By stipulating “employed,” we have excluded the neglected or unused word; such a term is called neither literal nor figurative.
Likewise, by saying “in a sense other than that for which it was coined,” we have ruled out the literal meaning.
A word may not be taken in its figurative sense unless there is sound evidence that prevents intending the literal meaning; in rhetoric this evidence is called the qarīnah (contextual indicator).
For a figurative usage to be sound, there must be a link between the literal and the figurative meanings that justifies expressing one by means of the other. In rhetoric this link is termed the ʿalāqah (relation), which may be resemblance or something else.
If the link is resemblance, the device is called istiʿārah (metaphor), as when the word “lion” is applied to a courageous man.
If the link is other than resemblance, the device is termed majāz mursal (loose figurative usage) when the figurativeness lies in the words themselves, and majāz ʿaqlī (figurative attribution) when it lies in the predication.
An example of the majāz mursal is the statement, “We grazed the rain,” where the word “rain” stands for “grass”; the figurative element is in the noun.
An example of the majāz ʿaqlī is the phrase, “The rain caused the grass to grow.” All the words retain their literal meanings, but attributing growth to the rain is figurative, for the true Cause is Allah; the figurativeness, therefore, lies in the attribution.
Among the forms of the majāz mursal are figurative addition and figurative omission.
Figurative addition is illustrated by the verse, “There is nothing like unto Him” (Q 42:11); the particle kāf (as/like) is regarded as an added element that intensifies the negation of any likeness to Allah.