al-Insān al-Kāmil, Bāb 47 -- The Supreme Pen (al-Qalam al-Aʿlā)
full parallel manuscript · complete bitext
الإنسان الكامل · في القلم الأعلى
canonical early 15th c. (author d. c. 1408-1428 CE) Arabic ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jīlī (b. 767 AH / 1365 CE; d. c. 1422-1428 CE) tr. Hekhal Targum engine (claude-opus-4-8[session]); AI-assisted draft, editor review pending
The complete chapter on the Supreme Pen (al-Qalam al-Aʿlā), rendered as a full parallel manuscript: every segment, aligned line by line. al-Jīlī identifies the Pen as the first differentiated determination of the Real in creation — the model that inscribes upon the Guarded Tablet as the intellect inscribes upon the soul — and then makes its great equation: the Supreme Pen, the First Intellect, and the Muhammadan Spirit are one indivisible substance under three relations.
How to read this. Use the view switcher: Split shows Arabic and English side by side; English and Original give each alone; Annotated attaches the inline Targum data to each segment — including the three “first creation” hadith, which are flagged for grading. Digital-draft edition: two-witness collated, glossary-locked, labeled AI-assisted with editor review pending.
الباب السابع والأربعون في القلم الأعلى
Chapter Forty-Seven: On the Supreme Pen (al-Qalam al-Aʿlā)
§2 اعلم أن القلم الأعلى: عبارة عن أول تعيينات الحق في المظاهر الخلقية على التمييز.
Know that the Supreme Pen is an expression for the first determinations (taʿyīnāt) of the Real in the created loci of manifestation, [taken] in the mode of differentiation (ʿalā l-tamyīz).
glossary: qalam-ala
§3 وقولي على التمييز هو لأن الخلق له تعين إبهامي أولا في العلم الإلهي.
And my saying "in the mode of differentiation" is because the creation has, first, an undifferentiated determination in the divine Knowledge.
§4 وقد تقدم بيانه، ثم له وجود هو مجمل حكمي في العرش لأنا قد بينا أن العرش أحد وجوهه، هو الموجودات الخلقية.
Its exposition has [already] preceded. Then it has an existence that is summary [and] ruling in the Throne -- for we have shown that the Throne, one of its aspects, is the created existents.
glossary: arsh
§5 ثم له ظهور تفصيلي في الكرسي كما قد ذكرناه في الباب المتقدم، ثم له ظهور على التمييز في القلم الأعلى؛ لأن ظهوره في تلك المجالي الأول جميعها غيب.
Then it has a detailed appearing in the Footstool, as we mentioned in the preceding chapter; then it has an appearing in the mode of differentiation in the Supreme Pen -- because its appearing in all those first loci of disclosure is unseen (ghayb).
glossary: kursi, qalam-ala
§6 وجوده في القلم وجود عيني مميز عن الحق، وهو أعني القلم الأعلى أنموذج ينتقش ما يقتضيه في اللوح المحفوظ، كالعقل فإنه أنموذج ينتقش ما يقتضيه في النفس.
Its existence in the Pen is an entified existence, differentiated from the Real; and it -- I mean the Supreme Pen -- is a model (anmūdhaj) that inscribes what it requires upon the Guarded Tablet, like the intellect, for it is a model that inscribes what it requires upon the soul.
glossary: qalam-ala, lawh-mahfuz, aql-awwal, nafs
§7 فالعقل بمكانة القلم، والنفس بمكانة اللوح، والقضايا الفكرية التي وجدت في النفس بالقانون العقلي، هي بمثابة الصور الوجودية المكتوبة في اللوح المحفوظ.
So the intellect is at the place-rank of the Pen, and the soul at the place-rank of the Tablet; and the mental propositions that come to be in the soul by the rational canon are like the existential forms written in the Guarded Tablet.
glossary: aql-awwal, nafs, lawh-mahfuz, fikr
§8 ولهذا قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: «أول ما خلق الله تعالى العقل»،
And for this he (peace be upon him) said: "The first thing God (exalted is He) created was the intellect";
glossary: aql-awwal Hadith "awwal mā khalaqa llāhu l-ʿaql" -- widely cited in the Sufi tradition but graded weak/forged by hadith critics; flagged for grading vs the canonical collections.
§9 وقال: «أول ما خلق الله القلم» والقلم هو العقل الأول، وهما وجهان اللوح المحمدي.
and he said: "The first thing God created was the Pen." And the Pen is the First Intellect, and the two of them are two aspects of the Muhammadan Tablet.
glossary: qalam-ala, aql-awwal, haqiqa-muhammadiyya Hadith "awwal mā khalaqa llāhu l-qalam" -- in Abū Dāwūd / Tirmidhī (the qadar chapter); flagged for grading.
§10 قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: «أول ما خلق الله روح نبيك يا جابر»
He (peace be upon him) said: "The first thing God created was the spirit of your Prophet, O Jābir."
glossary: haqiqa-muhammadiyya The "Jābir tradition" (awwal mā khalaqa llāhu rūḥa / nūra nabiyyika yā Jābir) -- a cornerstone of Nūr-Muḥammadī doctrine but not in the canonical collections; graded weak/without sound chain. Flagged.
§11 فصار القلم الأعلى والعقل الأول، والروح المحمدي عبارة عن جوهر فرد، وهو بنسبته إلى الخلق يسمى القلم الأعلى.
So the Supreme Pen, the First Intellect, and the Muhammadan Spirit became an expression for a single indivisible substance (jawhar fard); and it, by its relation to the creation, is called the Supreme Pen,
glossary: qalam-ala, aql-awwal, haqiqa-muhammadiyya, jawhar-fard
§12 وبنسبته إلى مطلب الخلق يسمى العقل الأول، وبإضافته إلى الإنسان الكامل يسمى روحا محمديا صلى الله عليه وسلم.
and by its relation to the requirement of the creation it is called the First Intellect, and by its attribution to the Perfect Human it is called a Muhammadan Spirit (God bless him and grant him peace).
glossary: aql-awwal, insan-al-kamil, haqiqa-muhammadiyya
§13 وسيأتي تفصيل الروح والعقل من هذا الكتاب في موضعه إن شاء الله تعالى.
And the detailing of the Spirit and the Intellect will come, from this book, in its [own] place, God (exalted is He) willing.
Collation. Two-witness collated as part of the ʿArsh/Kursī/Pen/Tablet/Lote-Tree cluster (Bāb 45-49), staged 2026-06-02. No lossy drop.
Qurʾān. No verse citations in this chapter. Three hadith on the first creation (of the intellect, the Pen, and the Muhammadan spirit) are rendered and flagged for grading against the canonical collections.