O you with hearts touched by the divine hand, if you become involved in a debt payable at a fixed date, be it a loan, item borrowed or bought on credit or a business transaction, then commit it to writing. A scribe shall formulate an agreement or contract mediating the parties with recourse to the general principles of Allah’s justice. No scribe shall refuse to fulfil this function as Allah imparted it; he simply writes and the debtor dictates and keeps Allah in mind, and the scribe shall not decrease any of the agreed amount. Should the debtor be of unsound mind, weak, or incapable of dictating, then his guardian should dictate according to equity and good conscience. And select two of your men to be formally present as witnesses to the transaction. And if two men are unavailable, then one man and two commendable women so that later, if one errs due to a memory lapse, lack of experience or a biological factor, then the other will remind her of the correct testimony. And those who were called upon to witness the transaction and were associated with the event must not refuse when they are called in for evidence in the future. And do not be disinclined to commit the debt, small or large, to writing. Sanctioned by Allah according to judicial principles, this is recourse to a credited testimony preventing doubt. This is mandatory unless it is business involving bartered merchandise or collective management at an immediate cash rate, then you are absolved if you do not commit it to writing. But when you dispose of merchandise to a buyer for price, then such transactions must be witnessed. And neither writer nor witness should be made to suffer, for if you harm them, you commit a sin that shall be transferred to you, and revere Allah; He teaches you and shows you through information or instruction; He is 'Alimun of all in all.