Home Quran Quran roots ع ل م
854 times in the Quran · 14 word forms · rank 6
The Quran root ع ل م ʿ-l-m
Words built from the root ع ل م ([ʿ-l-m]) appear 854 times in the Quran. The most common is عَلِمَ, “know”, which comes 382 times. Learn the root once and you can recognise every word made from it.
Words from this root
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| عَلِمَ | ʿalima | know · knows | 382 | |
| عَلِيم | ʿaliim | All-Knower · All-Knowing | 163 | |
| عِلْم | ʿilm | knowledge · any knowledge | 105 | |
| عالَم | ʿaalam | worlds · universe | 73 | |
| أَعْلَم | aʿlam | Most Knowing · knows best | 49 | |
| عَلَّمَ | ʿallama | He taught · teaches you | 41 | |
| عالِم | ʿaalim | Knower · All-Knower | 18 | |
| مَعْلُوم | maʿluum | known · well-known | 11 | |
| عَلّام | ʿallaam | All-Knower · Knower | 4 | |
| يَتَعَلَّمُ | yataʿallamu | they learn | 2 | |
| مَعْلُومَة | maʿluuma | well known · known | 2 | |
| أَعْلام | aʿlaam | like mountains | 2 | |
| عَلامَة | ʿalaama | landmarks | 1 | |
| مُعَلَّم | muʿallam | One taught | 1 |
Examples from the Quran
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَا آمَنَ السُّفَهَاءُ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَاءُ وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ ١٣
يَعْلَمُونَ yaʿlamūna · they know
And when it is said to them, "Believe as the people have believed," they say, "Should we believe as the foolish have believed?" Unquestionably, it is they who are the foolish, but they know [it] not. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:13)
الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ٢٢
تَعْلَمُونَ taʿlamūna · [you] know
[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allāh equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:22)
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ٢٩
عَلِيمٌ ʿalīmun · (is) All-Knowing
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:29)
قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ ٣٢
عِلْمَ ʿil'ma · knowledge
They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:32)
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ٢
الْعَالَمِينَ l-ʿālamīna · of the universe
[All] praise is [due] to Allāh, Lord of the worlds - (Surah Al-Fatihah, 1:2)
أَمْ تَقُولُونَ إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطَ كَانُوا هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَىٰ قُلْ أَأَنتُمْ أَعْلَمُ أَمِ اللَّهُ وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن كَتَمَ شَهَادَةً عِندَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ ١٤٠
أَعْلَمُ aʿlamu · better knowing
Or do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants were Jews or Christians? Say, "Are you more knowing or is Allāh?" And who is more unjust than one who conceals a testimony he has from Allāh? And Allāh is not unaware of what you do. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:140)
Surahs where it comes most
- Surah Al-Baqarah · 102×
- Surah Al-An'am · 44×
- Surah Ali 'Imran · 40×
- Surah Yusuf · 33×
- Surah At-Tawbah · 32×
- Surah Al-Ma'idah · 29×
Each meaning is taken from the word-by-word translation of the verses, so a word can show two meanings from different contexts. Root and base-word data come from the Quranic Arabic Corpus.