Documents of the Right Word

ninth âyat of Sûrat al-Jum’a, Fas’aw ilâ dhikri’ llâh’ was said as
‘Famdu ilâ dhikrillâh.’ The 74th âyat of Sûrat al-Baqara says, ‘Fahiya
kalhijârati’; there were those who said it as ‘fa-kânat
kalhijârati.’ The 61st âyat of Sûrat al-Baqara says, ‘alaihimu ’dhdhillata
wa’l-maskanata’; there were those who read it as
‘alaihimu’l-mas-kanata wa’dh-dhillata.’ The disagreements
pertaining to meanings in Qur’ân al-kerîm can be exemplified as
follows: the 19th âyat of Sûra Saba’ states, ‘Rabbanâ bâ’id baina
asfârinâ.’ It means, ‘O our Rabb! Take our books away from us.’
It is an invocation to Allah. Some read it as ‘Rabbunâ bâ’ada baina
asfârinâ’ which means, ‘Our Rabb has taken our books away from
us.’ The 115th âyat of Sûrat Mâ’ida says, ‘Hal yastatî’u Rabbuka,’
which means, ‘Will your Rabb accept your prayer?’ Some read this
âyat as ‘Hal tastatî’u Rabbaka,’ which means ‘Will you pray to
your Rabb?’ ”
Answer: The above-cited disagreements were caused by one
person each. The scholars of tafsîr and qirâ’a refused the forms of
reading of those who caused these disagreements. They accepted
the form of reading on which there was consensus. Our Prophet
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) said, “Qur’ân al-kerîm was revealed
on seven harfs, [1] each of which is curative and sufficient.” For this
reason, the disagreements arising from the readings and the
meanings of Qur’ân al-kerîm do not undermine its being mu’jiz.
Their sixth antithesis states: “The Qur’ân contains useless
melodies and iterations. For example, ‘Inna hâdhâni la-sâhirâni’ is
such a melody. An example of an iterative reading is Sûrat ar-
Rahmân. An example of iterations in meaning are the stories
about Mûsâ and ’Îsâ (’alaihima ’s-salâm).”
Answer: ... [2] As for the iterations, the fact that their repetition
serves to fix the meaning into mind is indisputable. The value of
the art of explaining some meaning through various expressions is
[1] The word ‘harf’, as it is written in the book Riyâd an-nâsîhîn, means
dialect, reading. The copy of Qur’ân al-kerîm compiled by Hadrat
Abû Bakr contained all of the seven different kinds of readings. When
Hadrat ’Uthmân became Khalîfa, he convened the Sahâbat al-kirâm
and it was unanimously decided that the new copies of the Qur’ân
would be written as Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm) had recited it in the
last year of his life. It is wâjib to read the Qur’ân as such. It is also
permissible to read it in the other six ways.
[2] Here, al-Imâm ar-Rabbânî (quddisa sirruh), referring to the book
Sharh-i mawâqif, writes in detail that, according to a branch of
knowledge called balâghat (rhetorics), the âyat “Hâdhâni la-sâhirâni”
is in a degree of i’jâz. We have not translated that part.
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