Surah 68: al-Qalam
68:1 Nūn. By the Pen and what they inscribe.
Nūn is one of the letters of the alphabet. The alphabet's letters are the roots of words, the connectors of phrases, and the separators of verses. All indicate generosity and bounty, some in brief and some in detail. They allude to gentleness, the good news of love, expiation of offenses, and the plundering of the hearts of the friends. They are the foundation of words and the adornment of speakers. Understanding them is the mark of those who conform. They are burdens on the neck of the enemies and thorns in the eyes of the innovators. It is the belief of the faithful that these letters are the speech of the Lord of the world. He is a Lord who has knowledge and power. His knowledge is without reflective thought and His power without tools. His kingship is without end, his solicitude without bribery, His bestowal without obligation. He is a Lord who is the artisan of the universe and the protector of creation, the keeper of enemies and the companion of friends. He is in everyone's eyes through artisanry and settled down in the hearts of His lovers, the hard cash of every hope and enough for every assurance. Though the servant be heavily burdened by offenses, He is clement and forbearing.
The Pir of the Tariqah said in his whispered prayers, “O God, no matter how sinful we are, You are forgiving. No matter how ugly our deeds, You are the concealer. O king, You have the treasure of bounty, without equal or help. It is worthy that You pass over our unfaithful acts.”
Nūn. By the Pen. Nūn is the inkwell, and the Pen is a pen of light. The writer is the Forgiving Lord. He wrote with the Pen in the emerald Tablet, He wrote with the ink of light, He wrote on the notebook of carnelian, He wrote the story and the deeds of the created things. He wrote the heart of the recognizer with the Pen of generosity, He wrote with the ink of bounty, He wrote on the notebook of gentleness, He wrote the attribute and description of the honorable: He wrote faith in their hearts [58:22]. He wrote in the Tablet, and He wrote it all for you. He wrote in the heart, and He wrote it all in His description. He did not show what He wrote for you to Gabriel. How could He show what He Himself wrote to Satan?
Some of the commentators have said that Nūn is a fish on the water below the seven layers of the earth. Because of the burden of the earth is so heavy, the fish became bent. It became like the nūn [?], its head lifted up from the east and its tail from the west. When it wanted to complain about the heavy burden, Gabriel shouted at it. It became so afraid that it forgot the heavy burden of the earth, and it will not dare to move until the resurrection. When the fish carried the burden and did not complain, the Lord of the Worlds gave it two bestowals of eminence: One is that He swore an oath by it, so it became the place of the oath of the Lord of the Universe. The other is that He held back the knife from its neck. All the animals of earth are sacrificed with a knife, but not fish. Thus the world's folk may know that whenever someone carries a burden, his suffering will not be wasted.
O chevalier! If the fish carried the burden of the earth, the faithful servant carried the burden of the Patron's Trust: And man carried it [33:72]. When the fish lifted up the burden of the earth, it became secure from the knife of punishment. What wonder if the faithful person who lifts up the burden of the Trust becomes secure from the knife of severance?