المعنى الاصطلاحي

The object that wrote down the destiny of everything until the Day of Judgment by the command of Allah, the Almighty.

الشرح المختصر

"Al-Qalam" (the Pen) is what wrote down everything that will occur until the Day of Judgement, including every good, evil, small, or large event. This was all recorded in the Preserved Tablet by the command of Allah, the Almighty, fifty thousand years before the heavens and the earth were created. This is why destiny is defined as: Everything happening in accordance with prior knowledge and previously written by the "Qalam" for eternity. Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah believe in the "Qalam", without delving into its detailed characteristics. This is because it is part of the unknown, which Allah has not revealed to any of His slaves. Some scholars mentioned different types of "qalams", based on their readings of the Sunnah: 1. The first and highest in rank is the "Qalam" which recorded everything that happened and that will happen until the Day of Judgment. It wrote everything about all of Allah’s creation. 2. The "qalams" which are held by the angels, who use them to write what Allah reveals to them concerning the affairs of the upper and under worlds. 3. The "qalam" which writes the yearly destiny on the Night of Decree. 4. The "qalam" which the angel in the womb uses to write one's destiny, provision, and deeds. 5. The "qalam" which the angels use to write everything a person does, starting from when he reaches the age of puberty. 6. The "qalams" that are used by people to write what Allah, the Almighty, teaches them. The most important of these "qalams" are the "qalams" used by the Companions during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, to record the revelation. The correct view is that the number and types of "qalams" cannot be enumerated, as only Allah, the Almighty, knows the reality of their state. One must not believe that a certain number of types of "qalams" exists; no one knows for certain except for Allah. In the Hadith of the Night Journey and the Ascent to Heaven, it was mentioned that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah"s peace and blessings be upon him, heard the sound of "qalams" being used. It is possible that everything has a specific "qalam" that is used to record it; only Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, truly knows.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر

"Qalam": writing instrument. Original meaning: cutting from something solid, which is typical of the pencil, as it is sharpened one time after the other. Other meanings: arrows, bowls, handwriting.

التعريف

One of God’s creation. God created it with his own hand and wrote with it the fortunes of all his creation before creating them. He also wrote with it the fortunes of all things until the day of judgement.