, of course, universal in all languages and literatures. In world-views

that consider names not to be arbitrary, puns are used to discover and express hidden
relationships between similarly named things, while those who do not believe in natural
names, may still use puns the same way, though tongue in cheek, or else employ them to
create witty and unexpected connections. However, Arabic, as a Semitic language, has
particularly ample possibilities here due to its root-and-pattern structure. Different
derivations from the same root play an important role even in everyday syntax, as shown by
such constructions as the cognate accusative (e.g. la awlan ), the participial expression of
an indefinite subject (e.g. la ilun ), and the strengthening of a noun with an etymologically
related but per se meaningless adjective (e.g. laylun lilun/alyalu ; laylatun laylu ) (see
Reckendorf and Grnert, in Bibl .). This kind of repetition (figura etymologica in Classical
terms, and ish ti in the later rhetorical taxonomy, but see below) thus comes naturally to
artisans of the language and is made the starting-point for other more artistic uses of rootderivations. Examples collected by the rhetoricians from early, pre-modern poetry show that
this particular type is moderately well attested. Particularly rich are the Umayyad rad ja z poets:
Ruba [q.v.] has more than 1,200 cases in his Dwn (ed. Ahlwardt, p. xciii; and see the
specimens, pp. xciv-xcvii). One specific use of this figure is to extract meaning from a
personal or geographic name, a method that remains popular also in later poetry (cf. jarr
[q.v.], Dwn, ed. al-w, 326, 1. 6: fa-m zla malan Ilun ani l-ul wa-m zla
mabsan ani l-mad jd i bisu , a closure line in a hid j against al-Farazda that resounds
with its two malicious name games). Apart from root repetition, there are also other, less
extended, phonetic repetitions that were clearly intended by the poets, but which find their
way into the later tad jns category only in part (see Renate Jacobi, Studien zur Poetik der
altarabischen Qaide , Wiesbaden 1971, 183-93; Th. Bauer, Altarabische Dichtkunst , Wiesbaden
1992, i, 163-71). Word repetition is not uncommon in early poetry (ibid.), but rarely has the
second word a different meaning; thus the repetition does not constitute a tad jns in the later
taxonomies. The rhetoricians who can be trusted to have looked very hard cannot muster
more than four or five examples of tad jns tmm in ancient poetry (e.g. al-Afwah al-Awd [q.v.]
apud Ibn Rash , al-Umda , i, 322: wa-aau l-hawd ja la mustanisan bi-hawd ja lin ayrnatin
ayams I cut through the pathless desert [ hawd ja l ] taking comfortin an onager-like
magnificent fleet camel mare [hawd ja l]).
With the rise of the modern poetry of the Abbsid era, tad jns became a bone of contention,
as it was one of the phenomena in the centre of the bad controversy. As Ibn al-Mutazz (d.
296/908 [q.v.]) correctly explains ( Bad , 1), poets like Ab Tammm (d. 231/845 or 232/846
[q.v.]), who was the focus of the debate, exaggerated the use of this and other figures of
speech and thus shifted the character of these figures from being a means of poetic style to
becoming an essential part of the poetic endeavour. For a study of tad jns in this period in
general, see J.E. Bencheikh, Potique arabe . Prcede de Essai sur un discours critique , Paris
1989, 186-202 (who deals only with the ish ti variety), and for individual poets, see E.

