بين

Core meaning

The interval that separates, and what, by separating, makes distinct: from the space between two terms comes the clarity of what is discerned.

Uses

1. بَيْنَ → "between" : preposition: the space that separates two terms, places, ages or persons.

   • «قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكَ» — "That is understood between you and me" (28:28)
   • «عَوَانٌۢ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ» — "of middle age between the two" (2:68)

2. مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ → "what is before them" : what is between the hands, in front of oneself.

   • «يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ» — "He knows what is before them and what is behind them" (2:255)

3. بَيَّنَ, تَبَيَّنَ, بَيَان → "to make clear", "to become distinguishable", "to distinguish clearly", "a clear exposition" : to separate sharply so as to make discernible: to make see, or to see for oneself.

   • «حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلْخَيْطُ ٱلْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْطِ ٱلْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ ٱلْفَجْرِ» — "until the white thread becomes distinguishable to you from the black thread of dawn" (2:187)
   • «فَتَبَيَّنُوٓا۟» — "So distinguish clearly" (4:94)
   • «لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ» — "so that you may make clear to mankind what has been sent down to them" (16:44)

4. بَيِّنَة, ٱلْبَيِّنَٰت → "a clear proof", "clear proofs" : what separates the true from the false discernibly; the messengers come with them.

   • «أَفَمَن كَانَ عَلَىٰ بَيِّنَةٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ» — "Is he who relies on a clear proof from his Guardian" (11:17)
   • «إِذْ جِئْتَهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ» — "when you came to them with clear proofs" (5:110)

5. مُبِين → "clear", "manifest" : what shows itself distinctly of itself, without needing to be sought.

   • «أَنَّمَا عَلَىٰ رَسُولِنَا ٱلْبَلَٰغُ ٱلْمُبِينُ» — "only the clear transmission is incumbent upon Our messenger" (5:92)
   • «إِنْ هَٰذَآ إِلَّا سِحْرٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ» — "This is nothing but a manifest illusion" (5:110)

Evidence from the text

The preposition sets an interval between two terms: between two men bound by an agreement (28:28), between two ages (2:68), between the sky and the earth (2:164). The verbal forms draw clarity from it: what one separates sharply becomes discernible. In 2:187, the white thread becomes distinguishable from the black thread of dawn; in 4:94, before judging anyone, the order is given: "distinguish clearly" (4:94).

The clear proof, بَيِّنَة, is what separates the true from the false discernibly: the messengers come "with clear proofs" (5:110), and one who "relies on a clear proof from his Guardian" (11:17) does not follow a presumption. مُبِين qualifies what shows itself of itself: the transmission the messenger is charged with (5:92), or what the disowners accuse of being an illusion (5:110).

Distinctions

• فرق — to separate into parts; بَيْن says the interval and the clarity it gives
• فصل — to separate and detail, to decide