علن

Core meaning

To bring out into view what one carries: what one shows, always facing what one keeps secret or hidden.

Uses

1. يُعْلِنُونَ, تُعْلِنُونَ, نُعْلِنُ → "to disclose" : the shown pole of a pair whose two terms God knows.

   • «أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ» — "God knows what they keep secret and what they disclose" (2:77)
   • «مَا تُكِنُّ صُدُورُهُمْ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ» — "what their chests shelter and what they disclose" (27:74)

2. أَعْلَنَ → "to announce publicly" : to speak openly, beside what one confides in secret.

   • «ثُمَّ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَنتُ لَهُمْ وَأَسْرَرْتُ لَهُمْ إِسْرَارًۭا» — "then I announced to them publicly and confided to them privately" (71:9)

3. عَلَانِيَة → "openly" : the visible side of giving, paired with the secret.

   • «سِرًّۭا وَعَلَانِيَةًۭ» — "secretly and openly" (2:274)

Evidence from the text

The word never goes alone: it pairs with what one keeps secret (2:77, 11:5, 16:19, 16:23, 36:76, 64:4), with what one hides (14:38, 27:25, 60:1), with what chests shelter (27:74, 28:69). The two terms together name all that a being carries, and God knows the one as the other.

Nuh does both: he announced publicly, then confided in secret (71:9). In 60:1, those who secretly confide their affection learn that God knows best what they have hidden and what they have disclosed.

Distinctions

• سرر — to keep secret: the inner pole of the pair
• كنن — to shelter: what chests keep under cover
• بدو — to appear, to make appear: what comes before the eyes, at first sight, whereas علن names what one discloses of what one carried

See also

غيب (what escapes the senses)