some of the Qur'an, differing in its recitation rather than its Interpretation, and some rejected the recitation of others, while each reader among them claimed regarding his recitation that the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—had taught him to recite in the exact manner he recited. Then they sought judgment from the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him (1). So the judgment of the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—among them was that he declared the recitation of each reader among them to be correct, despite its differing from the recitation of his companions who disputed with him, and he commanded each man among them to recite as he was taught, until doubt mingled in the heart of some of them regarding Islam, when he saw the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—validating the recitation of every reader despite their differences. Then Allah dispelled it from him through the clarification of the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—to him: that the Qur'an was revealed in seven letters.

So if the seven letters in which the Qur'an was revealed are, according to you—as this questioner said—scattered throughout the Qur'an, preserved today in the mus-hafs of the people of Islam, then the meanings of the reports you narrated from those Companions of the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—from whom you narrated them would be rendered null: that they differed in the recitation of a surah of the Qur'an and brought their dispute to the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him, who commanded each to recite as he was taught. Because if the seven letters were scattered dialects throughout the entire Qur'an, no single letter among them would necessitate a disagreement between its reciters (2), for every reciter would only recite that letter in a single way, according to how it is in the mus-haf and how it was revealed.

And since that is so, the basis of the disagreement of those from whom it was reported that they differed in the recitation of a surah becomes invalid, and the meaning of the Prophet's—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—command to every reciter among them to recite it as he was taught becomes corrupted, since there would be no meaning there that would necessitate a difference in wording or a divergence in meaning. And how could there be a disagreement among the people when the teacher was one, and the knowledge was one without multiple forms? In the authenticity of the report concerning those from whom disagreement was reported regarding the letters of the Qur'an during the time of the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—that they differed and sought judgment from