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 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
- The differences are only in spelling, not in pronunciation (recitation). In some cases Islamic scholars added diacritics to indicate the missing letters that are to be pronounced.
Abraham (إبراهيم)
The name Abraham (إبراهيم, ibraaheem) occurs 69 times in the Quran. [2] 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 (in 2:124, 1:125 ..2:260) 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."
About what (عما)
The words عن (about, of) and ما (what, which) are usually written together as عما:
But in one verse (7:166) it is written separately, although the ن is still not pronounced in recitation:
So when they were insolent about that which (عن ما) they had been forbidden, We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
The messenger (الرسول)
Here the difference is in the accusative definite form. It's 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)."
The final alif would be added to the accusative form if the word was indefinite (رسول would become رسولا). But in the verse we have the definite form الرسول.
Magician (ساحر)
In verse 51:52 it was written with an alif:
Similarly, there came not to those before them any messenger except that they said, "A magician (ساحر) or a madman."
But in verse 40:24 without an alif:
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:
Heavens (سماوات)
The word is written almost 200 times as سموت (without the two alifs). For example:
But in one verse it's written with one alif:
And He completed them as seven heavens (سموات) within two days and inspired in each heaven its command..
The guided one (المهتدي)
The word muhtadee is written as المهتدى in 7:178.
Whoever Allah guides - he is the [rightly] guided (المهتدى); and whoever He sends astray - it is those who are the losers.
But in 17:97 it is written as المهتدِ:
And whoever Allah guides - he is the [rightly] guided (المهتدِ); and whoever He sends astray - you will never find for them protectors besides Him..
A lamp (سراج)
Allah made an [illuminating / burning] lamp (سراجا) in the sky:
However in this verse he made it without an alif after ر:
Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp (سرجا) and luminous moon.
At (لدى)
In the verse 12:25 was written as لدى:
And they both raced to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back, and they found her husband at (لدى) the door. She said, "What is the recompense of one who intended evil for your wife but that he be imprisoned or a painful punishment?"
But in the verse 40:18 as لدا:
And warn them, [O Muhammad], of the Approaching Day, when hearts are at (لدا) the throats, filled [with distress]. For the wrongdoers there will be no devoted friend and no intercessor [who is] obeyed.
Riba, usury, interest (ربا)
It was written 7 times with the letter و as ربوا. For example:
O you who have believed, do not consume usury (ربوا), doubled and multiplied, but fear Allah that you may be successful.
But in 30:39 it was written without the و as ربا:
And whatever you give for interest (ربا) to increase within the wealth of people will not increase with Allah . But what you give in zakah, desiring the countenance of Allah - those are the multipliers.
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 ..
O [vocative] (أيها)
It was written 150 times as أيها. For example:
But three times as أيه. For example:
.. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O (أيه) believers, that you might succeed.
See also
References
- ↑ More grammatical errors can be found in a book الأخطاء اللغوية في القرآن ("Linguistic errors in the Koran") by Sami Aldeeb (in Arabic)
- ↑ http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=%3CiboraAhiym (the Quran quotes here use the imla'i script, but if you go to http://quran.com/2/124 you'll see Uthmani إبرهم)