Qur’anic Root J R M

1. Forms and semantic core

J R M has an extensive Arabic family. Recorded forms include jarama, jarm, jurm, jirm, jarīm, jarīmah, jārim, jarrām, jarām, jurāmah, ajrama, ijrām, mujrim, ijtaramaand tajarrama.

These forms occur in usages involving harvesting crops, gathering and acquiring, committing sin or crime, the physical body, and the passing of time.

The Qur’an contains five morphological categories from this family:

• Yajrimannakum, from the Form I verb, in three verses, conveying leading or impelling someone toward a particular outcome.
• Ajramū, ajramnā, and tujrimūn, Form IV verbs, denoting committing wrongdoing.
• Ijrāmī, the Form IV verbal noun with a first-person suffix, naming wrongdoing in a statement about responsibility.
• Mujrim and its plural forms, the Form IV active participle, describing those who commit wrongdoing.
• Jarama in lā jarama, an established expression.

The family occurs 66 times in the Qur’an, mostly as mujrim and its plural forms. The frequency of one derivative does not establish an identical meaning for every other form. The Quranic Arabic Corpus distinguishes three Form I verbs, five Form IV verbs, five instances of jaram in lā jarama, one verbal noun ijrām, and 52 active participles mujrim: 66 words in 65 verses.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: 66 occurrences in five categories

Cutting and acquiring

Ibn Fāris identifies one principle for this family in Maqāyīs al-Lughah: al-qaṭʿ, “cutting.”

He begins with harvesting dates and shearing sheep’s wool, then relates acquiring to cutting off or separating a portion from a whole.

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs: cutting and acquiring

The connection is intelligible in practical life. Harvesting dates separates the fruit from the tree and places it at the harvester’s disposal. Cutting and obtaining can occur together in this action.

They remain distinct concepts. Someone may acquire something without cutting it, or cut something without acquiring it for themselves.

A connection between cutting and acquiring can therefore be recognized in some usages, without translating every acquisition as physical cutting.

In the branch concerning wrongful conduct, jurm and ijrām concern an act someone commits and for which responsibility returns to that person.

Nevertheless, Qur’anic wrongdoing is not simply “acquiring.” Most uses of mujrim also involve wrongful conduct and moral or religious responsibility.

The defensible semantic areas should thus remain distinct: cutting and separating in material usages; acquiring and obtaining in practical usages; and committing wrongdoing where wrongful conduct and human responsibility are at issue. Brief root meaning: Cutting and separating; acquiring and obtaining; and, in another branch, committing wrongdoing and objectionable acts.

2. Cutting, gathering, and acquiring in early Arabic

Harvesting dates

An early usage of this family concerns cutting and harvesting dates from palms.

Jarama al-nakhla is recorded for picking dates from palm trees.

Jarām denotes the date-harvest season, while jarīm in some usages refers to harvested or dried dates.

Jurāmah is recorded for dates left behind or fallen after the harvest.

These words show the family’s place in Arab agricultural life.

The farmer separates fruit from its attachment to the tree. Once separated, it can be gathered, carried, stored, or consumed.

Here the action is not inherently objectionable. Harvesting is an ordinary and beneficial activity.

The modern Persian sense of “crime” must not lead us to assume that early Arabic jarama always concerned sin, an offense, or punishment.

Earning a livelihood for the family

Jarama li-ahlihi describes someone earning a livelihood for the family.

Jārimu ahlihi and jarīmatu ahlihi are likewise recorded for the family’s earner or provider.

Lexical sources: earning provision and the family provider

In this usage, a person obtains something through work and effort.

What is obtained might be food, wealth, or another means of subsistence.

Jārim in such a construction therefore means an earner, rather than a sinful or criminal person.

This distinction provides important evidence of the historical range of J R M.

The witness from Abū Khirāsh al-Hudhalī

Describing an eagle providing food for its chick, Abū Khirāsh al-Hudhalī says:

«جَرِيمَةَ نَاهِضٍ فِي رَأْسِ نِيقٍ
تَرَى لِعِظَامِ مَا جَمَعَتْ صَلِيبَا»

jarīmata nāhiḍin fī raʾsi nīqin / tarā li-ʿiẓāmi mā jamaʿat ṣalībā

That is: “A provider for a chick on a mountain summit; the grease of the bones of what she has gathered can be seen.” Ṣalīb in this witness means fat or grease from bones, rather than simply their hardness.

