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نون

Root entry · 10 derived lemmas

The root 'نون' primarily relates to the concept of a large fish or whale, and by extension, the letter 'ن' itself, which is sometimes interpreted as a fish or an inkwell. It also encompasses grammatical functions like the nunation (tanwin) and the emphatic nun (nun al-tawkid).

Derived headwords

النُّونnoun
  1. 1.
    Whaleclassical

    A large fish or whale, often mentioned in ancient interpretations of the letter 'ن'.

  2. 2.
    Inkwellclassical

    An inkwell, one of the interpretations of the letter 'ن' in the Quran.

  3. 3.
    The letter Nboth

    The Arabic letter 'ن', discussed in terms of its pronunciation and orthography.

  4. 4.
    Swordclassical

    A sword, a name given to certain swords.

  5. 5.
    Jonahclassical

    A title for the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him), referring to his being swallowed by a fish.

أَنْوَانnoun
  1. 1.
    Whalesclassical

    The plural of 'نون' (nun), referring to multiple large fish or whales.

نِينَانnoun
  1. 1.
    Whalesclassical

    Another plural form of 'نون' (nun), referring to multiple large fish or whales.

نَوَّنَverb
  1. 1.
    To add nunationclassical

    To apply tanwin (nunation) to a noun, a grammatical process.

تَنْوِينnoun
  1. 1.
    Nunationboth

    The grammatical process of adding the 'nunation' sound (tanwin) to the end of Arabic nouns.

تَنْوِينَةnoun
  1. 1.
    Nunationclassical

    A specific instance or form of nunation.

نُونَةnoun
  1. 1.
    Word of wisdomclassical

    A wise or correct statement.

  2. 2.
    Dimpleclassical

    A dimple on the chin of a young child.

  3. 3.
    Fishclassical

    A fish, as mentioned in a poetic context.

ذُو النُّونَيْنname
  1. 1.
    The two-noonedclassical

    A descriptive title for a broad, curved sword.

ذُو النُّونname
  1. 1.
    The one with the nunclassical

    A title referring to the Prophet Jonah, due to his encounter with the whale.

  2. 2.
    The two-noonedclassical

    A title for a specific sword.

نُون التَّوْكِيدparticle
  1. 1.
    Emphatic nunclassical

    A particle added to verbs for emphasis, either in the future tense, imperative, or after certain conditional particles.

