Haqiqa (literal sense)

الحقيقة

In technical use haqiqa is a word employed for what it was coined to mean in the convention through which speech is conveyed; its counterpart is metaphor, a word used for something other than its coinage because of a link between the two. ¹ Kinaya is speech whose intended meaning is hidden by usage though its literal sense is clear, so it needs intention or context to settle what is meant. ² Literal meaning is linguistic when set by the lexicographers, legal when set by the lawgiver, and customary when set by custom; the same word may be literal in one sense and figurative in another, as prayer is literal in the legal sense and figurative in supplication. ² Speech is taken literally by default and moved to metaphor only when the literal sense is impossible, hard or abandoned by custom, with branches in bequests, oaths and acknowledgements. ^{3 4} Most usulis forbid taking the literal and figurative sense together in one use, the Shafiis allow it unless reason forbids; a general metaphor is admissible. ⁴