A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.
أشرع قلمه (qalamahū) to draw one’s pen = to prepare to write
Root: ش-ر-ع
Page: 544*
Example: “وَجَدَ الصَّحَفيُّ نَفسَهُ في قَلبِ الحَدَثِ فَأَشرَعَ قَلَمَهُ بِسُرعة”
Translation: “the journalist found himself in the heart of the action so he whipped out his pen”
Revise all of the vocab from the series on Quizlet:
* The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th Edition
The Arabic Pages 
This expression is very appealing to me!