Arabic vocabulary
ضَنْكٌharshness in Arabic
ضَنْكٌ is how you say “harshness” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ض ن ك (ḍ-n-k)noun (verbal noun / maṣdar), also used as an adjectivePronounced ḍank
Meaning of harshness in Arabic
- narrowness, straitness; hardship — The primary, abstract sense of the maṣdar — the state of being constricted or hard-pressed, whether of a place, of one's livelihood, or of life in general.
- narrow, strait (adjective) — Used adjectivally for masculine and feminine alike, e.g. مَكَانٌ ضَنْكٌ 'a narrow place' or عَيْشٌ ضَنْكٌ 'a strait life'. Famous from the Qur'an (20:123), مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا 'a straitened life' — glossed by commentators variously as an unlawful livelihood, the punishment of the grave, or Hell itself.
ضَنْكٌ is best known from the Qur'anic phrase مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا (20:123), 'a straitened life' — commentators differ on whether it means an unlawful livelihood, hardship in this world, the punishment of the grave, or Hell. Note that the same root also covers an unrelated cluster of senses in Lane's: the common cold (ضُنَاك, مَضْنُوك) and physical compactness or robustness (ضِنَاك), alongside the core 'narrow/hard' meaning — so context decides which sense is meant.
Words from the same root
- ضَنُكَto be narrow or strait (of a place or of one's livelihood); also, of a man, to be weak in body, judgment, and intellect
- ضَنْكٌnarrowness, hardship; narrow, strait (this headword)
- ضُنَاكٌa coryza, a head cold or defluxion from the nose
- ضِنَاكٌcompact and firm in flesh, strongly built — said of people, camels, and trees
- ضَنِيكٌweak in body and mind; also, a servant who labors for his bread
- مَضْنُوكٌafflicted with a head cold (ضُنَاك)
Common questions
- How do you say "harshness" in Arabic?
- ضَنْكٌ (ḍank) — it literally denotes narrowness or straitness, extended to mean hardship, as in a hard or straitened life.
- What does مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا mean in Qur'an 20:123?
- "A straitened/hard life" — traditionally understood as an unlawful livelihood, worldly hardship, or (in some commentaries) the punishment of the grave or Hell.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
وَطول الْهم وَالْغَم وضنك الْمَعيشَة وكسف البال
And prolonged anxiety, sorrow, harshness of living, and worry of the mind.
وَضَنْكِ — and harshness. wa- = 'and'; dank means 'hardship, straitness', heading the next 'of…' word.
From: Returning to God →
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