«وَكُنْتُ عَرَفْتُ أَنَّهُ أَبُو زَيْدٍ سَاعَةَ بَزَغَتْ شَمْسُهُ وَنَزَعَتْ عِرْسُهُ»
I had recognized Abū Zayd when his brilliance emerged and his wife began complaining.
Al-Ḥārith has recognized Abū Zayd but does not immediately identify him before the court. The resulting scene has unequal knowledge: the narrator understands something that the rest of the gathering may not.
Knowing and disclosing are separate actions. The narrator’s silence is visible, while the full reasons for it need not be assumed without further evidence. Such asymmetry of information creates tension because the reader can watch a performance from a position closer to the narrator’s knowledge than to that of the unsuspecting audience.