In Islamic theology, the prophetic saying 'the Pen has dried' (Jaf al-Qalam) has often been invoked to support absolute fatalism or predestination, suggesting that human effort is futile because all outcomes are pre-written.

In the *Masnavi* (Book Five, Section 135), Rumi explicitly rejects this fatalistic interpretation, reframing it as an assertion of **moral causality and the immutability of divine justice**:

- **No Ethical Equivalence:** The Pen has written that good and evil, obedience and disobedience, and trustworthiness and theft can never be equal before God.
- **Immutable Laws of Consequence:** The 'drying' of the Pen signifies that the moral law of the universe is fixed—crooked actions will inevitably lead to crooked results, while righteousness will always yield spiritual happiness.
- **Incentive for Action:** Instead of inducing laziness or resignation, this doctrine serves to incite humanity toward 'the most important work' (shoghl-e aham) by guaranteeing that no mor...

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## Original content
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هم چنین تاویل قد جف القلم 
بهر تحریضست بر شغل اهم
پس قلم بنوشت که هر کار را 
لایق آن هست تاثیر و جزا
کژ روی جف القلم کژ آیدت 
راستی آری سعادت زایدت
ظلم آری مدبری جف القلم 
عدل آری بر خوری جف القلم
چون بدزدد دست شد جف القلم 
خورد باده مست شد جف القلم
تو روا داری روا باشد که حق 
هم چو معزول آید از حکم سبق
که ز دست من برون رفتست کار 
پیش من چندین میا چندین مزار
بلک معنی آن بود جف القلم 
نیست یکسان پیش من عدل و ستم
فرق بنهادم میان خیر و شر 
فرق بنهادم ز بد هم از بتر
ذره ای گر در تو افزونی ادب 
باشد از یارت بداند فضل رب
قدر آن ذره ترا افزون دهد 
ذره چون کوهی قدم بیرون نهد
پادشاهی که به پیش تخت او 
فرق نبود از امین و ظلم جو
آنک می لرزد ز بیم رد او 
وانک طعنه می زند در جد او
فرق نبود هر دو یک باشد برش 
شاه نبود خاک تیره بر سرش
ذره ای گر جهد تو افزون بود 
در ترازوی خدا موزون بود
پیش این شاهان هماره جان کنی 
بی خبر ایشان ز غدر و روشنی
گفت غمازی که بد گوید ترا 
ضایع آرد خدمتت را سالها
پیش شاهی که سمیعست و بصیر 
گفت غمازان نباشد جای گیر
جمله غمازان ازو آیس شوند 
سوی ما آیند و افزایند پند
بس جفا گویند شه را پیش ما 
که برو جف القلم کم کن وفا
معنی جف القلم کی آن بود 
که جفاها با وفا یکسان بود
بل جفا را هم جفا جف القلم 
وآن وفا را هم وفا جف القلم
عفو باشد لیک کو فر امید 
که بود بنده ز تقوی روسپید
دزد را گر عفو باشد جان برد 
کی وزیر و خازن مخزن شود
ای امین الدین ربانی بیا 
کز امانت رست هر تاج و لوا
پور سلطان گر برو خاین شود 
آن سرش از تن بدان باین شود
وز غلامی هندوی آرد وفا 
دولت او را می زند طال بقا
چه غلام ار بر دری سگ باوفاست 
در دل سالار او را صد رضاست
زین چو سگ را بوسه بر پوزش دهد 
گر بود شیری چه پیروزش کند
جز مگر دزدی که خدمتها کند 
صدق او بیخ جفا را بر کند
چون فضیل ره زنی کو راست باخت 
زانک ده مرده به سوی توبه تاخت
وآنچنان که ساحران فرعون را 
رو سیه کردند از صبر و وفا
دست و پا دادند در جرم قود 
آن به صد ساله عبادت کی شود
تو که پنجه سال خدمت کرده ای 
کی چنین صدقی به دست آورده ای

