And you thought that I was always there… not quite. My ancestors, the ink pens are several thousand years old, and their forefathers, the feather pens, probably belong to ancient times. But they were nothing like me: they were crude and clumsy, untidy and slow.

Some people claim that I was first made and marketed in the nineteenth century in the U.S. Wrong again! I boast of being born in the 10th century (4th century Hijri) in the court of Imam Moiz (AS), the 14th Fatemi Imam. Let me tell you how.

One day Imam Moiz (AS) discussed the virtues of my kind, the pen, with Syedna Qadi al Numan (RA). He suggested that a pen should be manufactured that could write without being dipped in the ink pot again and again, a pen that could be put away in the pocket without fear of leakage. The Imam provided detailed technical instructions about the pen's mechanism. I was invented!

A few days later I was created according to the Imam's instructions by a court manufacturer and presented for approval. I was a thing of marvel, but yet not up to the mark. I was remade to perfection according to the Imam's direction. But now when I am in your hands, when I write, have a care of what you will write with me!