Lisān, Ṣ L B: ṣalīb as grease in the witness

Jarīmah here means an earner or provider.

The poet portrays an eagle hunting and providing food for its chick.

Nāhiḍ refers here to a chick approaching the stage of rising and beginning to fly. Nīq denotes a mountain height or summit.

This witness shows that literary Arabic could use jarīmah without the meaning of moral sin or crime.

Discussing the same verse, Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī considers a possible connection with the eagle’s hunting and killing birds. The proposal merits consideration, but the verse does not establish that jarīmah itself means only hunting or killing.

Al-Rāghib: explanation and proposal concerning the eagle witness

Abū Khirāsh was a mukhaḍram poet who lived across the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods. The date of this particular poem is not independently established; it belongs to the heritage of early Arabic without being certainly pre-Islamic.

From acquiring to committing wrongdoing

Acquiring in Arabic can concern something beneficial or harmful.

Some derivatives of J R M, especially ajrama and mujrim, became associated with wrongful conduct in their established usage.

Al-Rāghib explains that ijrām is used for acquiring something objectionable, and is seldom used in ordinary speech for a commendable acquisition.

This illustrates semantic development and specialization within particular forms of one lexical family.

A root used in one construction for earning a livelihood may, in another form, concern incurring sin or committing wrongdoing.

The connection does not make acquisition itself objectionable, or everything someone obtains a crime.

A poetic witness concerning the consequences of conduct

A verse that Abū ʿUbaydah attributes to Hayrudān al-Saʿdī reads:

«طَرِيدُ عَشِيرَةٍ وَرَهِينُ ذَنْبٍ
بِمَا جَرَمَتْ يَدِي وَجَنَى لِسَانِي»

ṭarīdu ʿashīratin wa-rahīnu dhanbin / bi-mā jaramat yadī wa-janā lisānī

That is: “An outcast from my tribe and held captive by sin, because of what my hand committed and my tongue brought about.” Abū ʿUbaydah and Al-Ṭabarī transmit rahīnu dhanbin, “held captive by sin”; the J R M witness is jaramat yadīin the second hemistich.

Abū ʿUbaydah, Majāz al-Qurʾān: the rahīnu dhanbin transmission

In this transmission, dhanb appears beside tribal expulsion and the consequences of conduct; jaramat in the following hemistich expresses acquiring or committing an act.

Jaramat yadī concerns what someone has done with their own hand, while janā lisānī describes what their speech has brought about.

The witness illuminates the connection between wrongdoing, conduct, and resulting responsibility.

The exact date and historical position of the poet are not established by the lexical quotation alone. Further examination would be needed before presenting the verse as certainly pre-Islamic.

Body, dimensions, and jirm

Jirm, with kasrah on the jīm, also denotes a physical body in Arabic.

Jirmu al-insān, for example, refers to the human physical body.

Lexicographers offer different accounts of this usage. Ibn Fāris relates a body to something possessing a determinate measure and divisions.

Ibn Fāris: body, measure, and divisions

Ajrām and jurūm are among the recorded plurals of jirm in the bodily sense.

Later usage also applied the word to celestial bodies.

This branch is distinct from jurm meaning sin and ijrām meaning committing wrongdoing.

Shared consonants do not make a Qur’anic mujrim someone with a large, heavy, or dense body.

Cutting and the completion of time

Tajarrama al-laylu is recorded for the night passing away.

Sanatun mujarramatun describes a year that has run its full course and ended.

Cutting is not physical in these usages. A period of time has reached its end.

Ibn Fāris relates these cases to an extension being cut off or brought to completion.

Maqāyīs: passing night and a complete year

The image is understandable, but it must not become the meaning of every Qur’anic derivative.

A Qur’anic mujrim is not “someone whose time has ended,” even where a passage about wrongdoers concerns the end of life or the arrival of the reckoning.

3. Lā yajrimannakum: being led into aggression or injustice

One of this root’s most significant Qur’anic uses is yajrimannakum.

It occurs in Al-Māʾidah 5:2, Al-Māʾidah 5:8, and Hūd 11:89.

These verses do not say that the addressees have already been identified as wrongdoers. The prohibitive construction warns that a factor such as hostility or opposition must not lead them into wrongful conduct or a harmful outcome.

