Keeping secret and making public
سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً
sirran wa-ʿalāniyatan — secretly and openly
In the verses given, the roots س ر ر and ع ل ن are repeatedly paired within a single clause to mark the two poles of concealment and disclosure, either as objects of God's knowledge or as adverbial modes of spending.
The twelve verses sampled here keep the roots س ر ر (keeping secret) and ع ل ن (making public) together in one verse – within a single clause in ten of them – and they do so in two main constructions. In one set, the pair is verbal and functions as the double object of knowing: 'He knows what they keep secret and what they make public' (2:77, 11:5, 16:19, 16:23, 36:76, 64:4), with the verbs in the fourth form and joined by وَمَا. Here the pairing asserts that God's knowledge covers both poles, so that neither hiding nor disclosing escapes it; 11:5 and 64:4 reinforce this by adding that He is knowing of what is within the chests. In the other set, the pair is nominal and adverbial, characterizing spending: 'secretly and openly' (2:274, 13:22, 14:31, 35:29), where سِرًّا is an indefinite accusative masculine noun and عَلَانِيَةً an indefinite accusative feminine noun. Here the pairing marks totality of manner: the spending is done in both modes, by night and day (2:274). Two verses vary the pattern: 60:1 shifts to second person and mixes tenses ('you conceal... what you hide and what you make public'), and 71:9 reverses the order, putting the ع ل ن verb first ('I made [it] public to them, and I made [it] secret to them'), with the verbal noun إِسْرَارًا intensifying the second member. Across the sample, the two roots are not merely co-occurring but set against each other as complementary poles of one domain.
Where it occurs
- 2:77 Verbal pair as double object of God's knowing: what they keep secret and what they make public.
- 2:274 Nominal adverbial pair describing spending by night and day, secretly and openly.
- 11:5 Verbal pair: even shrouded in garments, He knows what they keep secret and what they make public.
- 13:22 Nominal adverbial pair describing spending out of what We provided them, secretly and openly.
- 14:31 Nominal adverbial pair describing commanded spending, secretly and openly, before the Day.
- 16:19 Verbal pair addressed to the hearers: Allah knows what you keep hidden and what you make public.
- 16:23 Verbal pair as object of God's knowing, followed by His not loving the arrogant.
- 35:29 Nominal adverbial pair describing spending out of what We provided them, secretly and openly.
- 36:76 Verbal pair as object of We know: what they keep secret and what they make public.
- 60:1 Verbal pair in second person with mixed tenses: you conceal toward them, and I know what you hide and what you made public.
- 64:4 Verbal pair as object of His knowing, alongside His knowledge of the heavens and the earth.
- 71:9 Verbal pair in first person with reversed order: I made it public and I made it secret, with the verbal noun إِسْرَارًا.
All Qur'anic expressions