Allathee AAallama bilqalam (surah Al Alaq: 4)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(96:4) Who taught by the pen, *5

Al lazee `allama bil qalam

*5) That is, "It is a great favour of Allah that starting man's creation from a most insignificant state He made him possessor of knowledge which is the noblest attribute of creation, and He made him not only possessor of knowledge but also taught him the art of writing by the use of pen, which became the means of propagation, progress, dissemination and preservation of knowledge on a large scale. Had He not given tnan the knowledge of the art of pen and writing (by inspiration) his intellectual faculty would have stagnated, and it would have had no opportunity to develop, expand and become a means of transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next and make future progress.