349 — Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Shāhīn also narrated to us, saying: Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated to us, saying: ʿAtā narrated to us, from Abū al-Duhā, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“The first thing Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created was the Pen. He said, ‘Write.’ It asked, ‘What shall I write?’ He replied, ‘Write everything that will occur until the Day of Resurrection.’ He then created Nūn and pressed the earth down upon its back. This is the meaning of His words, Mighty and Majestic: ‘Nūn. By the Pen and what they inscribe’ [al-Qalam: 1].”