The Implied Metaphor — "Lower for Them the Wing of Humility"

Definition of the implied metaphor:
A metaphor in which the vehicle (compared-to) is deleted and only its implication (what points to it) is retained — pointing to the vehicle through contextual indication.

The verse:
"And lower for them the wing of humility out of mercy." (17:24)

Rhetorical analysis:

• The tenor: humility and mercy toward parents
• The vehicle: a bird that lowers its wing — deleted
• The retained implication: "wing" — a property of the bird — kept instead of mentioning the bird

Why is the implied metaphor more eloquent here?
To say "be like a bird lowering its wing" would be a plain simile. But deleting the vehicle (the bird) and retaining its wing makes humility itself a bird lowering its wing — a more evocative image that fuses more tightly with the meaning.

Al-Jurjani: "The implied metaphor merges the two meanings until they become one — and for this reason it is more eloquent than the explicit simile."