بلس

Core meaning

To fall into a mute despair when every recourse has vanished.

Uses

1. مُبْلِسُون → "in despair" : the state of those whom the punishment seizes unawares, or whom nothing comes to rescue.

   • «أَخَذْنَٰهُم بَغْتَةًۭ فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَ» — "We seized them unexpectedly, and there they were, in despair" (6:44)

2. يُبْلِسُ → "to be plunged into despair" : the state of the severed at the Hour, with no intercessor.

   • «وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ ٱلسَّاعَةُ يُبْلِسُ ٱلْمُجْرِمُونَ» — "And on the day the Hour rises, the severed will be plunged into despair" (30:12)

Evidence from the text

Despair always follows the loss of a recourse: the seizing "unexpectedly" (6:44), the gate of punishment opened (23:77), the Hour when the associates are no longer intercessors (30:12), the punishment that "will not abate for them" (43:75). In 30:49, it is the waiting for rain: before it came down they were in despair, and when it reaches them, "behold, they exult" (30:48).

Distinctions

• يئس — to lose hope: to stop expecting, whereas بلس is the mute dejection that follows the loss of every recourse
• قنط — to lose heart, notably regarding God's benevolence

See also

إبليس (the name the text ties to this root) · بغت (surprise)