Al-Māʾidah 5:2: hostility must not lead to aggression

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ وَلَا الشَّهْرَ الْحَرَامَ وَلَا الْهَدْيَ وَلَا الْقَلَائِدَ وَلَا آمِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَانًا وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَاصْطَادُوا وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ أَنْ صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ أَنْ تَعْتَدُوا وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tuḥillū shaʿāʾira Allāhi wa-lā al-shahra al-ḥarāma wa-lā al-hadya wa-lā al-qalāʾida wa-lā āmmīna al-bayta al-ḥarāma yabtaghūna faḍlan min rabbihim wa-riḍwānan wa-idhā ḥalaltum fa-iṣṭādū wa-lā yajrimannakum shanaʾānu qawmin an ṣaddūkum ʿani al-masjidi al-ḥarāmi an taʿtadū wa-taʿāwanū ʿalā al-birri wa-al-taqwā wa-lā taʿāwanū ʿalā al-ithmi wa-al-ʿudwāni wa-ittaqū Allāha inna Allāha shadīdu al-ʿiqāb

“O you who believe, do not violate The God’s sacred signs, the sacred month, the offerings, the garlands, or those heading to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and pleasure. When you leave the state of consecration, you may hunt. Do not let hatred of a people who barred you from the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgress. Cooperate in righteousness and mindfulness, and do not cooperate in sin and aggression. Be mindful of The God; indeed, The God is severe in punishment.”

Shanaʾānu qawmin concerns hatred or animosity toward a people.

The verse concerns a group who barred the addressees from the Sacred Mosque. The hostility therefore has a stated background.

Nevertheless, the Qur’an warns that this hostility must not cause aggression.

In lā yajrimannakum, the verb carries the heavy emphatic nūn. The prohibition concerns hostility influencing the addressees’ conduct.

Lexicographers, including Al-Farrāʾ, explain the construction through lā yaḥmilannakum: it must not impel or lead you to an action.

Al-Farrāʾ and other lexicographers: lā yaḥmilannakum

Here acquiring extends into bringing about a consequence or leading someone into particular conduct.

“Transgression,” however, is supplied by taʿtadū.

Yajrimannakum itself must not therefore be translated simply as “transgress,” without regard to its complement.

The verse expresses two matters separately: hostility may lead someone toward an action, and the action here is transgression.

Al-Māʾidah 5:8: justice even toward an enemy

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū kūnū qawwāmīna li-Allāhi shuhadāʾa bi-al-qisṭi wa-lā yajrimannakum shanaʾānu qawmin ʿalā allā taʿdilū iʿdilū huwa aqrabu li-al-taqwā wa-ittaqū Allāha inna Allāha khabīrun bi-mā taʿmalūn

“O you who believe, stand firm for The God as witnesses with equity. Do not let hatred of a people lead you to be unjust. Be just; that is nearer to mindfulness. Be mindful of The God; indeed, The God is aware of what you do.”

Here too, yajrimannakum accompanies shanaʾānu qawmin.

This time, the outcome to avoid is injustice.

After the warning, the Qur’an says:

«اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى»

iʿdilū huwa aqrabu li-al-taqwā

The command makes clear that hostility toward others does not authorize abandoning justice.

Someone may have suffered harm from an individual or group and feel anger or resentment toward them. That situation does not alter what is right.

If someone has committed injustice, their conduct must be evaluated through evidence and a standard of justice. Hostility does not justify unsupported accusations or violating their rights.

Linguistically, the verse clearly illustrates the connection between J R M and bringing about a consequence or being led into action.

The person who feels hostility is not yet called a mujrim merely for that feeling. The warning concerns conduct that could result from it.

Hūd 11:89: opposition must not bring a repetition of earlier peoples’ fate

وَيَا قَوْمِ لَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شِقَاقِي أَنْ يُصِيبَكُمْ مِثْلُ مَا أَصَابَ قَوْمَ نُوحٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ هُودٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ صَالِحٍ وَمَا قَوْمُ لُوطٍ مِنْكُمْ بِبَعِيدٍ

wa-yā qawmi lā yajrimannakum shiqāqī an yuṣībakum mithlu mā aṣāba qawma Nūḥin aw qawma Hūdin aw qawma Ṣāliḥin wa-mā qawmu Lūṭin minkum bi-baʿīd

“My people, do not let your opposition to me bring upon you the like of what struck the people of Noah, the people of Hud, or the people of Salih. The people of Lot are not far from you.”