Wagner, Ab Nuws . Eine Studie zur arabischen Literatur der frhen Abbsidenzeit ,
Wiesbaden 1965, 432-36; Magda M. al-Nowaihi, The poetry of Ibn h afja . A literary analysis,
Leiden 1993, 71-96; and, on al-Maarr, S. Sperl, Mannerism in Arabic poetry, Cambridge 1989,
142-51 (who includes phonetic repetition). Although the figura etymologica can probably claim
the lions share, the tad jns tmm and, in particular, its murakkab variety gain much in
popularity and soon have their own specialists, such as Abu l-Fat al-Bust (d. 400/1010 or
later [q.v.]). His friend, the arch- adb al-T h alib (d. 429/1038 [q.v.]), declared the tad jns
murakkab to be the crowning achievement in this field and he compiled a sizable anthology of
thematically arranged verse displaying this particular variety of punning ( Ans , see Bibl .), in
which al-Bust figures prominently (e.g. Ans, 452: ad tafaltu bi l-arki fa-lamm an
raaytu l-arka ultu arki kh ifan min alih li-siwkin an yakna llad h arhu siwki
I took the arak-tree [ arki ] for a good omen and whenI saw the arak-tree, I said: I shall see
you [ ar-ki ],(though) fearing that, due to its being good for (the making of) tooth-sticks [
siwki (n)],the one I shall see will be someone other than you [ siw-ki ].). Actually, the Ans
contains also a number of instances of tad jns tmm. One particular use made of both
varieties is homonymous rhyme. Examples of this artifice, which retained a certain popularity
through the centuries, are already attested for the 3rd/9th century (an insh d of T h alab [q.v.]
quoted by Ab Hill al-Askar, K. al-inatayn , 438-40, with eleven instances of the rhymeword kh l ). What is remarkable here is the fact that the tad jns stretches over more than one
line.
In another work ( K. al-Mutash bih , see Bibl.), al-T h alib devotes a large part to the tad jns
muaaf , for which he adduces numerous examples, this time not only from poetry but also
from prose, mostly cola from ornate epistles of well-known people of eloquence. A poetic
example is the following verse by Ibn al-Rm: l asriu l-sh ira wa-g h ayr lah yakfniya
ntikh luh ntilah I do not steal poetry, when another has said it;sifting it prevents me
from lifting it ( Mutash bih , 22), i.e. it is not good enough for me. The popularity, among the
scribes, of this ingenious artifice is easy to understand. Al-T h alib does, however, express his
dislike for texts that consist exclusively of pairs of tad jns muaaf, such as g h arraka izzuka
fa-ra uru d h lika d h ullaka ... (Mutash bih, 24, and see below, II. Terminology, B, 1-2),
where in every pair the words exhibit the same rasm . Nonetheless, even this odd self-imposed
hardship found its adherents and reached its apogee in al-Risla al-tawamiyya , the Twin
Epistle, of af al-Dn al-ill (d. ca. 749/1348 [q.v.]).
In post-classical poetry, the tad jns, together with its cousin, the tawriya [q.v.], becomes ever
more central. Al-afad (d. 764/1362 [q.v.]) wrote independent studies on both figures of
speech and, in the jinn al-d jins , included as its third part an anthology of his own d jins
poetry. Studies are, however, still few. For Ayybid poetry, see the few remarks in J. Rikabi, La
posie profane sous les Ayybides et ses principaux reprsentants , Paris 1949, 264-8; on Mamlk

