غرم

Core meaning

What one is forced to bear without having wished it: a debt imposed by an unforeseen expense, an expense felt as a charge, a penalty that falls unforeseen and must be paid off.

Uses

1. ٱلْغَٰرِمِين → "those indebted by an unforeseen expense" : those whom an unforeseen charge has put in debt; they have a share in the acts of charity.

   • «وَٱلْغَٰرِمِينَ» — "those indebted by an unforeseen expense" (9:60)

2. مَغْرَم → "a forced levy", "debt" : what weighs on the one who must pay: the expense one holds to be imposed, the debt one would be weighed down by.

   • «فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍۢ مُّثْقَلُونَ» — "so that they are heavily laden with debt" (52:40)

3. مُغْرَمُونَ → "ruined" : those whom the destroyed harvest leaves without resource.

   • «إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ» — "We are surely ruined!" (56:66)

4. غَرَام → "an unforeseen levy" : the penalty one must pay off, falling by surprise, like the unforeseen expense of those in debt (9:60).

   • «إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا» — "for its punishment is an unforeseen levy" (25:65)

Evidence from the text

In each use, something is imposed on someone against his will. In 9:60, the list of the acts of charity names those whom an unforeseen expense has put in debt, beside those "under the burden of a debt". In 9:98, some notables hold what they spend to be a forced levy, while others make it a means of drawing near to God (9:99): the same expense is a gift or a charge according to the one who makes it.

In 52:40 and 68:46, the same question rules out any charge coming from the messenger: does he ask them for a reward, "so that they are heavily laden with debt"? In 56:66, those whose crop is reduced to debris cry out that they are ruined. In 25:65, the punishment of Jahannam is "an unforeseen levy": like those in debt in 9:60, the one it reaches must pay off a charge he had not foreseen.

Distinctions

• خسر — loss: what one ceases to have, whereas غرم says what one is forced to bear

See also

ثقل (to weigh down) · نفق (to spend)