Al-Qalam (or Nūn)^{1MS Z515 carries the former title, while MSS F638 and F3488 carry the latter title.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Nūn. By the Pen, and by what they inscribe!

He said:

‘Al-Nūn’ is one of the names of God, Exalted is He, for if the opening letters of the sūras, Alif Lām Rā, Ḥā Mīm and Nūn, are joined together they make up the name al-Raḥmān.^{1See the commentary on the Basmala [1:1], above.}

Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهم said: ‘Al-Nūn is the ink-well (dawāt) from which the Reminder (dhikr) [the Qurʾān] was written, and the Pen is that with which the Wise Reminder was written.’

By what they inscribe — ⸢the Reminder which is written on the Preserved Tablet concerning the [divinely decreed] wretchedness (shaqāwa) or felicity (saʿāda) [of human beings].

Ibn ʿAbbās has said in another report, ‘Nūn is the fish upon which rest the worlds (arḍūn),⸣^{2According to cosmological legend, the earth (or as here, earths, arḍūn) rest on the back of a fish, or on the horns of an ox, which, in turn, rests on the back of a fish. See Anton M. Heinen, Islamic Cosmology. A Study of as-Suyūṭī’s al-Hayʾa al-samīya fī’l-hayʾa al-sunnīya (Beirut/Wiesbaden, 1982), pp. 85–6.} what they inscribe is the deeds of the children of Adam which the recording angels have written down.’^{3The section between brackets has been added on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 119b, F638, f. 57a and F3488, f. 300a.}

ʿUmar b. Wāṣil said:

By what they inscribe means: By the writing (kitāba) [i.e. the scripture] which God has undertaken [to provide] for His servants, which contains benefits (manāfiʿ) for people, and things that are in the best interests (maṣāliḥ) of His servants and their lands.

His words, Exalted is He:

and assuredly you will have an unfailing reward,

He said:

That is, defined, apportioned (maḥdūd maqṭūʿ) and calculated (maḥsūb) for you.

His words, Exalted is He:

and assuredly you possess a magnificent character.^{1These words are addressed to the Prophet.}

He said:

You have taken on the propriety taught by the Qurʾān (taʾaddabta bi-adab al-Qurʾān), and have not exceeded its bounds, which are in His words, Exalted is He: Indeed God enjoins justice and virtue… to the end of the verse [16:90],^{2The rest of the verse reads: …and giving to kinsfolk, and He forbids lewdness, abomination and aggression. He admonished you so that you might remember.} and also in His words, It was by the mercy of God that you were lenient with them [3:159].

Then he said:

Truly anger (ghaḍab) and harshness (ḥidda) come from the servant’s dependence on his own strength (quwwa). However, when he gives up relying on his own strength, weakness will take up residence in his soul, and this will generate mercy (raḥma) and benevolence (luṭf) from him, which is to take on the characteristics of the Lord, may His majesty be magnified.

God, Exalted is He, addressed David عليه السلام through inspiration, saying, ‘Take on My characteristics, for verily I am the Forbearing (al-Ṣabūr).’ Whoever is given good character (khulq ḥasan) has been given the greatest station (aʿẓam al-maqāmāt), for all other stations are connected to the common folk (ʿāmma), whereas good character is connected with the [divine] attributes (ṣifāt) and qualities (nuʿūt).^{3There is possibly an allusion here to the well-known ḥadīth of the Prophet, ‘Take on the characteristics of God’ (takhallaqū bi-akhlāq Allāh), listed in ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt (Beirut, 1987), p. 216, and in ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Munāwī, al-Tawqīf ʿalā muhimmāt al-taʿārīf (Beirut and Damascus, 1990), p. 564.}

Sahl was asked one day about charismatic gifts (karāmāt) and he said:

What are charismatic gifts (karāmāt)? Truly charismatic gifts are phenomena which will not last beyond their designated time. The greatest charismatic gift, however, is to change a blameworthy trait within your character to a praiseworthy one.

His words, Exalted is He:

So leave Me [to deal with] whoever denies this discourse…

He said:

That is, leave him in My charge, for I will suffice you regarding his affair, so do not let your heart become preoccupied with him.

His words, Exalted is He:

…We shall draw them on by degrees whence they do not know.

He said:

We shall leave them with their heads bowed over, diverted in their preoccupation with it [the world] from the duties that they should perform for Us, such that they forget to show gratitude towards Us, so We shall seize them whence they do not know.^{1Tustarī is here using a conventional form of interpretation where the commentator inserts a meaning that he considers to be implied without its actually having been mentioned in the verse.}

His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:

Had it not been for a grace from his Lord that reached him…^{1This verse and the one that follows briefly allude to the story Jonah, which is narrated in a slightly extended form in 37:139–48. Jonah is also referred to in 10:98, which is why that sūra is named after him.}

He said:

That is, if God had not kept for him his previous good deeds, which were a result of His pre-eternal election, and saved him, and had not the ⸢grace from his Lord (niʿma min rabbihi)⸣^{2Added on the basis of MS F638, f. 57b. MSS Z515, f. 120a and F3488, f. 30a have tadārakahu bi’l-ʿamal, which is probably incorrect.} reached him, …he would surely have been cast out onto a barren [shore], while he was blameworthy. The barren shore (ʿarāʾ) is the plain [lit. earth, ʿarḍ] of the Resurrection, for nothing is cultivated or grown there. He had committed no other sin save that of busying his heart with planning (tadbīr) that which was not for him to plan, just as Adam عليه السلام had done [before him].^{3For the role of Adam’s devising, planning or managing in his expulsion from Paradise see above Tustarī’s commentary on 2:30 where Jonah’s resorting to his own tadbīr is also mentioned.}