poetry, see Muammad Zag h ll Salm, al-Adab fi l-ar al-mamlk , 2 vols., Cairo n.d. [1971],
index of technical terms, s.vv. tad jns and d jins. Salm makes the point that the Syrians were
more interested in tad jns, while the Egyptian poets concentrated their efforts on the tawriya
(op. cit., ii, 126).
It is interesting to note that the tad jns, which is often taken as a symbol of the late artificial,
ossified state of pre-Modern Arabic poetry, also made it into many genres of folk poetry,
particularly the mawliy [q.v.], where it often is a feature of the rhyme scheme. This is to
some extent already attested in pre-Modern sources (cf. a mawliy by al-Sh ihb al-id j z
with a tad jns murakkab rhyme kallm , apud al-Suy [d. 911/1505], jan , 141). In modern
Egyptian mawwls , the rhyme paronomasia is generally achieved by wilfully distorting the
words; this feature is called zahr flowers (see MAWLIY, and P. Cachia, Popular narrative
ballads of modern Egypt , Oxford 1989, see index s.vv. paronomasia and zahr ).
II. Terminology
Whether the early poets had terminological ways of talking about paronomasia is unclear. The
earliest attestations from late Umayyad times onward show various terms, some of which do
not find acceptance in the later terminology. Thus al-Ad jd j d j [q.v.], in an argument with his
son Ruba [q.v.], emphatically tells him that he, al-Ad jd j d j, taught him af al-rad ja z , and as
an example he adduces a line with triple paronomasia (apud Ibn Rash , Umda , i, 331, and cf.
G. Kanazi, Studies in the Kitb a-inatayn , 64). It is not certain, but very likely, that the
enigmatic af (in the sense of folding back or adding on?) meant paronomasia.
Similarly, Umra b. Al, great-grandson of the Umayyad poet jarr [q.v.], compared Ab
Tammms paronomasias to those of his famous forebear and called them raddt echos (?).
The first term seems to be taken up again in the term taauf of Ab Hill al-Askar (d.
395/1005 [q.v.]) ( inatayn , 438-40; see below), whereas raddt may have metamorphosed
into the later term tardd , which however refers to a repetition of the same word with the
same meaning in different syntactic contexts to create a contrast and is thus not a
paronomasia.
The first theorists are less than homogeneous in their technical language. T h alab (d. 291/904)
uses the term muba , and although he defines it as the repetition of the same word with a
different meaning, he includes a fair amount of figura etymologica cases ( awid , 64-7).
Interestingly, his one-time disciple udma (d. 337/948 [q.v.]) takes up this term but combines
it with mud j nas and assigns the meaning of pun to the former and the meaning of figura
etymologica to the latter. Thus, although he considers both as one phenomenon, he seems to
feel uneasy in lumping the two subcategories together. At about the same time, Ibn al-Mutazz
uses the term tad jns ; whether he introduced the term (some say he invented it) is unclear.

Ab Hill al-Askar, who as a compiler is, of course, very much dependent on his
predecessors, nonetheless veers off by using tad jns for the figura etymologica and excluding
the word-repetition, which he says is called taauf ( see above, on af ). But the later theorists
grosso modo understand tad jns, or the equally frequent d jins , as covering both phenomena.
There are numerous subcategories with a plethora of synonymous technical terms. The most
important subcategories are the following, taking al-h ab al-azwn (d. 734/1338 [q.v.]) as
the basis:
A. Tmm , complete agreement in nature, number, and arrangement of consonants and vowels
between two words of different meaning.
1. Mufrad , either term is one word.
(a) mumth il , both words belong to the same word class, as in ziru l-sulni l-d j iri ka-ziri
l-layth i l-ziri who visits an unjust ruler is like someone visiting a roaring lion ( zir
visiting from root z-w-r, roaring from root z--r ).
(b) mustawf , the two words belong to different word classes, as in m mta min karami lzamni fa-innah yay lad Yay bni Abdi llhi (Ab Tammm) whatever dies of the
nobility of Time, that lives on with Yay b. Abd Allh ( yay verb and Yay proper name).
2. Murakkab , one term is a composite.
(a) malff , the composite term consists of two independent words.
(b) marfw , the composite term consists of one word and a fragment of another. An
additional consideration is the question whether the two terms are spelled the same way (
mutash bih ) or differently ( mafr ).
Example of malff mutash bih :
Idh malikun lam yakun d h hibahfa-dahu fa-dawlatuh d h hibah (al-Bust)
When a king is not generous (lit. one of gift), leave him, for his rule is transient.
Example of malff mafr :
kullukum ad akh ad h a l-d j ma wa-l d j ma lan m llad h arra mudra l-d j mi law
d j malan (al-Bust)

Each of you has received the goblet, but there is none for uswhat harm would have been
done to the one who makes the goblet go around, if he had been friendly to us?