Parallel reading

الحوت، والجمع أنوان ونينان، وأصله نونان فقلبت الواو ياء لكسرة النون.
The whale, and the plural is anwan and ninan, and its origin is nunan, so the waw was changed to ya due to the kasra of the nun.
يعلم اختلاف النينان في البحار الغامرات.
He knows the difference of the whales in the deep seas.
ن والقلم ، قال الفراء: لك أن تدغم النون الأخيرة وتظهرها، وإظهارها أعجب إلي لأنها هجاء، والهجاء كالموقوف عليه، وإن اتصل، ومن أخفاها بناها على الاتصال، وقد قرأ القراء بالوجهين جميعا
Nun and the pen. Al-Farra' said: You may assimilate the last nun and reveal it, and revealing it is more pleasing to me because it is a letter, and a letter is like a pause, even if connected. Whoever hides it builds upon connection, and the readers have read it both ways.
جاء في التفسير أن ن الحوت الذي دحيت عليه سبع الأرضين، وجاء في التفسير أن ن الدواة
It came in the exegesis that 'Nun' is the fish upon which the seven earths were spread, and it came in the exegesis that 'Nun' is the inkwell.
ألا ترى أن كتاب المصحف كتبوه ن ؟ ولو أريد به الدواة أو الحوت لكتب نون.
Do you not see that the scribes of the Mushaf wrote it as 'Nun'? If the inkwell or the whale were intended, it would have been written 'Nun'.
أول ما خلق الله القلم فقال له: اكتب، فقال: أي رب وما أكتب؟ قال: القدر، قال: فكتب في ذلك اليوم ما هو كائن إلى قيام الساعة، ثم خلق النون ثم بسط الأرض عليها، فاضطربت النون فمادت الأرض فخلق الجبال فأثبتها بها
The first thing Allah created was the pen, and He said to it: Write. It said: My Lord, what shall I write? He said: The decree. So it wrote on that day what will be until the Hour. Then He created the Nun, then He spread the earth upon it. The Nun trembled, and the earth shook, so He created the mountains and stabilized it with them.
النُّون مجهورة ذات غنة، وهي تخفى مع حروف الفم خاصة، وتبين مع حروف الحلق عامة
The Nun is voiced with a nasal sound, and it is hidden with the labial letters specifically, and revealed with the guttural letters generally.
وإنما خفيت مع حروف الفم لقربها منها، وبانت مع حروف الحلق لبعدها منها
It is only hidden with the labial letters due to their proximity to it, and revealed with the guttural letters due to their distance from it.
فأما بيانها عند حروف الحلق الستة فإن هذه الستة تباعدت من مخرجها، ولم تكن من قبيلها ولا من حيزها فلم تخف فيها، كما أنها لم تدغم فيها
As for its revelation with the six guttural letters, these six are distant from its articulation point, and are not of its kind or region, so it is not hidden with them, just as it is not assimilated into them.
وإنما أخفيت مع حروف الفم كما أدغمت في اللام وأخواتها كقولك: من أجلك، من هنا، من خاف، من حرم زينة الله، من علي، من عليك.
It is only hidden with the labial letters as it is assimilated into the Lam and its sisters, like your saying: 'min ajlika', 'min huna', 'man khafa', 'man harrama zinatallahi', 'min 'alayya', 'min 'alayka'.
ومن أخفاها بناها على الاتصال، وقد قرأ القراء بالوجهين جميعا
And whoever hides it bases it on connection, and the readers have read it both ways.
والنون حرف هجاء مجهور أغن، يكون أصلا وبدلا وزائدا
And the Nun is a voiced, nasal letter of the alphabet, which can be original, a substitute, or an addition.
فالنون حرف من المعجم، وهو من حروف الزيادات، وقد تكون للتأكيد تلحق الفعل المستقبل بعد لام القسم كقولك: والله لأضربن زيدا
The Nun is a letter of the alphabet, and it is among the letters of addition. It can also be for emphasis, attached to the future verb after the Lam of an oath, like your saying: 'By Allah, I will surely strike Zayd'.
وتلحق بعد ذلك الأمر والنهي تقول: اضربن زيدا ولا تضربن عمرا
And it is attached thereafter to the imperative and the prohibition, you say: Strike Zayd, and do not strike 'Amr.
وتلحق في الاستفهام تقول: هل تضربن زيدا؟ وبعد الشرط كقولك: إما تضربن زيدا أضربه.
And it is attached in the interrogative, you say: Will you strike Zayd? And after the condition, like your saying: If you strike Zayd, I will strike him.
وتقول في فعل الاثنين: لتضربان زيدا يا رجلان، وفي فعل الجماعة: يا رجال اضربن زيدا، بضم الباء، ويا امرأة اضربن زيدا، بكسر الباء، ويا نسوة اضربنان زيدا، وأصله اضربنن، بثلاث نونات، فتفصل بينهن بألف وتكسر النون تشبيها بنون التثنية
And you say for the dual verb: 'Latuḍribāni Zaydan ya rajulān', and for the plural verb: 'Ya rijāl iḍribanna Zaydan' (with a damma on the ba), and 'Ya imra'ah iḍribanna Zaydan' (with a kasra on the ba), and 'Ya niswah iḍribnanna Zaydan', and its origin is 'iḍribinnen', with three nuns, so an alif is inserted between them and the nun is given a kasra, resembling the dual nun.
وذا النون إذ ذهب مغاضبا، هو يونس النبي، صلى الله عليه وسلم، سماه الله ذا النون لأنه حبسه في جوف الحوت الذي التقمه، والنون الحوت.
And 'Dha al-Nun' when he went off in anger, he is the Prophet Jonah, peace be upon him. Allah called him Dha al-Nun because He confined him in the belly of the whale that swallowed him, and al-Nun is the whale.
خذ نونا ميتا أي حوتا.
Take a dead nun, meaning a whale.
هو بالام ونون ، والله أعلم.
It is with Lam and Nun, and Allah knows best.