ثمن

Core meaning

Two families that the text does not link. ثَمَن, the price: what a thing is given up for, almost always a derisory gain obtained in exchange for the signs or the pact of God; and the number eight, with its ordinal and its fraction.

Uses

1. ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا → "a paltry price" : the gain obtained by paying with the signs, the Scripture or the pact of God: it is worth little.

   • «وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِى ثَمَنًۭا قَلِيلًۭا» — "and do not buy, with My signs, a paltry price" (2:41)
   • «وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِى ثَمَنًۭا قَلِيلًۭا» — "and do not buy, with My signs, a paltry price" (5:44)

2. ثَمَن → "price" : the exchange value itself, alone or with another qualifier.

   • «لَا نَشْتَرِى بِهِۦ ثَمَنًۭا» — "We will not buy anything with it, at any price" (5:106)
   • «وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍۭ بَخْسٍۢ» — "And they sold him for a docked price" (12:20)

3. ثَمَٰنِيَة, ثَمَٰنِىَ, ثَمَٰنِين → "eight", "eighty" : the number, to count days, years, bearers, strokes.

   • «سَبْعَ لَيَالٍۢ وَثَمَٰنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ» — "seven nights and eight days" (69:7)
   • «فَٱجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَٰنِينَ جَلْدَةًۭ» — "inflict on them eighty strokes on the skin" (24:4)

4. ثَامِن, ٱلثُّمُن → "the eighth", "an eighth" : the rank in a series, or the share of an inheritance.

   • «وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ» — "their dog being the eighth" (18:22)
   • «فَلَهُنَّ ٱلثُّمُنُ» — "to them belongs an eighth" (4:12)

Evidence from the text

The price almost always bears on an exchange in which one loses. What is given up is of the highest order: the signs of God (2:41, 3:199, 5:44, 9:9), the Scripture He has sent down (2:79, 2:174, 3:187), His pact and the oaths (3:77, 16:95); what is received is called "little", قَلِيل. The verb is ٱشْتَرَىٰ, to buy: the signs serve as currency, and with them one buys a price worth nothing.

Elsewhere the price measures what a thing is worth in the eyes of the one who gives it up: Youssof is sold "for a docked price, a few numbered coins" (12:20); the two witnesses swear: "We will not buy anything with it, at any price" (5:106).

The number counts precise realities: eight, in pairs, among the cattle (6:143, 39:6), seven nights and eight days of wind (69:7), eight bearers of the Edifice (69:17), eight years of service (28:27), eighty strokes on the skin (24:4). The eighth is the dog, in the count of the companions of the Cave (18:22), and the share of the wives when there is a child (4:12).

Distinctions

• بخس — the docked price, below the value (12:20)
• شرى — the exchange itself, to sell or to buy; ثمن is what one exchanges for

See also

قلل (the little) · سبع (seven)