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Chapter 68

The Penal-Qalam ( القلم )

52 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with the single discrete Arabic letter Nūn and the oath of the Divine One swearing by the instrument of The Pen, as well as all knowledge that people are able to preserve and communicate thereby. It takes its name from “the pen” (al-qalam) mentioned in verse 1. The surah deals with the accusation that Muḥammad was not God’s Messenger but merely mad (verse 2 ff.). The arrogance of those who assume that, because they have some of the good things in this life, they can reject the Revelation, is rebutted (verse 10 ff.). Examples are given of those who came to regret their arrogance (verse 17 ff.). The Prophet is urged to remain steadfast (verse 48 ff.).«

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Muhammad Asad: In The Name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace:

1
ن ۚ وَالقَلَمِ وَما يَسطُرونَ

Muhammad Asad

IN THE chronological order of revelation, this surah most probably occupies the third place. Some authorities - among them Suyuti - incline to the view that it was revealed immediately after the first five verses of surah 96 ("The Germ-Cell"); this, however, is contradicted by some of the best-authenticated Traditions, according to which most of surah 74 came second in the order of revelation (see introductory note to that surah). In any case, "The Pen" is undoubtedly one of the oldest parts of the Qur'an.
Nun.1 CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]!2
  • Chronologically, this is the first appearance of any of the "disjointed" [i.e., single] letters (al-muqatta'at) which precede a number of the surahs of the Qur'an: for the various theories relating to these letters, see Appendix II. The supposition of some of the early commentators (extensively quoted by Tabari) that the letter n, pronounced nun, represents here an abbreviation of the identically-pronounced noun which signifies both "great fish" and "inkwell" has been convincingly rejected by some of the most outstanding authorities (e.g., Zamakhshari and Razi) on grammatical grounds.
  • For the meaning of the adjurative particle wa at the beginning of this sentence, see first half of note 23 on 74:32. The mention of "the pen" is meant to recall the earliest Qur'anic revelation, namely, the first five verses of surah 96 ("The Germ-Cell"), and thus to stress the fact of Muhammad's prophethood. As regards the symbolic significance of the concept of "the pen", see 96:3-5 and the corresponding note 3.