سئم

Core meaning

To tire of an act that requires lasting. The text uses it only negated or forbidden.

Uses

1. سَئِمَ, يَسْـَٔمُ → "to tire of" : to lose constancy in a repeated act.

   • «وَلَا تَسْـَٔمُوٓا۟ أَن تَكْتُبُوهُ» — "And do not tire of writing it down" (2:282)
   • «وَهُمْ لَا يَسْـَٔمُونَ» — "without tiring" (41:38)
   • «لَّا يَسْـَٔمُ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مِن دُعَآءِ ٱلْخَيْرِ» — "The human being does not tire of calling for good" (41:49)

Evidence from the text

The three uses bear on an act that repeats: writing down every debt, "small or large" (2:282); glorifying "night and day" (41:38); calling for good (41:49). Weariness is always forbidden or denied there.

In 41:38, those who are with the Guardian do not tire of it, facing those who "swell with pride". In 41:49, the human being does not tire of asking; but, says the rest of the verse, "if ill touches him, he becomes hopeless, disheartened": his constancy holds for what he desires, not for the trial.

Distinctions

• لغب — the exhaustion of the body after effort, which God does not know (50:38); سئم is constancy slackening in a repeated act

See also

صبر (patience)