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## English translation
Likewise, the interpretation of 'The Pen has dried'
Is for the sake of inciting [one] to the most important work.
For the Pen wrote that for every action,
There is a fitting effect and recompense.
If you go crookedly, 'The Pen has dried' [decreeing] that crookedness will come to you;
If you bring truth, happiness will be born for you.
If you bring oppression, [you will face] adversity—the Pen has dried;
If you bring justice, you will enjoy the fruit—the Pen has dried.
When he steals, his hand is cut off—the Pen has dried;
When he drinks wine, he becomes intoxicated—the Pen has dried.
Do you think it proper, or is it permissible, that God
Should be like one deposed by His own prior decree,
Saying, 'The matter has gone out of My hands;
Do not come to Me so much, do not weep so much'?
Rather, the meaning of 'The Pen has dried' is this:
Justice and oppression are not equal before Me.
I have set a distinction between good and evil;
I have set a distinction between the bad and the worse.
If there be in you a single atom of extra politeness
Compared to your companion, the Lord's grace knows it.
He will increase your reward by the value of that atom;
That atom will step forth like a mountain.
A king before whose throne there is no difference
Between the trustworthy and the seeker of oppression,
Between him who trembles for fear of his rejection,
And him who mocks his effort,
If there is no difference and both are the same to him,
He is no king—dark earth be upon his head!
If your effort be greater by an atom,
It will be weighed in God's scales.
Before these worldly kings, you always wear out your life,
While they remain unaware of treachery or brightness.
The word of a slanderer who speaks ill of you
Will waste your years of service.
But before a King Who is All-Hearing and All-Seeing,
The talk of slanderers finds no place.
All slanderers despair of Him;
They come to us and multiply their advice,
They speak much injustice about the King before us,
Saying, 'Go, the Pen has dried, lessen your loyalty.'
How could the meaning of 'The Pen has dried' be
That acts of cruelty are equal to loyalty?
Nay, for cruelty there is also cruelty—the Pen has dried;
And for loyalty there is also loyalty—the Pen has dried.
There may be forgiveness, but where is the glory of hope
That the servant should be white-faced (honored) through piety?
If the thief is forgiven, he saves his life,
But how will he become a vizier and keeper of the treasury?
Come, O trustworthy one of the Divine Religion,
For through trustworthiness every crown and banner has been delivered.
If the sultan's own son becomes treacherous to him,
Know that his head will be severed from his body.
But if a Hindu slave displays loyalty,
The state proclaims 'May your life be prolonged!' for him.
What of a slave? If even a dog at the door is loyal,
There are a hundred approvals for it in the master's heart.
Because of this, he kisses the dog's snout;
If it were a lion, how victorious would he make it!
Except perhaps a thief who performs services,
And his sincerity tears up the root of his cruelty.
Like Fudayl, the highwayman, who played truthfully,
Because he rushed toward repentance with tenfold strength.
And just as the sorcerers made Pharaoh black-faced
Through their patience and loyalty.
They gave up their hands and feet under the law of retaliation;
How could that be attained by a hundred years of worship?
You, who have served for fifty years,
When have you ever acquired such sincerity?

دفتر پنجم - بخش ۱۳۵ - و هم‌چنین قد جف القلم یعنی جف القلم و کتب لا یستوی الطاعة والمعصیة لا یستوی الامانة و السرقة جف القلم ان لا یستوی الشکر و الکفران جف القلم ان الله لا یضیع اجر المحسنین / Book Five - Section 135 - And likewise 'the Pen has dried' means the Pen has dried and written that obedience and disobedience are not equal, trustworthiness and theft are not equal, the Pen has dried that gratitude and ingratitude are not equal, the Pen has dried that indeed God does not waste the reward of the doers of good

In Book One of the *Masnavi*, during the narrative of Imam Ali and his future murderer, Jalaluddin Rumi explores the theme of predestination through the concept of "Jaffa al-Qalam" (the pen has dried). When the stirrup-holder begs Ali to kill him and prevent the prophesied murder, Ali refuses, stating "برو جف القلم" (Go, the pen has dried). Rumi uses this encounter to illustrate the profound Sufi doctrine of submission to divine destiny, asserting that human volition cannot alter the eternal decrees written by the pen of God.

The Concept of Jaffa al-Qalam (The Pen Has Dried) in Rumi's Tale of Imam Ali

In Book Five, Section 130 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi outlines the Sunni believer's philosophical defense of human free will (*ikhtiyar*) against determinism (*jabr*). He describes the Sunnah as a middle path between two extreme wildernesses: absolute determinism (*jabr*) on the right, which denies moral responsibility and renders divine commands, prohibitions, Paradise, and Hell meaningless; and absolute free will (*qadar*) on the left, which mistakenly limits the Creator's power. To refute the determinist, Rumi uses common-sense arguments, noting that we do not command inanimate objects (such as stones or wood) or expect them to act, which demonstrates that our use of commands and blame inherently relies on an intuitive recognition of human choice and agency.

The Sunni Believer's Refutation of Determinism: The Middle Path and Common-Sense Proofs in the Masnavi

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Rumi's Reframing of the 'Pen Has Dried' (Jaf al-Qalam) Doctrine

In Jalaluddin Rumi's *Masnavi*, the narrative of Imam Ali extends to a profound revelation: the Prophet Muhammad had prophesied that Ali would eventually be killed by his own servant. Horrified by this inevitable fate, the servant repeatedly begs Ali to execute him prematurely to prevent the treacherous act. Ali steadfastly refuses, explaining that "the pen has dried" and one cannot employ tricks against divine destiny. More profoundly, Ali harbors no hatred toward his future murderer because he perceives the servant merely as "God's instrument," asserting that the true agent of all actions is God's hand. When the servant questions the purpose of divine retribution if human actions are predestined, Ali responds that retribution is a hidden divine mystery. He explains that when God breaks His own instrument or abrogates a law, He ultimately replaces it with something superior, demonstrating that divine wrath and grace originate from a single, unified source.

Imam Ali's Submission to Divine Destiny and the Instrument of God in the Masnavi

In Book Five, Section 137 of the *Masnavi*, Rumi addresses the unresolved debate between the deterministic infidel (*jabri*) and the Sunni believer representing free will (*qadari*). He emphasizes that rational discourse, arguments, and counterarguments are endless and cannot eliminate the core doubts and objections. Rumi asserts that only Divine Love (*'ishq-i haqiqi*) can truly resolve and transcend these intellectual conflicts. In the presence of Divine Love, the human intellect's preoccupation with debating personal agency versus divine compulsion vanishes, as the lover is entirely absorbed in the Divine Will, rendering theological disputations irrelevant.

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