Here Shuʿayb warns his people.

Shiqāqī belongs to SH Q Q and concerns opposition to him and separation from his path.

The verbal role in lā yajrimannakum shiqāqī resembles the two Al-Māʾidah passages, but the outcome differs.

In Al-Māʾidah, hostility must not cause aggression or injustice.

In Hūd, opposition to Shuʿayb must not bring the people into a situation ending like that of earlier peoples.

All three usages concern causing or leading toward a consequence, while the following expressions identify that consequence.

J R M here does not itself mean punishment, just as it did not itself mean injustice in Al-Māʾidah.

A poetic witness for causing an outcome

A verse is attributed to Abū Asmāʾ ibn Al-Ḍarībah, and alternatively to ʿAṭiyyah ibn ʿAfīf. Ibn Barrī prefers the second-person reading ṭaʿanta, considering its elegiac address to Kurz al-ʿUqaylī:

«وَلَقَدْ طَعَنْتَ أَبَا عُيَيْنَةَ طَعْنَةً
جَرَمَتْ فَزَارَةَ بَعْدَهَا أَنْ يَغْضَبُوا»

wa-la-qad ṭaʿanta Abā ʿUyaynata ṭaʿnatan / jaramat Fazārata baʿdahā an yaghḍabū

That is: “You struck Abū ʿUyaynah with a spear thrust that afterwards brought Fazārah to anger.”

Jaramat here means causing or leading a group toward a particular reaction.

The spear thrust brought Fazārah to anger.

The construction is close to Qur’anic lā yajrimannakum.

Jaramat in this verse does not itself mean committing sin. The subject is the effect of an event on a group’s response.

The attribution is disputed, but early grammatical and lexical sources quote the verse to explain this construction. Here only the vowel of the tāʾ has been corrected following Ibn Barrī, bringing it into agreement with the second-person translation and elegiac context.

Ibn Barrī in Lisān: disputed attribution and ṭaʿanta reading

4. Ajrama and ijrām: committing wrongdoing and responsibility for an act

Hūd 11:35: responsibility rests upon the person who commits the act

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ قُلْ إِنِ افْتَرَيْتُهُ فَعَلَيَّ إِجْرَامِي وَأَنَا بَرِيءٌ مِمَّا تُجْرِمُونَ

am yaqūlūna iftarāhu qul ini iftaraytuhu fa-ʿalayya ijrāmī wa-anā barīʾun mimmā tujrimūn

“Or do they say, “He fabricated it”? Say, “If I fabricated it, my guilt rests upon me, and I am free of the guilt you incur.””

Ijrāmī is the Form IV verbal noun with the first-person singular possessive suffix.

Tujrimūn, later in the verse, is likewise Form IV, addressed to a plural audience.

The verse concerns an accusation of fabrication. The answer is conditional: if I have done so, its responsibility rests upon me.

The construction matters because a conditional statement does not confess that wrongdoing has occurred.

The speaker does not say that he actually fabricated the account. Answering the accusation, he attributes the hypothetical responsibility to himself.

Al-Ṭabarī: condition, fabrication, and responsibility

He also declares himself free of the wrongdoing committed by the addressees.

Accusation, proof that an act occurred, and actual responsibility must remain distinct.

Ijrāmī here means “my wrongdoing,” rather than “my body” or “something I cut from a tree.”

This Qur’anic form belongs to the branch concerning wrongful conduct.

Sabaʾ 34:25: ajramnā in a disputed conversation

قُلْ لَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا أَجْرَمْنَا وَلَا نُسْأَلُ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

qul lā tusʾalūna ʿammā ajramnā wa-lā nusʾalu ʿammā taʿmalūn

“Say: You will not be asked about what we have committed, nor will we be asked about what you do.”

This verse is particularly significant for the usage of ajramnā.

The first clause uses ajramnā for the speakers, whereas the second uses taʿmalūn for the addressees.

Lexically, ajramnā denotes committing wrongdoing, while taʿmalūn has the broader meaning of doing or acting.

Why are the two parties described through different verbs in a conversation about belief?

The surrounding verses help answer the question.

In Sabaʾ 34:24, the Prophet is instructed to present guidance and error in a formulation placing both possibilities before his audience.

