شحح

Core meaning

Greed: the disposition of the Self that keeps for itself and covets, to the point of refusing all sharing.

Uses

1. ٱلشُّحّ, شُحَّ نَفْسِهِۦ → "greed" : a disposition present in every Self, from which one must be protected.

   • «وَأُحْضِرَتِ ٱلْأَنفُسُ ٱلشُّحَّ» — "And greed is ever present to the Selves" (4:128)
   • «وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِۦ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ» — "And whoever is protected from the greed of his Self — those are the ones who succeed" (59:9)

2. أَشِحَّةً → "greedy" : the state of those governed by greed, toward others or toward good.

   • «أَشِحَّةً عَلَيْكُمْ» — "being greedy toward you" (33:19)
   • «أَشِحَّةً عَلَى ٱلْخَيْرِ» — "greedy for any good" (33:19)

Evidence from the text

The text presents greed as a trait of the Self itself: it is ever present to the Selves (4:128), in a verse on the reconciliation of spouses, where each must consent to yield. It is therefore not the vice of a few; it is from it that one is protected, and the formula, identical in 59:9 and 64:16, makes this protection the condition of success.

In 33:19, the same men are twice greedy: they give nothing of themselves in battle, then, once fear has passed, they covet good. Greed withholds what one owes and covets what one does not have; in 59:9, its opposite is those who prefer others to themselves, "even if they themselves suffer privation".

Distinctions

• بخل — stinginess: the act of withholding what one has, whereas greed is the disposition that withholds and covets

See also

فلح (to succeed)