ضيق

Core meaning

To become narrow: a space, or a chest, closes in under a weight until no room is left.

Uses

1. ضَيِّق → "narrow" : a place, or a chest, with no room.

   • «يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُۥ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًۭا» — "He makes his chest narrow and constricted" (6:125)
   • «وَإِذَآ أُلْقُوا۟ مِنْهَا مَكَانًۭا ضَيِّقًۭا مُّقَرَّنِينَ» — "And when they are thrown into a narrow place therein, bound together" (25:13)

2. ضَاقَ, يَضِيقُ, ضَآئِق → "to become narrow", "to tighten" : the earth or the Self closing in despite its vastness, the chest tightening under hostile speech.

   • «وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ» — "and the earth, despite its vastness, became narrow for you" (9:25)
   • «أَنَّكَ يَضِيقُ صَدْرُكَ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ» — "that your chest tightens from what they say" (15:97)
   • «وَيَضِيقُ صَدْرِى» — "that my chest will tighten" (26:13)

3. ضَيْق → "to be constrained" : the state of one whom adversity hems in.

   • «وَلَا تَكُ فِى ضَيْقٍۢ مِّمَّا يَمْكُرُونَ» — "and do not be constrained because of what they plot" (16:127)

4. ضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا → "to feel helpless" : the reach of the arm closing in: no longer knowing how to face things.

   • «سِىٓءَ بِهِمْ وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًۭا» — "their coming vexed him, and he felt helpless on their account" (11:77)

5. لِتُضَيِّقُوا۟ → "to put in straits" : to hem others in, to deprive them of room.

   • «وَلَا تُضَآرُّوهُنَّ لِتُضَيِّقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ» — "and do not harm them so as to put them in straits" (65:6)

Evidence from the text

Narrowness always has a cause. The earth does not shrink: it becomes narrow "despite its vastness", for those whom their great number dazzled (9:25) or for the three who had stayed behind, until their very Selves became narrow (9:118). The chest tightens at what is said to the messenger (11:12, 15:97); Moussa fears his own will tighten before Fir'awn (26:13); that of one whom God wants to lead astray is made "narrow and constricted" (6:125).

The word also names the place and the act. The narrow place where the deniers are thrown, bound together (25:13), is the extreme image of closing in. Conversely, the text forbids hemming in divorced women during their waiting period (65:6), and tells the messenger not to be constrained because of what they plot (16:127, 27:70).

Distinctions

• حرج — constriction: the obstacle that prevents moving forward, joined to ضَيِّق in 6:125
• رحب — vastness: the earth "despite its vastness" becomes narrow (9:25, 9:118)
• شدد — to bind firmly, to consolidate what must hold (47:4), whereas ضيق says the chest or the space that closes in

See also

صدر (the chest) · ذرع (the reach of the arm)