In Sabaʾ 34:25, each group is identified as responsible for its own conduct.

In Sabaʾ 34:26, final judgment is entrusted to The God, who will judge justly between them.

Ajramnā in this context should not be taken as a definite confession by the Prophet that he has committed wrongdoing.

The expression can be understood within a fair and responsible dialogue: even if there is wrongdoing on our part, you are not responsible for it, and we are not responsible for your conduct.

The speaker thus does not exempt himself from responsibility before the final judgment.

The difference between ajramnā and taʿmalūn should not be erased by replacing both in the base translation with “our deeds and your deeds.” The Qur’an employs two different verbs, a distinction relevant to analyzing the dialogue.

Al-Ṭabarī: the parties’ conduct in the dialogue

Committing wrongdoing and conscious conduct

Al-Anʿām 6:123 mentions akābira mujrimīhā: the leading wrongdoers of a town, who scheme within it.

The following verse, Al-Anʿām 6:124, describes people adopting an entitled stance toward divine signs, then discusses the consequences facing wrongdoers.

Here wrongdoing is linked with deception, scheming, and resistance to guidance.

Al-Muṭaffifīn 83:29 states:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا كَانُوا مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَضْحَكُونَ

inna alladhīna ajramū kānū mina alladhīna āmanū yaḍḥakūn

“Those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed,”

The following verses mention mocking gestures, returning cheerfully to their families, and calling believers misguided. These descriptions occur in Al-Muṭaffifīn 83:30, Al-Muṭaffifīn 83:31, and Al-Muṭaffifīn 83:32.

The criticized conduct is therefore more than an ordinary laugh. Ridiculing and humiliating people appears within the context of their wrongdoing.

Ajramū itself does not mean laughing; the independent verb yaḍḥakūn expresses that action.

Al-Rūm 30:47 also uses alladhīna ajramū after describing messengers coming with clear proofs and the opponents’ response.

Qur’anic wrongdoing may concern social, ethical, and religious conduct, rather than only theft, killing, or offenses recognized in contemporary criminal law.

5. Mujrim: a description of conduct or an unchangeable identity?

Mujrim is the Form IV active participle.

It denotes someone who commits wrongdoing or is known for wrongful conduct.

Singular and plural forms occur in various Qur’anic settings. Some describe wrongdoers’ conduct in this life, while others depict their outcome on the Day of Reckoning.

These usages do not reduce the designation to a judicial category in an earthly legal system.

Wrongdoing and social position

In Al-Anʿām 6:123, wrongdoers can be among a town’s leading and influential people.

Wrongdoing is therefore not defined by poverty, weakness, or lack of social standing.

Someone may possess power, wealth, or influence and use it to scheme and spread corruption.

Conversely, poverty, membership of a particular group, or lack of power does not itself make someone a wrongdoer.

The criterion lies in actual conduct and responsibility, rather than social position.

Moses and refusing to support wrongdoers

قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِلْمُجْرِمِينَ

qāla rabbi bi-mā anʿamta ʿalayya fa-lan akūna ẓahīran li-al-mujrimīn

“He said: My Lord, because of the favor You have bestowed upon me, I will never be a supporter of the guilty.” (Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:17)

The verse follows the incident in which Moses struck a man and the man died.

Moses then addresses The God and declares that he will not support wrongdoers.

Ẓahīr belongs to Ẓ H R and concerns support and assistance.

The construction concerns not only directly committing wrongdoing, but also backing those who commit it.

The verse should not be made into an unqualified prohibition of every kind of help to someone who has done wrong, regardless of its purpose or circumstances.

Defending an accused person’s rights, preventing unjust punishment, or helping someone reform differs from supporting the commission of wrongdoing.

Ẓahīran li-al-mujrimīn concerns the role of assisting wrongdoers; its scope must be understood through the context and standards of justice.

Wrongdoers on the Day of Reckoning

Several Qur’anic scenes concerning resurrection depict wrongdoers.

Al-Kahf 18:49 describes their apprehension about what the record contains when the record of deeds is set down.

Ibrāhīm 14:49 depicts wrongdoers bound together in fetters.

Al-Sajdah 32:12 describes them with heads lowered before their Lord.

Yā Sīn 36:59 commands wrongdoers to separate themselves from others.

Al-Raḥmān 55:41 describes wrongdoers being recognized by their marks.

