Learn ArabicB2 › ظُلْم

ظُلْم

injustice, wrongdoing /ˈðˤulm/

nounB2#4213 most common

Also: oppression, tyranny, wrong (that is done to someone)

Example sentences

الظُّلْمُ سَيِّئٌ.
Injustice is bad.
لَا تَفْعَلِ الظُّلْمَ.
Don't commit injustice.
هَذَا الحَاكِمُ يَكْرَهُ الظُّلْمَ.
This ruler hates injustice.
عَانَى الشَّعْبُ مِنَ الظُّلْمِ لِسَنَوَاتٍ طَوِيلَةٍ.
The people suffered from injustice for many long years.
يَجِبُ عَلَى الحُكُومَةِ أَنْ تُحَارِبَ الظُّلْمَ وَتُحَقِّقَ العَدْلَ بَيْنَ المُوَاطِنِينَ.
The government must fight injustice and achieve justice among citizens.
إِنَّ التَّارِيخَ يُثْبِتُ أَنَّ الظُّلْمَ، مَهْمَا طَالَ أَمَدُهُ، لَا بُدَّ أَنْ يَزُولَ فِي نِهَايَةِ المَطَافِ.
History proves that injustice, no matter how long it lasts, must eventually disappear.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeظُلْمٌ / الظُّلْمُ
Genitiveظُلْمٍ / الظُّلْمِ
Accusativeظُلْماً / الظُّلْمَ
Vocativeيَا ظُلْمُ

Word family

ظَلَمَto wrong, to oppress
ظَالِمwrongdoer, oppressor
مَظْلُومwronged, oppressed
ظَلَامdarkness
مَظَالِمgrievances, injustices (plural form)

Etymology

Ẓulm comes from the Semitic root ẓ-l-m, which carries the core sense of darkness and putting something in a place where it does not belong. Classical Arabic dictionaries link the moral sense, wronging someone, to this idea of moving a thing off its rightful position, into figurative darkness. The word is a masdar, a verbal noun, built from the verb ẓalama, to wrong or oppress. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no Proto-Indo-European root.

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