Commentary on the basmala and Qur'an 68:1: "N" (Nūn). By the Pen!"
Translation Stephen Lambden from the Arabic text in INBMC 56: [22] 23-42.
1980s revised 2006-7 + in progress 2015.
[1]
Bism Allah al-Bahiyy al-Abha
In the Name of God, the Radiantly Splendid, the All-Glorious.
Praised be to God Who made the Point (al-nuqta) to be outstretched within the Book of Origination (Kitab al-ibda`a), an Ornament (taraz) through which is the Genesis of Creativity. From it He differentiated the knowledge (`ilm) of what hath been and what will come to pass. He made it to be a manifestation of the mysteries (mazhar al-asrar) of what distinguished the [Arabic letter] “K” and the [Arabic letter] “N” (="Be!")! He ennobled it [the Point] .....
... So be [thou] perceptive of the [Arabic letter] "N" (al-nun) .. for in its outward, linguistic sense it hath the meaning of "Fish" (al-ḥūt)...
And this is an allusion unto he who was drowned in the ocean of ecstatic revelation and mystical insight, submerged in the tempestuous depths of the sea of the kingdom [of God] and immersed in the billows of the love of the Beloved One. He is addressed as the most gracious of creatures and the most perfect of servants for it signifieth he who was named Muhammad in the Kingdom of Names and Aḥmad in the Heights of Eternity.
On the level of inner meaning there is allusion to [the letter] "H" (al-hā') [abjad = 5) which is the second of the letters of the Greatest Name (= Bahā'), the most upright secret and the most perfect and complete cipher. This inasmuch as its multiple is 50 (abjad of nūn = 50) for when reduced to the level of integers the resultant is [the number] 5 ("N" = 50 div. 10 = 5 = abjad "H"): which is the second letter of Bahā'.
The intention of the allusive letter "N" (nūn) is the name Muhammad which We previously expounded as signifying the "Fish". It, verily, circleth around the Point which is [a dot placed] at its centre. This is the sign that al-nubuwwa ("Prophethood") which circleth around the Point (= the Bāb) which God made to be the origin of the creation of the Bayān and the theophany of the Cause of the All-Merciful"
(INBMC 56:2X).
