Spelling Inconsistencies in the Quran
In the most widespread version of the Arabic Quran (qira'a Hafs in the Uthmani script) there are inconsistencies (also known as errors) in the spelling of many words.
Examples
- This is definitely not a complete list. [1]
- These are not differences between different qira'aat, these are differences within the Hafs qira'a
- These differences occur in the Uthmani script, which is older than the more modern imla'i script
Abraham (إبراهيم)
The name Abraham (إبراهيم, ibraaheem) occurs 69 times in the Quran. In the Uthmani script the letter ا (alif) in the middle is missing, so it's written as إبرهيم. Without that letter, the writing would be still consistent with itself. However in the second sura, the letter ي is also missing, so it's written as إبرهم. So all suras except the 2nd have إبرهيم, but all 15 occurrences in sura al-baqara have إبرهم with the letter ي missing.
Son of mother (ابن أم)
In the verse 20:94, the two words were joined together:
[Aaron] said, "O son of my mother (يبنؤم, ya-bna-umma), do not seize [me] by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe [or await] my word.' "
But in 7:150 it was written separately and without the vocative particle ya:
And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after [my departure]. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by [the hair of] his head, pulling him toward him. [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother (ابن أم, ibna umma), indeed the people oppressed me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."
Show you (أريكم)
In 7:145 it's written with the letter و as أوريكم.
And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things - instruction and explanation for all things, [saying], "Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of it. I will show you (سأوريكم, sa-uureekum) the home of the defiantly disobedient."
sa- (س) prefix marks the future tense. The same form is in 21:37:
Man was created of haste. I will show you (سأوريكم) My signs, so do not impatiently urge Me.
But in 40:29, it was written without the letter و:
O my people, sovereignty is yours today, [your being] dominant in the land. But who would protect us from the punishment of Allah if it came to us?" Pharaoh said, "I do not show you (أريكم) except what I see, and I do not guide you except to the way of right conduct."
The messenger (الرسول)
Here the difference is in the accusative definite form. It's mostly written as الرسولَ (with a fatha above ل). For example:
..And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger (الرسولَ) from who would turn back on his heels..
However in the verse 33:66 an alif is added at the end:
The Day their faces will be turned about in the Fire, they will say, "How we wish we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger (الرسولا)."
A tree (شجرة)
It appears more than a dozen times in the common form شجرة (with ة), however in the verse 44:43 it's written with ت:
Something (شيء)
The word شيء (shay) is written without an alif. The "a" is indicated only by a fatha above the letter َش:
Indeed, Our word to a thing (لشىء, li-shay'in) when We intend it is but that We say to it, "Be," and it is.
English "to" is indicated by Arabic ل (li-). The word was written cca 200 times without an alif. However in the verse 18:23 the word is written with an alif:
And never say of anything [literally "to something"] (لشاىء, li-shay'in), "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"
Behind (وراء)
It is written as وراء in more than a dozen verses. For example:
..And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind (من وراء) a partition..
However in the verse 42:51 it was written as ورائ:
And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind (من ورائ) a partition ..
References
- ↑ More grammatical errors can be found in a book الأخطاء اللغوية في القرآن ("Linguistic errors in the Koran") by Sami Aldeeb (in Arabic)