قلم

Core meaning

The cut reed: the instrument that traces writing, and that is also cast to decide between people.

Uses

1. ٱلْقَلَم, أَقْلَٰم → "the pen", "pens" : the instrument of writing, by which knowledge is passed on.

   • «ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ» — "who taught by the pen" (96:4)
   • «وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ» — "By the pen and what they inscribe in lines" (68:1)

2. أَقْلَٰمَهُمْ → "their reeds" : the reeds cast to draw lots.

   • «إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلَٰمَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ» — "when they cast their reeds as to which of them would have custody of Maryam" (3:44)

Evidence from the text

The word names a cut object, and the text gives it two uses. Writing: God "taught by the pen" (96:4) before teaching the human being "what he did not know" (96:5); sura 68 opens on the pen and on what it traces in lines (68:1); and all the trees of the earth turned into pens would not exhaust the words of God (31:27). Deciding: in 3:44, those who quarreled over Maryam cast their reeds, and the lot designates the one who will have custody of her.

Distinctions

• سطر — to trace in lines: what the pen does (68:1)

See also

كتب (writing)