it is like your saying: "Come here", "Approach", and "Advance". He said: And in our recitation {It was not but a single blast} [Sūrat Yā-Sīn: 29, 53], while in the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd it is: "It was not but a single shriek" (1).
56- And Yaʿqūb narrated to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya narrated to us, he said: Shuʿayb—meaning Ibn al-Ḥabḥāb—narrated to us, he said: Whenever a man recited in the presence of Abū al-ʿĀliya, he would not say: "It is not as he recites," but rather he would say: "As for me, I recite such and such." He said: So I mentioned that to Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, and he said: "I think your companion has heard: 'Whoever disbelieves in a single mode of it has disbelieved in all of it.'"
57- Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to us, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Yūnus narrated to us, from Ibn Shihāb, he said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib reported to me: That the one whom God—exalted be His mention—mentioned [that he said] {It is only a human being who teaches him} [Sūrat al-Naḥl: 103] was only tempted into trial because he used to write down the revelation (waḥy). The Messenger of God—peace and blessings of God be upon him—would dictate to him: "All-Hearing, All-Knowing," or "All-Mighty, All-Wise," or other concluding phrases of verses. Then the Messenger of God—peace and blessings of God be upon him—would become occupied away from him while he was engaged in writing the revelation, so he would ask the Messenger of God—peace and blessings of God be upon him—saying: "Is it 'All-Mighty, All-Wise', or 'All-Hearing, All-Knowing', or 'All-Mighty, All-Knowing'?" The Messenger of God—peace and blessings of God be upon him—would say to him: "Whichever of those you wrote, it is as such." That tempted him into trial, so he said: "Muhammad has entrusted that to me, so I write whatever I wish." And this is what Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib mentioned to me regarding the seven modes (aḥruf) (2).
Notes
- (1) Hadith 55 - Muḥammad: He is Ibn Sīrīn, the Successor (Tabi'i), so the hadith is Mursal. Furthermore, he did not reach Ibn Masʿūd, so his report of his recitation is Broken (Munqati').
- (2) Hadith 57 - Al-Ṭabarī mentioned this hadith again with this exact wording in the Tafsir of Sūrat al-Naḥl: 103, without this addition that we placed between brackets. Without this addition, it gives the illusion that the one regarding whom "{It is only a human who teaches him}" was revealed is the scribe of revelation who was tempted away. However, he intended that the one who said "{It is only a human who teaches him}" was the scribe of revelation who was tempted away. The opening of al-Ṭabarī's statement in the Tafsir of Sūrat al-Naḥl decisively confirms that, where he said: "It was said that the one who said that was a man who was a scribe for the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of God be upon him) who apostatized from Islam. Mention of who said that..." Then he narrated this report, thereby dispelling what this illusion presented, which causes confusion to its reader in this place. The scribe of revelation who apostatized was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ al-ʿĀmirī al-Qurashī, and he was not a non-Arab. Rather, they said that he is the one whom Allah Almighty mentioned in His statement: {"And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against Allah or says, 'It has been inspired to me,' when nothing has been inspired to him, and one who says, 'I will reveal something like what Allah has revealed'?"} [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 93]. As for the one intended by His statement "{It is only a human who teaches him}", they differed regarding his identity; they said: A Christian blacksmith in Mecca called Balʿam, or Yaʿīsh, a slave boy belonging to Banū al-Mughīra, or Jabr the Christian, a slave boy belonging to Banū Bayāḍa.
Al-Suyūṭī mentioned it in al-Durr al-Manthūr (4/131) and said at its beginning: "The one whom Allah mentioned in His Book as having said: 'It is only a human who teaches...'", so we confirmed the addition from it for that reason.
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