Researcher Mahmoud A. Wahab has released a new study, The Disconnected Letter 'Nun' at Surah Al-Qalam: In Relation to Ancient Egyptian Religion, Hebrew Bible & Qur'anic Coherence, presenting a methodologically significant interpretation of the Qur'anic muqaṭṭaʿāt. The book argues the disconnected letter "Nun" (ن) opening Surah Al-Qalam (68:1) is not an undecipherable cipher but a meaningful sign encoding the primordial waters—"Nun" in ancient Egyptian cosmology—confirmed by Qur'anic coherence and illuminated by parallels in the Hebrew Bible.
Wahab grounds his reading in four pillars: the letter Nun, ancient Egyptian religion, the Hebrew Bible, and Qur'anic coherence, with the Qur'an retaining interpretive primacy. He adopts a coherence-first approach where each sūrah is a thematic unit and the Qur'an's arrangement is purposeful; outside materials are weighed only insofar as they corroborate Qur'anic language and structure. The study then examines whether the position of Surah Al-Qalam among its neighbors sheds light on "Nun."
Within the Muṣḥaf, Al-Qalam (68) sits between Al-Mulk (67) and Al-Haqqah (69). Al-Mulk proclaims divine sovereignty, creation, and life as a test; Al-Haqqah portrays the Inevitable Day and final judgment. Al-Qalam, introduced by "Nun" and an oath by the Pen, forms a bridge between creation and destiny. The book links this bridge to a creation motif: early reports present the Pen as the first created thing, writing the decree—fitting the "knowledge" axis of Al-Qalam and the reading-writing pairing with Al-ʿAlaq.
Drawing on the nazm tradition, Wahab argues that the linear and thematic ties among these three sūrahs help decode "Nun." Read this way, the initial letter functions as a hinge symbol connecting blessing/creation (Al-Mulk) to resurrection/judgment (Al-Haqqah) through decree/knowledge (Al-Qalam). In Egyptian thought, Nun is the deified backdrop: the limitless, dark primordial ocean from which the first mound and creator-gods emerge. All schools share this watery substrate. Ritual life continually re-enacted emergence from this Deep, reinforcing Nun's life-giving role.
The book canvases scholarship on Genesis 1:2 and the Hebrew tĕhôm (the Deep), noting structured parallels with Egypt's pre-creation schema: formlessness/emptiness ≈ Heh, darkness ≈ Keku, watery deep ≈ Nun, divine wind/Spirit ≈ Amun's animating breath. These similarities are judged "too close to be accidental," while maintaining the biblical polemic that demythologizes the Deep. The survey concludes many specialists see substantive correspondences between Nun and tĕhôm, useful for clarifying the Qur'anic letter's symbolic reach without granting them authority over Qur'anic meaning.
When Surah Al-Qalam is read within its immediate nazm and in light of cross-cultural water-cosmologies, "Nun" most plausibly signals the primordial waters—a symbol that coherently links origin (creation) → decree (Pen/inscription) → destiny (judgment) across the Al-Mulk/Al-Qalam/Al-Haqqah triad. Wahab's contribution is methodological as much as lexical: it shows how Qur'anic arrangement and thematic unity can unlock the muqaṭṭaʿāt, with comparative materials serving as supporting witnesses. The result is a compact, integrative reading of "Nun" that ties together creation, knowledge, and judgment inside the Qur'an's own architecture. The book is available on Amazon.