These usages connect wrongdoing with accountability and the consequences of conduct.

They do not authorize calling people wrongdoers in this life without valid evidence, merely because of differing beliefs or social affiliation.

The Qur’an reports the conduct and outcome of groups whose actual condition The God knows. Human judgment of others requires evidence and justice.

Wrongdoing contrasted with faith and righteous conduct

Al-Qalam 68:35 states:

أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِمِينَ

a-fa-najʿalu al-muslimīna ka-al-mujrimīn

“Shall We treat those who submit like the guilty?”

The question presents a distinction between the two groups in divine judgment.

It does not establish that merely calling oneself Muslim, regardless of conduct, grants immunity from every wrongdoing and responsibility.

The surrounding verses in the same surah discuss the outcome of those who are mindful, mistaken judgment, and unsupported claims.

The contrast between muslimīn and mujrimīn must therefore be understood through truth, submission, and human conduct.

Al-Jāthiyah 45:21 likewise distinguishes those who commit evil deeds from those who believe and do righteous deeds.

Together these passages show that actual conduct matters in judgment, rather than simply a name or claimed group affiliation.

What conduct do the wrongdoers themselves report?

Al-Muddaththir 74:41 mentions inquiry about the wrongdoers.

In the following verses, they answer by mentioning failing to establish ṣalāh, failing to feed the needy, joining those engaged in false discourse, and denying the Day of Recompense. These answers occur in Al-Muddaththir 74:43, Al-Muddaththir 74:44, Al-Muddaththir 74:45, and Al-Muddaththir 74:46.

The answers are significant for understanding Qur’anic mujrim.

Wrongdoing in this scene is not limited to a criminal act recognized by penal systems. Relationship with The God, responsibility toward the needy, participation in wrongful social conduct, and one’s stance toward truth are also involved.

Nevertheless, mujrim does not lexically contain all these acts.

The following verses identify examples and characteristics of the group being questioned.

The lexical definition must therefore remain distinct from the description of wrongdoers’ conduct in a particular scene.

Is being a mujrim an unchangeable description?

An active participle can identify someone by their action or conduct. Its morphology alone does not establish that the description can never cease to apply, in any circumstances.

Someone may act wrongly, then stop, repent, and seek reform.

Repentance and reform appear in many Qur’anic verses, including Al-Māʾidah 5:39 and Al-Furqān 25:70.

These passages show that a designation alone should not lead us to disregard the possibility of return and reform.

The possibility of repentance does not erase victims’ rights or every social and legal responsibility resulting from an act.

Moral return, restoring others’ rights, and consequences that may remain must be distinguished.

6. Lā jarama: from lexical construction to established expression

Lā jarama is a distinctive usage within this family.

It occurs five times: Hūd 11:22, Al-Naḥl 16:23, Al-Naḥl 16:62, Al-Naḥl 16:109, and Ghāfir 40:43.

In each case the construction emphasizes the truth and certainty of the following statement.

Al-Naḥl 16:62

وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ مَا يَكْرَهُونَ وَتَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُهُمُ الْكَذِبَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ الْحُسْنَى لَا جَرَمَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ النَّارَ وَأَنَّهُمْ مُفْرَطُونَ

wa-yajʿalūna li-Allāhi mā yakrahūna wa-taṣifu alsinatuhumu al-kadhiba anna lahumu al-ḥusnā lā jarama anna lahumu al-nāra wa-annahum mufraṭūn

“They assign to The God what they dislike, and their tongues assert the lie that the best is for them. Certainly the Fire is for them, and they will be sent ahead.”

Al-Ṭabarī: lā jarama and variant readings of mufraṭūn

The group claims goodness for itself, although its wrongful conduct and attributions have already been mentioned.

Lā jarama then introduces the following statement emphatically.

Translating it as “there is no crime” would disrupt the relationship between the clauses.

The verse is not denying the existence of sin. It emphasizes the consequence stated for that group.

Lexical disagreement about the construction lā jarama

Early Arabic sources report several analyses of the expression’s construction and history.

Al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad treats lā jarama as a response to what preceded: it follows a claim or account of conduct and affirms the subsequent statement.

Discussing jarama’s syntactic role, Sībawayh treats its grammatical operation as verbal, proposing a sense such as “it has become established” or “it has proved true.”

