Quranic root
ألم
ʾ · l · m
The root centers on pain or ache, whether experienced or caused.
The lexical pattern extends from undergoing pain (أَلِمَ) to what causes pain (أَلِيمٌ), with further causative and expressive derivatives.
- Maqāyīs · row 136
- Mufradāt · row 50
- Lane · entry 7077
- Lane · entry 7078
- Lane · entry 7084
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 75
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَلِمَ
ʾalima
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 3 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To be in pain; to suffer pain.
In the Quran, the active imperfect denotes experiencing pain, including the contrasting construction in which one group suffers as another group suffers.
- Lane · entry 7076
- Mufradāt · row 50
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:104word 8
“suffering”
Quran 4:104word 10
“are (also) suffering”
أَلِيم
ʾalīm
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- Quran occurrences
- 72 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Painful; causing pain or suffering.
In Quranic usage, it frequently qualifies punishment, torment, or another affliction. The adjective may express the causative sense of something that produces pain, rather than a separate meaning from the ordinary translation “painful.”
- Lane · entry 7084
- Mufradāt · row 50
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:4word 25
“painful”
Quran 15:50word 5
“the most painful”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 75 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 10 Classical meanings
أَلَمٌ
Pain or ache, especially severe pain.
A noun for pain or aching generally.
- Lane · entry 7080
- Mufradāt · row 50
أَلَمٌ
Distress or difficulty.
An idiomatic extension in an expression for bringing hardship or difficulty upon someone.
- Lane · entry 7080
أَلِمٌ
Being in pain; suffering pain; aching.
An adjective describing a person or thing undergoing pain.
- Lane · entry 7081
آلِمٌ
Experiencing or suffering pain; being in pain.
A descriptive form for one who is experiencing pain.
- Mufradāt · row 50
آلَمَ
To cause someone pain or aching.
A causative verb taking the sufferer as its object.
- Lane · entry 7077
تَأَلَّمَ
To be or become pained.
A Form V inchoative or reflexive expression of undergoing pain.
- Lane · entry 7078
تَأَلَّمَ
To express pain, grief, or sorrow; to lament, complain, or moan.
It may be used with مِنْ for complaint about someone or something, or with لِـ for complaint on account of hardship.
- Lane · entry 7078
أَلُومَةٌ
Lowness, ignobleness, baseness, vileness, or meanness.
An independent nominal use with a moral or social evaluation.
- Lane · entry 7085
أَيْلَمَةٌ
A sound or voice.
Applied to a sound belonging to a person or thing.
- Lane · entry 7086
أَيْلَمَةٌ
Motion.
A separately reported lexical use of the noun.
- Lane · entry 7086
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic verb tokens are imperfect forms; the public headword is normalized to the perfect citation form أَلِمَ.
The evidence records both أَلِمٌ and آلِمٌ for the state of being in pain. They are retained as separate classical headwords because their forms differ despite overlapping meanings.
A separate homographic note in the lexical evidence concerns the interrogative prefix with لَمْ, not the root ألم.