So once more we arrive at the door to another level,

onwards and upwards, or inwards,

because we've reached Level 4.

And to get here we've seen approaches to the Reading that display an extraordinary subtlety and precision,

from markings in the text to denote slight differences in its vocalisation,

to the power and delicacy of the scripts in which it is written,

the endless definitions and categories allocated to its words and verses,

and the wide variety of commentator's views.

It would seem that we must be getting close to the limit of what there is to know about the Reading.

But still there is so much more to know.

The eternity well is bottomless.

It's waters are as deep as you want to go.

Of course there is the outer form,

the sounds expressed from muslim lips around the globe,

a communal harking back to sounds that were heard nearly 1500 years ago, and which have reverberated through much of the world's population since,

preserved with an extraordinary attention to the details of recitation,

to ensure that the words we speak now are as close as possible to the way that God spoke through the Messenger.

But as with anything that takes time and practice to learn,

to be successful requires patience and discipline,

characteristics that are not always natural to humans,

something that they have to work at to learn,

not just in childhood, but ever and ongoing through life.

They are part of life's struggle,

and their value can be seen in the Qur'an's often repeated recommendation of patience as part of the Islamic Way of Life.

And if we have to learn patience, what better way than through the discipline of learning applied to God's words in the wondrous Reading.

But the trick people use to sidestep patience and discipline is interest.

It is as though when we are interested in what we are doing, time flies by

and the need for patience vanishes, and our efforts seem less like hard work.

And it is there that the bottomless well of the Qur'an comes into play,

providing us with more satisfying, deeper understandings the more that we explore,

and wherever our interest takes us.