Another explanation connects lā jarama with acquiring and the consequences of conduct: a person’s conduct has, as it were, made a consequence certain for them.

Al-Rāghib also examines these accounts, seeking a connection between acquiring and the construction of the expression.

Al-Sīrāfī, Commentary on Sībawayh: analyzing lā jarama

Such etymological disagreements must not lead us to translate each component independently with its ordinary contemporary meaning in every verse.

In established Qur’anic usage, the expression means approximately “certainly,” “truly,” or “without doubt.”

Al-Khalīl, Sībawayh, and Al-Farrāʾ: analyses of lā jarama

Is lā jarama always about punishment?

The Qur’anic expression often occurs in statements about deniers’ outcome, wrongful conduct, and divine judgment.

Hūd 11:22 and Al-Naḥl 16:109, for example, describe loss in the Hereafter.

Al-Naḥl 16:23 concerns The God’s knowledge of what people conceal and reveal.

In Ghāfir 40:43, the expression appears in a believer’s speech rejecting his people’s invitation and discussing humanity’s return to The God and the outcome of those who exceed bounds.

The examples show that lā jarama can emphasize a statement on different subjects.

The expression itself should not be confined to “certain punishment,” although some following statements do concern punishment or loss.

7. Distinctions from related roots

J R M (jarm) compared with K S B (kasb)

Study of K S B

K S B concerns acquiring or obtaining something through action.

Qur’anic acquisition may concern good, evil, wealth, or the consequences of human conduct.

Jarama likewise means acquiring in one of its early branches.

Jarama li-ahlihi, for example, concerns earning a livelihood for the family.

In the Qur’an, however, Form IV has an established association with committing wrongful acts.

Kasb thus has a wider evaluative range, whereas Qur’anic ijrām and mujrim carry a more explicit negative charge.

The difference must not erase the early acquisition sense from the lexical history of J R M.

J R M (jurm) compared with J R Ḥ (jarḥ)

Study of J R Ḥ

J R Ḥ also concerns acquiring and performing acts in Arabic.

In Al-Anʿām 6:60, jaraḥtum concerns conduct and what people have acquired through it.

In Al-Jāthiyah 45:21, ijtaraḥū al-sayyiʾāti describes committing evil deeds.

These usages overlap with J R M in wrongful conduct and acquiring the consequences of acts.

J R Ḥ also has the familiar fields of bodily wounds and hunting animals.

Qur’anic J R M, meanwhile, concerns committing wrongdoing, responsibility, and being led toward consequences.

The roots overlap in some settings but are not identical.

J R M (jurm) compared with DH N B (dhanb)

Study of DH N B (Not yet published)

Qur’anic dhanb concerns sin and responsibility arising from conduct.

Jurm can likewise concern sin and wrongful acts.

In Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:78, al-mujrimūn appears alongside dhunūbihim. The description of a wrongdoer and the naming of sins can have different functions within one sentence.

Mujrim describes a person; dhunūb denotes the sins or acts attributed to them.

Every occurrence of dhanb cannot therefore be replaced by jurm without considering context, nor does every occurrence of J R M establish a specific kind of sin.

J R M (jurm) compared with A TH M (ithm)

Study of A TH M

Qur’anic ithm concerns sin, wrongful conduct, and moral responsibility.

Al-Māʾidah 5:2 prohibits cooperation in al-ithmi wa-al-ʿudwān.

Yajrimannakum occurs in the same verse, but there it means leading someone into aggression.

Even within the same verse and ethical field, two roots do not necessarily have identical functions.

Ithm names sinful conduct, whereas yajrimannakum in that sentence expresses a cause and its result.

J R M (jurm) compared with Q Ṭ ʿ (qaṭʿ)

Study of Q Ṭ ʿ

Qaṭʿ concerns cutting and severing.

The early harvesting usage of jarama likewise concerns cutting.

Qur’anic Q Ṭ ʿ covers a broad range of separating, ending, and severing connections.

Qur’anic J R M more often concerns wrongful conduct, responsibility, and one factor influencing someone’s action.

The material meaning of cutting does not make every Qur’anic mujrim someone who physically cut something.

J R M (jurm) compared with GH R M (ghurm)

Study of GH R M (Not yet published)

GH R M is an independent root concerning debt, compensation, and financial liability.

Al-ghārimīn in Al-Tawbah 9:60 denotes debtors.

