CHAPTER I
THE SEVEN READINGS OF THE QURĀN
Muhammad did not give forth the whole of the Qurān at one time; but it was recited piecemeal as circumstances demanded, over a period of some twenty-three years. Even then, his immediate disciples did not commit the whole to writing; some portions were memorized, others were transcribed upon 'palm-leaves, leather, slabs of stone,' etc.; yet discrepancies soon arose, and from the traditions we learn that within a comparatively short time serious differences arose in the reading of the Qurān, differences by no means confined to pronunciation, as some would have us believe. In the well-known book of traditions, the Mishkāt-al-Musābih in the chapter called Fajail-ul-Qurān we read:—
"ʿUmr-ibn-al-Khatāb said, 'I heard Hishām-ibn-Hakīm-ibn-Hijāmī reading Sūra Furqān in a different way from that which I was accustomed to do; but the prophet had taught
