'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir [Surah Al-Qalam]

And it is Meccan, and there is no disagreement about it among any of the people of interpretation.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿N. By the pen and what they inscribe.﴾ ﴿You are not, by the favor of your Lord, a madman.﴾ ﴿And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted.﴾ ﴿And indeed, you are of a great moral character.﴾ ﴿So you will see, and they will see.﴾ ﴿Which of you is the afflicted?﴾ ﴿Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way and He is most knowing of the rightly guided.﴾ ﴿So do not obey the deniers.﴾ ﴿They wish that you would soften [your position] so they would soften [their position].﴾ ﴿And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer.﴾ ﴿[He is] a slanderer, going about with malicious gossip.﴾

"N" is a disjointed letter according to the saying of the majority of the interpreters. It is subject to the same differences that apply to the beginnings of the surahs. This specific instance of sayings is that Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said: "N" is the name of the greatest fish upon which the seven earths rest, as it is narrated. And Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Al-Dahhak said: "N" is the name for the inkwell. This may either be a language of some Arabs or it could be a foreign term. The poet said:

If longing has greatly afflicted me towards them.. the 'noon' has cast tears of blood.

So whoever said that it is the name of the fish made "the pen" the pen that Allah, exalted is He, created and commanded, so it wrote the existents. He made the pronoun in "they inscribe" refer to the angels. And whoever said that "N" is the name for the inkwell made "the pen" the one commonly used by the hands of people. Ibn Abbas stated this, and he made the pronoun in ﴿they inscribe﴾ refer to the people. Thus, the oath came - based on this - concerning the entirety of the matter of the book which is the foundation of sciences, knowledge, and matters of this world and the Hereafter. For indeed, the pen is the brother of the tongue, the mount of intelligence, and a general blessing from Allah, exalted is He. Muawiyah ibn Qurrah narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "N is a tablet of light." Ibn Abbas and others also said: "N" is a letter from the letters of the Most Merciful. They said that it was disjointed in the Qur'an to "R" and "H" and "N."

Iesa ibn Umar read differently: "NUN" with the accusative, and the meaning is: mention "NUN." This is strengthened along with it being a name for the surah, for it is feminine and named after a feminine term, so it has femininity and definiteness, and for this reason, it does not decline. And "Nuh" declined because the lightness of it being three letters prevailed over the reason of foreignness. Ibn Abbas, Ibn Abi Ishaq, and Al-Hasan read: "NUNI" with a kasrah on the noon. This is as one would say in the oath: Allah, and as they said: "JAYR." It was said that it was broken due to the gathering of the two consonants. Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, Hamzah, and Hafs from Asim read: "NUN" with the noon being silent. This is based on it being a disjointed letter, so its right is to stop at it. A group of them, including Al-Kisai, read: "N and the pen" with the merging without ghunnah. Others read with merging and with ghunnah. Al-Kisai and Yaqub, and Abu Bakr from Asim read with the concealment between merging and clarification. And "they inscribe" means: they write lines. If Allah, exalted is He, intended the angels, then it is the writing of deeds and what they are commanded with. And if He intended, exalted is He, the children of Adam, then it is the revealed books and knowledge and what follows them.

'And His saying, the Most High: "You are not, by the favor of your Lord, a madman" is the answer to the oath. And "what" here is a factor for it has a subject and a predicate. Likewise, it is when the preposition enters into the predicate. And His saying, the Most High: "by the favor of your Lord" is an interruption, as if you say to a person: You are - by the grace of Allah - virtuous.

And the reason for this verse is that the Quraysh accused the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, of madness, which is the covering of reason, meaning that his words are wrong like the words of a madman. So Allah, the Most High, denied that about him and informed him that he has the reward and that he is upon great character, honoring him and praising him.

