# مظلوم



## Little_LIS

Hello everybody,


How can we say "مظلوم" and ظلم ( the verb )in English ?

Thanks in advance


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## djamal 2008

Oppression, oppressed.
Repression, repressed.


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## Little_LIS

Thanks a lot, djmal ))

So, can I say "He oppressed me". zalamny ?


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## djamal 2008

one can say he abused me. It's more current.


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## clevermizo

The translation depends on context, but generally I would translate ظلمني as "he *wronged* me." 

We don't typically use "oppress" in the context of just 2 people, although it is possible. Also, abuse is also possible, but not as general as the verb "wrong."


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## Little_LIS

> We don't typically use "oppress" in the context of just 2 people


 
Thanks clevermizo and djmal for your replies 

So, for just two people, what do you call it ?

For example, a teacher gave the students bad grades.

He wanted to tell him that he was unfair.

انت ظلمتنى


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## asadxyz

Dr.Susy said:


> Thanks clevermizo and djmal for your replies
> 
> So, for just two people, what do you call it ?


Hi 
We can say: He treated me unjustly. He ill-treated me.
Or if  there is a sense of torturing ,then we can say:He tyrannized me.Or he acted tyrannically to me.


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## elroy

There is not a single translation that always works.  In the example with the teacher and the student, I might say, "You were unfair to me" or "You treated me unfairly."  As a general translation, Clevermizo's "you wronged me" seems suitable. 





asadxyz said:


> He ill-treated me.


 That's not correct.  It would be "He *mis*treated me."


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## asadxyz

elroy said:


> . That's not correct. It would be "He *mis*treated me."


 Hi Elroy
Please refer to "Arabic English Dictionary by Hans Wehr ," under "zalama".One of its meaning is " to treat unjustly" and "to ill- treat.

قاموس المحدث - (ج 1 / ص 14531)
ظَلَمَ: جارَ على to wrong, oppress, tyrannize, aggrieve, maltreat, treat unjustly (inequitably, tyrannically, badly), be unjust (unfair, oppressive) to, do wrong or injustice to, commit outrage upon

*BBC English dictionary* :
"If some one ill-treats you ,they treat you cruely" (under the heading of "ill-treat").
Thanks


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## djara

elroy said:


> There is not a single translation that always works. In the example with the teacher and the student, I might say, "You were unfair to me" or "You treated me unfairly." As a general translation, Clevermizo's "you wronged me" seems suitable. That's not correct. It would be "He *mis*treated me."


 
It may be not as commonly used as mistreat, but it's in the dictionary (Merriam Webster):


Main Entry: ill–treat javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?illtre01.wav=ill-treat') Function: _transitive verb_ Date: 1689 
*:* to treat cruelly or improperly *:* maltreat 
— ill–treat·ment javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?illtre02.wav=ill-treatment') \-mənt\ _noun_


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## elroy

I guess I can't argue against solid evidence, but I will say that this is not something a native speaker would say in most cases, so it's not just "uncommon" - it's unidiomatic and unnatural, so much so that I was convinced it was incorrect.


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## the-quality-man-4

Hi Djamel
For "I THINK" abused me,it means "maltraiter" "MADE IN USA",I hear it a lot coming out from American good series.
For "Dalim" here's the words "tyrant,despot"
I don’t want to be seen as getting mileage out of this,but For "Autocrat" since that I'm not quite sure about it,does it mean"Dalim"?


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## WadiH

ظلم = injustice; unfairness
ظلمني = wronged me; treated me unfairly/unjustly


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## djamal 2008

to do s.o. wrong.


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## clevermizo

"Ill-treat" is perfectly fine in English, but I would say that its use may be older, and at least in American English is uncommon. The Oxford English Dictionary lists its last recorded use during the late 19th century.

"Mistreat" would be much more common. Ill-treat may still be used in the UK.


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## Faylasoof

Use of  'ill-treat / ill-treatment' is perfectly idiomatic UK English.


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## elroy

Live and learn.   This seems to be another American-English difference.

Anyway, the differences between _ill-treat _and _mistreat_ are actually kind of off-topic, as I don't think either would be used to translate ظلم.


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## londonmasri

There is no single word in the English language that can do justice to the concept of _THulm_ in Arabic. 

That is why there are so many different opinions.

You have to go by the context that you are in.

_THulm_ from my understanding is to 'wrong someone', to commit injustice against someone, 

_THaalim_ = oppressor, tyrant, 'unjust' (against someone usually)

maTHluum = oppressed, the one who has had (or is still having) injustices commited against him.

3ala fikra, I remember a conversation from a long while ago, I was talking to someone in English, and he was describing to me a community of people and he was trying to describe them in English, in the end he said they are "maTHluumeen".

My point is that, he speaks English, yet he couldn't find a word to describe this state.

Huwa THalamny = He has wronged me (the best translation in my opinion, however it doesn't convey the strength and gravity of the word).


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## clevermizo

londonmasri said:


> Huwa THalamny = He has wronged me (the best translation in my opinion, however it doesn't convey the strength and gravity of the word).



I think it is because in most modern Englishes, the verb to "wrong" someone sounds almost old-fashioned. It's sounds a bit lofty, so it might be hard to capture the sort of meaning that a verb like ظلم does in Arabic, because this verb is still commonly in use, even in every day speech. In English, I think most of us actually describe the situation case-by-case, "He really made me upset when he did that" or "He really mistreated so-and-so by doing that" or "That was not right of him to do that..", "He abused so-and-so by..."

Even though I said earlier that "wrong" is the best translation for ظلم, I meant if you were looking for one-to-one word correspondence. However, the best translation is really dependent upon the specific situation.


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