قنط
Attested forms : ٱلْقَٰنِطِينَ 1 · يَقْنَطُ 1 · يَقْنَطُونَ 1 · تَقْنَطُوا۟ 1 · قَنُوطٌۭ 1 · قَنَطُوا۟ 1
Core meaning
To lose heart: to stop awaiting benevolence, to the point of collapsing before the ill that touches one.
Uses
قَنَطَ, يَقْنَطُ, ٱلْقَٰنِطِين → "to lose heart", "those who lose heart" : the dejection of one who no longer expects anything from his Guardian's benevolence.
قَنُوط → "disheartened" : the intensive form: one who loses heart at the slightest ill.
- «فَيَـُٔوسٌۭ قَنُوطٌۭ» — "he becomes hopeless, disheartened" (41:49)
Evidence from the text
The text makes this loss of heart a fault of judgment. Ibrahim answers the envoys: "And who loses heart regarding his Guardian's benevolence, except the astray?" (15:56). The prohibition is addressed to those who have been excessive against themselves (39:53), and the proof is given by the rain: God sends it down "after they have lost heart" (42:28).
Loss of heart is an immediate reaction to ill: "but if evil strikes them for what their hands have prepared, behold, they lose heart" (30:36). The human being who does not tire of calling for good becomes, as soon as ill touches him, "hopeless, disheartened" (41:49).
Distinctions
- يئس — to lose hope: expectation going out, whereas قنط names courage collapsing; 41:49 joins the two
- بلس — the despair of one left without recourse
See also
رحم (benevolence)