دمدم

Core meaning

To crush under blows that repeat: the doubled word states the punishment that falls upon a whole people and levels it.

Uses

1. فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ → "pounded them" : the punishment that falls upon the Thamud, sparing none of them.

   • «فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِذَنۢبِهِمْ فَسَوَّىٰهَا» — "So their Guardian pounded them for their offense and leveled it" (91:14)

Evidence from the text

The single use concludes the account of the Thamud: they denied the messenger and hamstrung the she-camel, and the punishment falls upon them all, for their offense. The doubled form, made of the same pair of consonants repeated, makes blows that come back heard; what follows, "and leveled it", says what remains: an even surface, where nothing stands out.

Distinctions

• هلك — disappearance itself, whereas دَمْدَمَ states the repeated crushing that causes it

See also

سوى (to proportion, to level)