Mohamad Budiono, Kisyani Kisyani, Samsul Shodiq, Fatwiah Noor
This study addresses the limited anthropolinguistic analysis of figurative language in modern Arabic prose by examining similes (tashbīh) and metaphors (istiʿārah) as cultural codes in al-Shāʿir by Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti. Previous scholarship has primarily emphasized rhetorical classification and stylistic appreciation, leaving insufficient exploration of how figurative expressions encode culturally embedded systems of meaning. The study aims (1) to identify and classify similes and metaphors based on classical Arabic rhetorical theory (balāghah), (2) to analyze their conceptual structures using Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and (3) to interpret their cultural significance within an anthropolinguistic framework. This research employs qualitative textual analysis through systematic close reading of the original Arabic text. A total of 49 similes and 36 metaphors were identified, categorized into six and eight typologies respectively, and analyzed through a three-stage procedure: rhetorical identification, structural classification, and cultural interpretation. The findings demonstrate that figurative expressions in al-Shāʿir function as semiotic mechanisms that encode shared cultural models rooted in Arab-Islamic intellectual tradition. These include religious symbolism, moral virtues, emotional ideals, and social hierarchies. The study defines “Arab worldview” as a culturally structured system of meaning shaped by Islamic cosmology, ethical philosophy, and classical literary heritage that informs patterns of moral evaluation and emotional expression. By integrating classical rhetoric, cognitive linguistics, and anthropolinguistics, this study proposes a systematic model for analyzing Arabic figurative language beyond stylistic description, contributing to cultural linguistics and literary semiotics. © 2026, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. All rights reserved.
State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia; State University of Surabaya, Indonesia; UIN Antasari Banjarmasin, Indonesia
