4 Preface الَّذي عَلَّمَ بِالقَلَمِYusuf AliHe Who taught (the use of) the Pen,—1The symbol of a permanent revelation is the mystic Pen and the mystic Record. See second note to verse 68:1. The Arabic words for “teach” and “knowledge” are from the same root. It is impossible to produce in a Translation the complete orchestral harmony of the words for “read”, “teach”, “pen” (which implies reading, writing, books, study, research), “knowledge” (including science, self knowledge, spiritual understanding), and “proclaim”, an alternative meaning of the word for “to read”. This proclaiming or reading implies not only the duty of blazoning forth God’s message, as going with the prophetic office, but also the duty of promulgation and wide dissemination of the Truth by all who read and understand it. The comprehensive meaning of qara’ refers not only to a particular person and occasion but also gives a universal direction. And this kind of comprehensive meaning, as we have seen, runs throughout the Qur-ān—for those who will understand.