ن
Nun  ·  Arabic Letter 25th

The letter Nun. The depths of the ocean, what is preserved and written, the divine ink

Nun's visual form is a vessel. Like Meem but deeper, like a boat on water.

Letter
ن
Name
Nun
Sound
N
Position
25th
Abjad value
50
Element
Earth

What does Nun mean in Ilm ul Huroof? Nun's visual form is a vessel. Like Meem but deeper, like a boat on water. In the Science of Letters Nun is read as a quality a name carries, not as a prediction. Names opened or shaped by this letter are listed below.

Ilm ul Huroof  ·  The Letter Nun

Nun is the letter of nūn wa al-qalam. The inkwell and the pen. In Ilm ul Huroof Nun carries the principle of inward depth from which writing arises. Names with Nun hold a well.

ن Arabic Form
N Sound
25th Position in Alphabet
50 Abjad Value
Earth Element
Cold & dry Temperament
النور Divine Name · an-Nur
The Letter Itself

What Nun encodes

Nun's visual form is a vessel. Like Meem but deeper, like a boat on water. نور (nur. Light) begins with Nun. نفس (nafs. The self, the soul) begins with Nun. The letter governs what is preserved in depth: the light that exists in darkness, the self that persists through change.

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Ilm ul Huroof

Ibn Arabi and the Science of Letters

Nun opens the Muqatta'at ن alone (Surah 68. Al-Qalam, the Pen), which opens: "Nun. By the Pen and what they write." Classical scholars understood Nun as the primordial ink vessel. The container of the divine pen's writing. What is written is preserved. A name closing with Nun closes with the principle of preserved depth: the person leaves something written.

"Nun as a first letter governs the outward self. The primary mode through which the person meets the world and is met by it. Everything else in the name operates within the field this letter establishes."

Ilm ul Huroof · The Science of Letters
In a Name

Nun as the first letter

Less commonly a first letter, Nun appears most significantly as a closing letter. Ending names like Usman, Imran, Sulaiman, Hassan. A Nun-ending name means the life resolves toward what is preserved and written: the person leaves a record, a legacy, something that remains.

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Quranic Resonance

Nun in the Quran

Nun opens ن والقلم (Nun, by the Pen. Surah 68). It is in نور (light), نبي (prophet), and نفس (soul). The preserved depth governs light, prophecy, and the self.

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Names That Carry Nun

Names opened or shaped by Nun

Each of the following names carries the Nun principle. Either as the opening letter that governs the outward self, or within the name where it shapes the interior life. Click any name to read its full reading.

Naba نبأ Nada ندى Nahl نحل Najm نجم Nasr نصر Nehir نهر Noha نهى Noor نُور Nouf نوف Nour نُور Nuh نُوح Nuha نهى Nuhu نُوح Nur نُور Ainul عين Ana آنا Anas أَنَس Anes Anes أَنَس Anta أنت Can جان Deen دين Enes أَنَس Ghena غنى Ghina غنى
Related Letters

Letters whose principles interact meaningfully with Nun:

Meem Ra
Writing Nun

Nun joins on both sides, so it takes all four shapes. In a word it connects to the letter before it and to the letter after it, and the shape you see depends on where in the word it falls.

نIsolated
ن‍Initial
‍ن‍Medial
‍نFinal
Nun and the definite article

Nun is a sun letter. When the definite article ال (al-) comes before it, the l is not pronounced. It assimilates into Nun, which doubles instead. The word is still written with the ل, but you do not hear it. This is why الشمس is read ash-shams, not al-shams, and it is the reason these fourteen letters are called solar.

Questions about Nun
How is Nun written in Arabic?
Nun is written ن in Arabic. It takes four shapes depending on its place in the word: isolated ن, initial ن‍, medial ‍ن‍, final ‍ن. It joins to the letters on both sides of it.
Is Nun a sun letter or a moon letter?
Nun is a sun letter. The l of the definite article al- assimilates into it and is not pronounced, though it is still written.
What is the abjad value of Nun?
Nun carries the abjad value 50. In Ilm ul Huroof that number is added to the values of the other letters in a name to give the name its total, which is where a lucky number comes from.
Which names begin with Nun?
This collection holds 113 names whose Arabic spelling begins with ن, among them Naama, Naba, Nabeel, Nabil, Nabila, Nabilah.

Does your name carry Nun?

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