TO look back to the original meaning of a word is to embark on more than just a linguistic voyage; in some cases, tracing a word back to its original meaning is actually the key to unlocking one of the treasures of the guidance of the Qur'an. For example, Allah said in the introduction to the story of Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him): “We relate unto you (Muhammad SAW) the best of stories through Our Revelations unto you, of this Qur'ân. And before this (i.e. before the coming of Divine Inspiration to you), you were among those who knew nothing about it (the Qur'ân).” (Qur'an, 12:3) The secret behind Allah relating this story to us lies in none other than the word ‘story' itself. The word used for ‘story' in this verse is ‘Qissah' (pl. ‘Qasas'). It is derived from the root letters – ‘Qaaf-Saad'. The primary connotation of this root is ‘to follow.' This meaning is further evidenced by the verse: “And she said to his [Musa's (Moses)] sister: ‘Follow him.'...” (Qur'an, 28:11) The mother of Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) told his sister to follow Musa after the family of the Pharoah had picked him up from the river, and the word used by Allah for ‘follow' in the verse, ‘Qusseehi', is also derived from the same root. Similarly, the term ‘Qisaas' referring to the law of retaliation in Shariah penal laws, is so called because it involves following in the footsteps of another, i.e. doing to one person what they have done to another. Thus we find that the word ‘Qissah' (story), as has been used in the Qur'an was chosen over all other synonyms (such as ‘Hadith' or ‘Hikaayah') because it indicates that the story is not being narrated for the sake of amusement or entertainment, but rather, as the word explains, the story is being related for the reader to follow the footsteps of Prophet Yusuf, the subject of the story. – Shoubaki has a Masters in Arabic linguistics from the International Islamic University, Malaysia and blogs at arabicgems.wordpress.com __