Example of marfw mafr :

wa-l talhu an tad h kri d h anbika wa-bkih bi-damin yuk l-muzna la mabih wamath th il li-aynayka l-imma wa-waah wa-rawata malhu wa-maama bih (alarr)
Dont fail to be mindful of your sins and mourn them with tears that are like the rainclouds at
the time of a downpourand put before your eyes the fall of death, the terror of its encounter
and its bitterroot taste.
3. Mulaffa , both terms are composites, as in Il atf sa adam ar adam ara dam
(al-Bust) Toward my ruin ran my foot: I see my foot having spilled my blood.
B. Imperfect paronomasia (there is no generally accepted cover term for this), which means
lack of agreement (1) in the pronunciation of the consonants, (2) in their number, (3) in their
arrangement, and (4) in individual consonants of the two terms.
1. Muarraf , difference in vocalisation, as in al-daynu sh aynu l-dn debt is a blemish on
religion.
2. Muaaf (or d jins al-kh a ), difference in diacritics, as in id h ahara l-zin wa-l-rib f
aryatin ad h ina llhu f halkih when fornication and usury appear in a town, God will
permit its ruin.
Often both types are mixed, systematically, e.g. in the following pairing of terms: g h arraka
izzuka fa-ra uru d h lika d h ullaka fa-kh sh a fish a filika fa-allaka tuhd bi-hd h wa lsalm (from an alleged letter of Al to Muwiya). Your might has deluded you, so the
outcome of that became your humiliation. Fear therefore your abominable deeds, perhaps you
will be guided by that. Peace.
3. Ni , one term incomplete by one or two letters, which may be at the beginning or end or
in the middle of the term.
Example for incompleteness at the end of the word: yamuddna min aydin awin awimin
talu bi-asyfin awin awibi (Ab Tammm) they stretch out hands that attack and
defend, which wield cutting sharp swords.

If several letters are appended to one term, the tad jns is called mud h ayyal , as in inna lbuka huwa l-sh ifu mina l-d ja w bayna l-d ja wni (al-h ans) crying is the medicine
against love passion between the ribs.
4. jins al-alb , difference in the arrangement of the letters, as in usmuka fhi li l-abbi
fatun wa-rumuka fhi li l-adi atfu (al-Anaf) Your sword carries victory for your
friends, your lance carries death for your enemies.
If the distribution of the two terms is the beginning and the end of a verse, it is called
mud ja nna , as in la anwru l-nad min kaffih fi kulli li the rays of generosity shone
from his hand in every situation.
5. One divergent consonant.
(a) muri , homorganic, i.e. similar articulation area, as in bayn wa-bayna kinn laylun
dmisun wa-arun mis ( un ) ( Mamt al-arr ) Between me and my inn is a dark night
and an effaced road.
(b) li , non-homorganic, as in waylun li-kulli humazatin lumazah woe unto every
calumniator and libeller
6. Terms are derivations of the same root (or seemingly the same root) (figura etymologica) [
tad jns al-ish ti ], as in fa-aim wad jhaka li l-dni l-ayyim so turn your face toward the
straight religion.

Bibliography
A. Monographs on tad jns/d jins: T h alib, al-Mutash bih, ed. Ibrhm al-Smarr, in
Mad ja llat Kulliyyat al-db, jmiat Bag h dd, x (1967), 5-33
idem, al-Ans f g h urar al-tad jns, ed. Hill Nd j , in Mad ja llat al-Mad jma al-Ilm al-Ir,
xxxiii (1402/1982), 369-480
afad, jinn al-d jins, Constantinople 1299/[1881-2], and ed. Samr usayn alab, Beirut
1407/1987
Suy, jan al-d jins, ed. Mu. Al Riz al-h afd j , n.p. n.d. [1986] [with important introd.]

