The Seven Readings

One of the meanings suggested for the seven l:zarfs under discussion is that which involves seven different readings of the Quran.
The response [to this is as follows]. If these seven readings are intended [to mean] the famous seven readings, then we have already explained to the reader [in chap‌ ter ٥] the baselessness of this probability. However, if the seven l:zarfs are intended to absolutely mean the seven readings, then it is evident that the number of readings is more than one. On the other hand, it is impossible to interpret this view as mean‌ ing that the utmost number of possible variants of every word in the Quran is seven. For, if it is intended that the majority of the words in the Quran can be read in seven different ways, then such a view is invalid, because the words that can be read in seven different ways are very few indeed. And if it is intended that this condition is present in some words and by way of partial confirmation, then it is obvious that some of the Qurans words can be read in more than seven ways. The expression wa
abd al-taghut [Q. ٥:٦٠-who serves idols], for example, was read in twenty-two
different ways, and the word uffin [Q. ١٧:٢٣,٢١:٦٧, ٤٦:١٧-fie] in more than thirty ways. Furthermore, this opinion does not agree with the terms of the traditions [cited above], and most of the other views on this matter are like it in that respect.

The Different Dialects

According to [the tenth] interpretation, the seven /:larfs refer to the different accents with which a single word may be pronounced. This view was adopted by al-RafiI in his book Ijaz al-QuranY
Al-RafiI maintains that each community among the Arabs had a particular way of pronouncing certain words. For this reason, we find that the Arabs differ in the way they pronounce the same word, in accordance with their different accents. Thus, for example, an Iraqi changes the letter qaj in the word yaqulu to the Persian qaj, whereas a Syrian changes it to the glottal stop a. The Quran was revealed in all these dialects to make it easier for the Muslim community [comprised of all these differ‌ ent communities], because limiting it to one particular dialect among these many dialects would have caused difficulty for other tribes that were not familiar with that particular dialect. Hence, the term seven is a figurative reference to the pronuncia‌ tion that each group considers the most correct way. Accordingly, it does not matter if the actual number of accents in Arabic is more than seven.
The response [to this is as follows]. This interpretation, although, relatively, the best among those so far considered, is also incomplete.

١. It contradicts what has been related on the authority of Umar and Uthman: that the Quran was revealed in the dialect of the Quraysh, and that Umar prevented Ibn Masud from reading atta /:zfn.

٢. It also contradicts Umars disagreement with Hisham b.l:fakim over the reading, although both were from the Quraysh.

٣. Moreover, it contradicts the occasions of the traditions, and in some cases their explicit statement, which maintains that the difference [in the readings] was in the