125 Preface ادعُ إِلىٰ سَبيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالحِكمَةِ وَالمَوعِظَةِ الحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجادِلهُم بِالَّتي هِيَ أَحسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبيلِهِ ۖ وَهُوَ أَعلَمُ بِالمُهتَدينَYusuf AliInvite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious:1 for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.2In this wonderful passage are laid down principles of religious teaching, which are good for all time. But where are the Teachers with such qualifications? We must invite all to the Way of God, and expound His Universal Will; we must do it with wisdom and discretion, meeting people on their own ground and convincing them with illustrations from their own knowledge and experience, which may be very narrow, or very wide. Our preaching must be, not dogmatic, not self-regarding, not offensive, but gentle, considerate, and such as would attract their attention. Our manner and our arguments should not be acrimonious, but modelled on the most courteous and the most gracious example, so that the hearer may say to himself, “This man is not dealing merely with dialectics; he is not trying to get a rise out of me; he is sincerely expounding the faith that is in him, and his motive is the love of man and the love of God.”It may be that the Preacher sometimes says to himself, “What is the use of teaching these people? They have made up their minds, or they are obstinate, or they are only trying to catch me out.” Let him not yield to such a thought. Who knows how the seed of the Word of God may germinate in people’s minds? It is not for man to look for results. Man’s inner thoughts are known best to God.