 jarmns Fart (d. 1145/1732), Bulg h al-arab f ilm al-adab. Ilm al-d jins, ed. Inm
Fawwl, Beirut 1990.
B. All works on rhetoric and literary criticism have a chapter on tad jns, the earlier and the
more extensive ones are listed here: T h alab, awid al-sh ir, ed. Raman Abd al-Tawwb,
Cairo 1966, 64-7
Ibn al-Mutazz, K. al-Bad, ed. I. Kratchkovsky, London 1935, 25-35
udma, K. Nad al-sh ir, ed. S.A. Bonebakker, Leiden 1956, 93-5
idem, jawhir al-alf, ed. Mu. Muyi l-Dn Abd al-amd, Beirut 1399/1979, 3, 4-5
Is b. Ibrhm Ibn Wahb al-Ktib (1st half 4th/10th cent.), al-Burhn f wud jh al-bayn, edd.
Amad Malb and h add ja al-adth , Bag h dd 1387/1967, 181 (al-mubaa wa lmush kala)
mid (d. 371/981), al-Muwzana bayn sh ir Ab Tammm wa l-Butur, ed. al-Sayyid Amad
ar, Cairo 1380-4/1961-5, i, 14 [bad > istira, ib, tad jns], 265-71 [bad tad jns in Ab
Tammm]
Rummn (d. 386/997), al-Nukat f id j z al-urn, edd. Mu. h alaf Allh and Mu. Zag h ll
Salm, in T h alth rasil f id j z al-urn, Cairo n.d., 91-2 (tad j nus)
tim (d. 388/998), ilyat al-muara, ed. jafar al-Kattn, 2 vols., [Bag h dd] 1979, i, 146
[fragmentary]
h wrazm, Maft al-ulm, ed. van Vloten, Leiden 1895, repr. 1968, 72-3 (in the section on
muwat kuttb al-rasil: ish ti = in poetry: mud j nasa), 94 (in the section on nad alsh ir: mud j nasa)
al- al- jurd j n, al-Wasa bayn al-Mutanabb wa-kh umih, edd. Mu. Abu l-Fal
Ibrhm and Al Mu. al-Bid j w, 3 Cairo n.d., 41-4 (tad jns mula, t. mustawf, t. ni), 46
(taf)
Ibn Wak (d. 393/1003), K. al-Munif li l-sri wa l-masr minhu f ihr sarit Abi l-ayyib
al-Mutanabb, ed. Mu. Ysuf Nad jm
, part 1, Kuwait: 1404/1984, 50-2 (mud j nasa)
Ab Hill al-Askar, K. al-inatayn al-kitba wa l-sh ir, edd. Al Mu. al-Bid j w and Mu.
Abu l-Fal Ibrhm, 2Cairo n.d. [1971], 330-45 (tad jns), 438-440 (taauf), cf. also G. Kanazi,
Studies in the Kitb a-inatayn of Ab Hill al-Askar, Leiden 1989, index

