58 - Ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us, he said: Jarīr narrated to us, from Mughīra, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAbd Allāh, he said: "Whoever disbelieves in a letter of the Qur'an, or in a verse of it, has disbelieved in all of it." (1)

Abū Jaʿfar said: If a questioner says to us: "Since the Interpretation of the Prophet's—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—statement: 'The Qur'an was revealed in seven letters' according to you is as you have described, based on the evidence you cited, then produce for us a single letter in the Book of God that is recited in seven dialects, so that we may verify your statement thereby. Otherwise, if you cannot find that to be so, then it would be known by its absence—that the statement of the one who claims that its Interpretation is that it was revealed with seven meanings (namely: command, prohibition, promise, threat, disputation, stories, and parables) is correct, and that your statement is invalid. Or you would say regarding that: 'The seven letters are seven dialects in the Qur'an, scattered throughout all of it, from the dialects of various clans of Arab tribes with different tongues'—as was said by some of those who did not thoroughly examine the matter (3). You would thereby come to hold a statement whose invalidity no rational person is ignorant of, nor would its error be unclear to anyone of intelligence."

That is because the reports by which you argued to validate your view regarding the Interpretation of the Prophet's—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—statement: "The Qur'an was revealed in seven letters," are the reports that you narrated from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—may Allah have mercy on them—and from those whom you narrated it from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—that they disputed over the recitation of