خمص

Core meaning

To have a hollow belly: dearth, the want of food that presses and compels.

Uses

1. مَخْمَصَة → "dearth" : the want that compels or tests.

   • «فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ» — "But whoever is compelled by dearth" (5:3)
   • «وَلَا مَخْمَصَةٌۭ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ» — "no dearth touches them in the way of God" (9:120)

Evidence from the text

In 5:3, dearth lifts the dietary prohibition, provided one does not incline "to transgression": the compulsion comes from want, not from desire. In 9:120, it is one of the three trials of the body, with thirst and fatigue, endured "in the way of God" and inscribed as "a sound deed" (9:120).

Distinctions

• جوع — hunger: the need to eat, test or blessing, whereas مَخْمَصَة names the want that hollows and compels
• سغب — the famine of a day of distress (90:14)