Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic belong to the same language family. Since these languages originated from a common ancestor (Proto-Semitic) and have interacted throughout history, they share certain common words. One of these is the verb *ḳaraʔ- (قَرَأَ), which was initially used in the sense of “to cry out, to call.” Over time, it acquired the meanings of “to invite, to proclaim, to invoke,” and eventually, “to read.”
These languages also share specific sentence structures. For example, the Hebrew phrase קָרָא בְּשֵׁם פְּלוֹנִי (ḳārāʾ bəšēm pəlōnī), the Aramaic phrase ܩܪܐ ܒܫܡ ܦܠܢ (ḳərā bəšem pelān), and the Arabic phrase قَرَأَ بِسْمِ فُلَانِ (ḳaraʾa bismi fulāni) are identical in syntax and word components. This isomorphic pattern (ḳrʔ bsm fln) carries the meaning of “to call upon someone by name” in all three languages.
This structure frequently appears in the Torah as קָרָא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה (ḳārā bəšēm yahwē) and in the Gospel as ܩܪܐ ܒܫܡ ܡܪܝܐ (ḳərā bəšem māryā), both of which mean “He called upon the Lord by name.” The same phrase appears in the first verse of Surah Al-‘Alaq as اِقْرَأْ بِسْمِ رَبِّكْ (iḳraʾ bismi rabbik). Considering its Hebrew and Aramaic counterparts, it should be translated as “Call upon your Lord by name.”
The phrase “to call upon the Lord by name” (قَرَأَ بِاسْمِ الرَّبِّ) is a metonymic expression generally denoting an act of worship. Therefore, Q 96:1 prohibits the worship of false gods and commands the invocation of the Creator’s name (worshiping the true God). In this case, it becomes clear that the Quran’s first command is not to read but to worship Allah in monotheism.
