Surah al-Qalam
Meccan (1)
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
“Nun. By the pen and by what they write.” (1)
Concerning “Nun,” they differed. Ibn ‘Abbas said: It is the fish upon whose back the earth rests. This was also the view of Mujahid, Muqatil, al-Suddi, and al-Kalbi (2).
Abu Zabyan related from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: The first thing Allah created was the Pen, and it wrote all that would come to pass until the Day of Resurrection. Then He created Nun and spread the earth upon its back. Nun moved, and the earth swayed; so it was made firm by the mountains. Indeed, the mountains boast over the earth. Then Ibn ‘Abbas recited: “Nun. By the pen and by what they write.” (3)
They also differed concerning its name. Al-Kalbi and Muqatil said: [Its name] is Yahmut. Al-Waqidi said: Luyutha. Ka‘b said: Luwitha. It is related from ‘Ali that its name is Balahuth.
(1) Manuscript B reads: “Medinan.” Ibn al-Durays narrated from Ibn Abbas: “Whenever the opening of a surah was revealed in Mecca, it was recorded as Meccan; then Allah added to it whatever He willed. The first of the Quran to be revealed was ‘Recite in the name of your Lord,’ then Surat al-Muzzammil, then Surat al-Muddaththir.” Al-Nahhas, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqi narrated from Ibn Abbas: “Surat Nun wa-l-Qalam was revealed in Mecca.” See al-Durr al-Manthur, 8:240.
(2) It seems that none of these reports concerning the interpretation of Nun as the fish upon which the seven earths rest, an inkwell, a tablet of light, the final letter among the letters of al-Rahman, or a river of Paradise is authentic. See al-Bahr al-Muhit, 8:307; Ruh al-Maʻani, by al-Alusi, 29:23.
(3) Recorded by Abd al-Razzaq, al-Tafsir, 2:307; al-Tabari, 29:14; and al-Hakim, 2:498, who graded it authentic. In al-Durr al-Manthur, 8:240-241, al-Suyuti further attributed it to al-Firyabi, Saʿid ibn Mansur, Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Mardawayh, Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu al-Shaykh in al-Azama, al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma wa-l-Sifat, al-Khatib in his Tarikh, and al-Diya in al-Mukhtarah. It is a mawquf report, stopping at Ibn Abbas.
(4) Omitted in manuscript B.