Mujrimīn, however, belongs to J R M and denotes those who have committed wrongdoing.

The resemblance of jurm and ghurm in Persian pronunciation must not lead to confusing the roots.

Wrongdoing can bring liability for financial compensation. That legal relationship does not make every debtor a wrongdoer, or every wrongdoer necessarily a debtor.

J R M (jurm) compared with J N Y (jany)

Study of J N Y (Not yet published)

Janā concerns picking fruit and bringing about the results of conduct.

It is thus close to one early branch of jarama.

The verse attributed to Hayrudān al-Saʿdī places jaramat yadī alongside janā lisānī.

The two verbs can therefore approach each other in discussing conduct and its consequences.

Shared acquisition and consequence meanings do not establish a single root.

Each family’s actual usages and independent forms must remain distinct.

8. Translation proposals for Forqan

Qur’anic J R M cannot be reduced to one fixed Persian equivalent.

For ajramū and similar forms, “committed wrongdoing” or “committed crimes” are suitable equivalents of the proposed Persian renderings.

Persian mujrim and mujrimān are familiar and natural equivalents for mujrim and its plural. Their Qur’anic application is wider than the restricted category of criminal offenses in contemporary legislation.

For ijrāmī, “my wrongdoing” suits the Persian proposal. Hūd 11:35 expresses responsibility through fa-ʿalayya, “then upon me.”

For lā yajrimannakum, the translation must fit the complement: “must not lead you to transgress” in Al-Māʾidah 5:2; “must not lead you into injustice” in Al-Māʾidah 5:8; and “must not bring you to that outcome” in Hūd 11:89.

The three renderings share a functional core while preserving the different result in each sentence.

For lā jarama, “certainly” or “truly” suits the proposed Persian “bī-gumān” or “bi-rāstī.” “There is no crime” does not fit the expression’s established Qur’anic usage.

Brief root meaning

“J R M: Cutting and separating; acquiring and obtaining; and, in another branch, committing wrongdoing and objectionable acts.”

Meanings of the Qur’anic forms

“Yajrimannakum”: must not lead you into an action or consequence; in these verses, a warning about hostility and opposition influencing conduct.

“Ajramū”: they committed wrongdoing; performing objectionable acts.

“Ijrāmī”: my wrongdoing; in Hūd 11:35, wrongdoing for which the speaker would bear responsibility if it occurred.

“Mujrim”: someone who commits wrongdoing; in the Qur’an, a description of individuals and groups whose wrongful conduct is identified in context.

“Lā jarama”: certainly, truly; an established expression emphasizing the next statement.

Translation must preserve these distinctions. Lā yajrimannakum cannot simply mean “do not commit a crime,” nor can lā jarama be explained through the ordinary contemporary Persian meaning of “crime.”

Conclusion

Arabic J R M ranges from cutting and separating to acquiring and committing wrongdoing.

Agricultural usages concerned harvesting and separating produce from a tree. Livelihood usages concerned earning provision; jārim and jarīmah could denote an earner.

In the moral and religious branch, ajrama and mujrim concern committing wrongful acts and responsibility for them.

The Qur’an uses the root in different constructions. Lā yajrimannakum warns that hostility or opposition must not lead to aggression, injustice, or harmful consequences. Ajramū and mujrimūn concern wrongful conduct and its perpetrators. Ijrāmī names wrongdoing in a statement about personal responsibility, while lā jarama is an established expression emphasizing certainty.

Qur’anic contexts associate wrongdoers with different conduct, including scheming and corruption, ridiculing believers, disobedience, denial, and neglecting the needy.

These examples do not constitute the lexical definition of every derivative. Nor may a designation be used without valid grounds to accuse any person or group.

The family’s attested meanings occupy three fields: cutting, acquiring, and committing wrongdoing. The Qur’an gives prominence to wrongdoing and responsibility, while yajrimannakum has a particular causative construction and lā jarama has become an established expression.

Studying a root therefore involves more than finding the meaning of a noun. Morphology and syntax can show whether a passage concerns performing an act, leading someone toward a consequence, responsibility for conduct, or emphasizing a statement.

The Qur’an also establishes a clear relationship between wrongdoing and justice: committing wrongdoing brings responsibility, but hostility toward someone does not authorize aggression or injustice against them. Condemning wrongful conduct must not itself become a pretext for further wrongdoing.