Billn, Id j z al-urn, ed. al-Sayyid Amad ar, Cairo 1963, 83-7, cf. also von Grunebaum
(tr.), A tenth-century document, 20-5
Ibn Rash , al-Umda f masin al-sh ir wa-dbih wa-nadih, ed. Mu. Muyi l-Dn Abd alamd, 3Cairo 1383/1963-4, i, 321-32
Yazdd (d. after 403/1012-13), Kaml al-balg h a wa-huwa rasil Sh ams al-Mal bs b.
Wush mgr, Cairo 1341/[1922-3], 20-1 (mud j nis, sic voc), 24 (explanation of term mud j nis)
Ibn Sinn al-h afd j (d. 466/1074), Sirr al-faa, ed. Abd al-Mutal al-ad, Cairo 1389/1969,
185-91 (mud j nas)
Abd al-hir al- jurd j n, K. Asrr al-balg h a, ed. H. Ritter, Istanbul 1954, 5-19, cf. also Ritter
(tr.), Die Geheimnisse der Wortkunst, Wiesbaden 1959, 5-36
Sakkk, Mift al-ulm, ed. Nuaym Zarzr, Beirut 1403/1983, 429-30
iy al-Dn Ibn al-Ath r, al- jmi al-kabr f inat al-manm min al-kalm wa l-manth r,
edd. Muaf jawd and jaml Sad, Bag h dd 1375/1956, 256-63
idem, al-Math al al-sir f adab al-ktib wa l-sh ir, edd. Amad al-f and Badaw abna,
2Riy 1403/1983, iii, 229-32 (ish ti)
Ibn al-Zamlakn (d. 651/1253), al-Tibyn f ilm al-bayn al-muli al id j z al-urn, edd.
Amad Malb and h add ja al-adth , Bag h dd 1383/1964, 166-9 (tad jns), 169-70 (ish ti)
Ibn Abi l-Iba (d. 654/1256), Bad al-urn, ed. ifh Mu. Sh araf, 2Cairo n.d., 27-30
idem, Tarr al-tabr f inat al-sh ir wa l-nath r wa-bayn id j z al-urn, ed. Sh araf, Cairo
1963, 102-10
al-Muaffar b. al-Fal al-Alaw al-usayn (d. 656/1258), Narat al-ig h r f nurat al-ar, ed.
Nuh rif al-asan, Damascus 1396/1976, 49-97
Zand j n (fl. 660/1262), K Miyr al-nur f ulm al-ashr, ed. Mu. Al Riz al-h afd j ,
Cairo 1991, ii, 73-82
Sid ji lms (d. after 704/1304-5), al-Manza al-bad f tad jns aslb al-bad, ed. Alll al-G h z,
Rabat 1401/1980, 481-98
Nuwayr, Nihyat al-arab f funn al-adab, vii, Cairo n.d., 90-8

al-h ab al-azwn (d. 739/1338), al- f ulm al-balg h a, ed. Mu. Abd al-Munim
h afd j , 3Beirut 1391/1971, 535-43 (d jins)
idem, al-Talkh f ulm al-balg h a [i.e. Talkh al-Mift], ed. Abd al-Ramn al-Bar, n.p.
n.d. [Beirut 1982], 388-92 (d jins).Hebrew literature (text in Judaeo-Arabic): Mosh e ibn
Ezra, K. al-Muara wa l-mud h kara, ed. and tr. Montserrat Abumalhan Mas, Madrid 1985-6,
i, 257-60 (mud j nasa), ii, 275-80.Persian texts: Rdyn, Tard jumn al-balg h a, ed. Ahmet
Ate, Istanbul 1949, 10-15 (tad jns)
Sh ams-i ays, al-Mud ja m f mayr ashr al-ad ja m, ed. Mu. ibn Abd al-Wahhb azwn,
Leiden and London 1909, 309-17 (tad jns)
Rash d al-Dn Waw, adyi al-sir f dayi al-sh ir, ed. Abbs Ibl, [Tehran] 1362/1983,
5-14 (tad jns).
C. Tad jns in modern presentations: (a) Arabic: ifn Muammad Sh araf, al-uwar al-badiyya
bayn al-naariyya wa l-tab, [Cairo] 1385/1966, ii, 5-49 (d jins)
Al al- jund, Fann al-d jins. Balg h aadabnad, Cairo n.d. [1954](b) Persian: jall
Tad jl l, jins dar pahna-yi adab-i frs, [Tehran] 1367/1988(c) Turkish:Muallim Naci,
Istilahat-i edebiyye. Edebiyat terimleri, edd. A. Yalm and A. Hayber, Ankara n.d. [1984], 124-129
(cinas), 29-30 (itikk)
W.G. Andrews, Jr., An introduction to Ottoman poetry, Minneapolis 1976, 86-92 (cinas, tecnis).
(W.P. Heinrichs)
Cite this page
Heinrichs, W.P., Tad jn s, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P.
Heinrichs. Consulted online on 06 January 2017 <http://dx.doi.org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1144>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007