Knowledge and awareness
Al-ʿAlīm ٱلْعَلِيم
The All-Knowing: His knowledge covers the hidden and the open, the past and what has not yet happened.
144 āyāt · 40 sūrahs · root ع ل م
Why Allah uses this name
Ibn Kathīr repeatedly reads this name as closing off excuses — the passage has just described what people conceal, intend or claim, and the name states that none of it is unseen to Him.
Take this with you
Your inner state is already known. Repair it rather than manage appearances.
'He knows what is in the land and the sea; not a leaf falls but He knows it' (6:59).
Qurʾān 6:59; cited by Ibn Kathīr as the measure of His ʿilm
Where it appears in the Qur'an
Counted from the muṣḥaf text as served by the Quran.com API. A few occurrences describe someone other than Allah; read the āyah in place to see which.
2. Sūrat Al-Baqarah البقرة
21 āyahs
āyah 29, 32, 95, 115, 127, 137, 158, 181, 215, 224, 227, 231, 244, 246, 247, 256, 261, 268, 273, 282, 283
3. Sūrat Āl ʿImrān آل عمران
7 āyahs
āyah 34, 35, 63, 73, 92, 115, 121
4. Sūrat An-Nisāʾ النساء
17 āyahs
āyah 11, 12, 17, 24, 26, 32, 35, 39, 70, 92, 104, 111, 127, 147, 148, 170, 176
5. Sūrat Al-Māʾidah المائدة
3 āyahs
āyah 54, 76, 97
6. Sūrat Al-Anʿām الأنعام
7 āyahs
āyah 13, 83, 96, 101, 115, 128, 139
7. Sūrat Al-Aʿrāf الأعراف
3 āyahs
āyah 109, 112, 200
8. Sūrat Al-Anfāl الأنفال
6 āyahs
āyah 17, 42, 53, 61, 71, 75
9. Sūrat At-Tawbah التوبة
11 āyahs
āyah 15, 28, 44, 47, 60, 97, 98, 103, 106, 110, 115
10. Sūrat Yūnus يونس
2 āyahs
āyah 65, 79
12. Sūrat Yūsuf يوسف
7 āyahs
āyah 6, 34, 50, 55, 76, 83, 100
15. Sūrat Al-Ḥijr الحجر
3 āyahs
āyah 25, 53, 86
16. Sūrat An-Naḥl النحل
1 āyah
āyah 70
21. Sūrat Al-Anbiyāʾ الأنبياء
1 āyah
āyah 4
22. Sūrat Al-Ḥajj الحج
2 āyahs
āyah 52, 59
23. Sūrat Al-Muʾminūn المؤمنون
1 āyah
āyah 51
24. Sūrat An-Nūr النور
9 āyahs
āyah 18, 21, 28, 32, 35, 58, 59, 60, 64
26. Sūrat Ash-Shuʿarāʾ الشعراء
3 āyahs
āyah 34, 37, 220
27. Sūrat An-Naml النمل
2 āyahs
āyah 6, 78
29. Sūrat Al-ʿAnkabūt العنكبوت
3 āyahs
āyah 5, 60, 62
30. Sūrat Ar-Rūm الروم
1 āyah
āyah 54
31. Sūrat Luqmān لقمان
1 āyah
āyah 34
33. Sūrat Al-Aḥzāb الأحزاب
4 āyahs
āyah 1, 40, 51, 54
34. Sūrat Sabaʾ سبأ
1 āyah
āyah 26
35. Sūrat Fāṭir فاطر
1 āyah
āyah 44
36. Sūrat Yā Sīn يس
3 āyahs
āyah 38, 79, 81
40. Sūrat Ghāfir غافر
1 āyah
āyah 2
41. Sūrat Fuṣṣilat فصلت
2 āyahs
āyah 12, 36
42. Sūrat Ash-Shūrā الشورى
2 āyahs
āyah 12, 50
43. Sūrat Az-Zukhruf الزخرف
2 āyahs
āyah 9, 84
44. Sūrat Ad-Dukhān الدخان
1 āyah
āyah 6
48. Sūrat Al-Fatḥ الفتح
2 āyahs
āyah 4, 26
49. Sūrat Al-Ḥujurāt الحجرات
4 āyahs
āyah 1, 8, 13, 16
51. Sūrat Adh-Dhāriyāt الذاريات
2 āyahs
āyah 28, 30
57. Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd الحديد
1 āyah
āyah 3
58. Sūrat Al-Mujādilah المجادلة
1 āyah
āyah 7
60. Sūrat Al-Mumtaḥanah الممتحنة
1 āyah
āyah 10
62. Sūrat Al-Jumuʿah الجمعة
1 āyah
āyah 7
64. Sūrat At-Taghābun التغابن
1 āyah
āyah 11
66. Sūrat At-Taḥrīm التحريم
2 āyahs
āyah 2, 3
76. Sūrat Al-Insān الإنسان
1 āyah
āyah 30
Names it closes āyāt with
The Qur'an often seals an āyah with two names together. These are the pairings this name appears in most.
Names close to this one
As-Samīʿ ٱلسَّمِيع
The All-Hearing: He hears every voice, in every language, including the one raised in secret.
Al-Baṣīr ٱلْبَصِير
The All-Seeing: nothing is too small, too dark or too distant for His sight.
Al-Khabīr ٱلْخَبِير
The All-Aware: knowledge of the inward reality of things, their secrets and motives.
Ar-Raqīb ٱلرَّقِيب
The Ever-Watchful, whose watch never lapses for a moment.
Al-Ḥakīm ٱلْحَكِيم
The All-Wise: He places everything exactly where it belongs, in creation and in command.
Ash-Shahīd ٱلشَّهِيد
The Witness, present to everything, who will testify on the Day of Judgement.
Al-Muḥṣī ٱلْمُحْصِى
The Reckoner of all things: the One who has counted and enumerated everything, exactly.