(p-366) And the people differed in the meaning of "mamnun." Most of the interpreters said it is the weak and cut off. It is said: "a mamnun rope," meaning: weak. Others said its meaning is: not burdensome upon you, meaning: it does not trouble you. Mujahid said its meaning is: not continuous or accounted for, meaning: without reckoning. "And Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, was asked about the character of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and she said: 'His character was the Qur'an,' meaning his manners and commands. And Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'The great character is the etiquette of the Qur'an.' Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, expressed character by religion and law, and that is undoubtedly the head of character and its essence. However, the apparent meaning of the verse is that character is that which opposes the aim of the disbelievers in their saying: "madman," meaning: not accountable for what he says. Rather, his praise, the Most High, is for the generosity of his nature, the brilliance of his intellect, the beautiful disposition, and the quality of his attributes. From this is his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "I was sent to complete the noble morals." And Junayd said: "His character was called great because he had no concern except for Allah, the Most High. He associated with the creation with his character and distanced himself from them with his heart, so his outward was with the creation and his inward was with the Truth." In the advice of some wise men: "You should adopt good character with the creation and be truthful with the Truth, and good character is all good." And he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, the believer can attain, by his good character, the rank of the one who stands at night and fasts during the day." And he said: "Nothing weighs heavier in the scale than good character." (p-367) And he said: "The most beloved of you to Allah are those who have the best character." Justice, kindness, forgiveness, and maintaining ties are from good character.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So you will see" means: you and your nation, and "they will see" means: they. People have differed in the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: "Which of you is the deluded?" Abu 'Uthman al-Mazini said: The statement is complete in His saying, exalted is He: "And they will see." Then He began a new statement with His saying, exalted is He: "Which of you is the deluded?" Al-Akhfash said: Rather, the seeing is an agent in the interrogative sentence, in its meaning. As for the letter 'ba', Abu 'Ubaidah, Ma'mar, and Qatadah said: It is extra, and the meaning is: Which of you is deluded? Al-Hasan and al-Dahhak said: "The deluded" means the fitnah, as they said: "He has no reason," meaning: reason, and as they said: "Accept what is easy and leave what is difficult." So the meaning is: Which of you is the fitnah and corruption that they called madness? Others said: The meaning is: Which of you has been deluded by the deluded? Al-Akhfash said: The meaning is: Which of you is the fitnah of the deluded? Then the addition was omitted and the added was placed in its place. Mujahid and al-Farra' said: The 'ba' means "in"; that is: in which group of you is the deluded type? And this is a good saying with little contrivance. We do not say that a letter means another letter, but we say: This meaning can be reached by "in" and by "ba" as well. Ibn Abu 'Ablah read: "In which of you is the deluded?"

And His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, your Lord is Most Knowing of who has strayed from His path" is a warning, and the agent in His saying, glorified is He: "of who has strayed" is "Most Knowing." The preposition has strengthened it, so there is no need for an implied verb. And His saying, exalted is He: "So do not obey the deniers" refers to Quraysh. This is because they said at some times to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: If you worship our gods and honor them, we will worship your God and honor Him. They wished that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would flatter them and lean towards what they said, so they would also lean towards his words and his religion. And "flattery" is the act of being agreeable in what is not permissible, and "diplomacy" is the act of being agreeable in what is permissible. And His saying, exalted is He: "So they flatter" is an addition and not a response; because it was intended to be established.

And "the swearer" is the one who frequently swears, and "the dishonorable" is the one weak in mind and opinion. This was said by Mujahid, and it is from "mahin" when he weakens, and the 'm' is the root of the verb. Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: The dishonorable is the liar.

And "the backbiter" is the one who speaks ill of people. The root of backbiting in the language is striking or stabbing with the hand or a stick or something similar. Then it was borrowed for the one who speaks ill with his tongue. Al-Mundhir said: And with his eye and gesture. And it was called backbiting because in pronouncing it there is sharpness and haste, so it was likened to striking with the hand. And it was said to some of the Arabs: Do you backbite the mouse? He said: The cat backbites it. And it was said to another: Do you backbite Israel? He said: Then I would be a man of evil.

'Namm' is a noun like 'namimah'. It is the transmission of what one hears that is harmful and stirs up animosities. Hudhayfah narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'A gossiper will not enter Paradise.' This refers to the namam. Many of the commentators have gone to the view that these descriptions are types and do not refer to a specific individual. A group said: Rather, it was revealed concerning a particular person, and there is disagreement about him. Some of them said: It is Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughira, and this is supported by his wealth and that he was the most famous among them for money and children. Al-Shabi and others said: It is Al-Akhnas ibn Shariq, and this is supported by the fact that he had a defect in his throat like the ear of a sheep. Also, he was from Thaqif, closely associated with Quraysh. Ibn Abbas mentioned in the book of Al-Thalabi that it is Abu Jahl. Al-Niqash mentioned 'Utbah ibn Rabiah. Mujahid said: It is Al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth. The apparent meaning of the term is general for anyone with this characteristic, and the address with this meaning continues throughout time, especially for those in authority.