مِسْكِينٌ
Root: سكن
Full Definition
مِسْكِينٌ
and مَسْكِينٌ, the latter anomalous, for there is no [other] instance of the measure مَفْعِيلٌ, of the dial. of Benoo-Asad, mentioned by Ks as heard by him from some one or more of that tribe, others saying مِسْكِينٌ, of the measure مِفْعِيلٌ from السُّكُونُ, because the person to whom it is applied trusts to, or relies upon, others, so as to be, or become, easy, or quiet, in mind: primarily, it signifies Lowly, humble, or submissive; and therefore the Prophet said, اَللّٰهُمَّ
أَحْيِنِى مِسْكِينًا وَأَمِتْنِى مِسْكِينًا وَاْحْشُرْنِى فِى زُمْرَةِ
المَسَاكِينِ [O God, make me to live lowly, and make me to die lowly, and gather me among the congregation of the lowly]: and hence it sometimes applies to him who possesses little and [sometimes] to him who possesses much: sometimes, it signifies also low, abject, ignominious, or in a state of abasement or humiliation; and weak; and subdued, or oppressed; though possessing riches or competence: [therefore] Sb says, it is one of the words expressive of pity, or compassion; [and as such may be rendered poor;] you say, مَرَرْت بِهِ المِسْكِينَ [I passed by him, I mean the poor man], putting it in the accus. case by the implication of أَعْنِى, though it may be in the genitive case as a substitute [for the pronoun], and in the nom. case by the suppression of هُوَ meant to be understood: in other cases, it is syn. with
فَقِيرٌ, meaning destitute, i. e. possessing nothing: or accord. to ISk, مسكين means thus; but the فقير is he who possesses a sufficiency of the means of subsistence: or the former means possessing somewhat; or [rather] needy, i. e. possessing what is not sufficient for him or for his family: or caused by poverty to have little power of motion; thus expl. by Aboo-Is-hák; but this is improbable; for مسكين has the meaning of an active part. n., and his explanation [like one of the others mentioned above] makes it to have that of a pass. part. n.: Yoo says the like of ISk: he used to say that the مسكين is in a harder condition than the فقير: he says, I asked an Arab of the desert, Art thou فقير? and he answered, No, by God, but rather مسكين; but 'Alee Ibn-Hamzeh says that this man may have meant that he was low, or abject, by reason of his distance from his people and his home; and that he does not think he meant anything but that: [J also adds,] it is said in a trad. that the مسكين is not he whom a mouthful or two mouthfuls will turn back, or away, but is only he who does not beg, and who is not known so that he may be given [anything]; but Ziyádet-Allah Ibn-Ahmad says that the فقير is he who sits in his house, not begging, and the مسكين is he who begs and is given; and hence it is argued that the latter is in a better condition than the former; though it indicates that the former is more highminded than the latter: accord. to As, the مسكين is better in condition than the فقير; and this is [said to be] the right assertion, for the pl. of the former is applied in the Kur xviii. 78 to men possessing a ship, or boat, which is worth a considerable sum; but they may have been thus termed because they were humbled and abased by the tyranny of the king who took every ship, or boat, that he found upon the sea, by force; and it is said that these men were hirers, not owners, of the vessel: (TA voce فَقِيرٌ, q. v.:) 'Alee Ibn-Hamzeh says, that the مسكين is better in condition than the فقير is shown by a passage in the Kur [ix. 60], where it is said that the poor-rates are for the فُقَرَآء and the مَسَاكِين; for you will find the classes to be there mentioned in such an order that the second is better in condition than the first, and the third than the second, and in like manner the fourth and the fifth and the sixth and the seventh and the eighth: and he says that the same is shown by the fact that the Arabs sometimes used مسكين as a proper name, but not فقير: or when these two words are used together, they differ in signification; and when used separately, they [sometimes] signify the same: (El-Bedr El-Karáfee, TA in art. فقر:) [see more voce فَقِيرٌ:] a woman is termed مِسْكِينَةٌ and مِسْكِينٌ also; the former by way of assimilation to فَقِيرَةٌ; the latter being accord. to rule, for an epithet of the measure مِفْعِيلٌ is regularly applied alike to a male and a female; or, as Abu-l-Hasan says, this is only when it is an intensive epithet, which مِسْكِينَةٌ is not: the pl. is مَسَاكِينُ and مِسْكِينُونَ, applied to men, or to a company of people, and مِسْكِينَاتٌ applied to female.
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