Muḥammad seems to have adopted this expedient to satisfy the desire of the leading tribes to have a Qurʾān in their own dialect; for ʿAbdu ʾl-Ḥaqq says, “The Qurʾān was first revealed in the dialect of the Quraish, which was the Prophet’s native tongue; but when the Prophet saw that the people of other tribes recited it with difficulty, then he obtained permission from God to extend its currency by allowing it to be recited in all the chief dialects of Arabia, which were seven:—Quraish, Taiy, Hawāzin, Yaman, S̤aqīf, Huẕail, and Banū Tamīm. Every one of these tribes accordingly read the Qurʾān in its own dialect, till the time of ʿUs̤mān, when these differences of reading were prohibited.”
These seven dialects are called in Arabic Sabaʿtu Aḥruf, and in Persian Haft Qirāʾāt.
III.—The Divisions of the Qurʾān.
The Qurʾān, which is written in the Arabic language, is divided into: Ḥarf, Kalimah, Āyah, Sūrah, Rukūʾ, Rubʿ, Niṣf, S̤uls̤, Juzʾ, Manzal.
1. Ḥarf (pl. Ḥurūf), Letters; of which there are said to be 323,671, or according to some authorities, 338,606.
2. Kalimah (pl. Kalimāt), Words; of which there are 77,934, or, according to some writers, 79,934.
3. Āyah (pl. Āyāt), Verses. Āyah (Heb. אוֹת) is a word which signifies “sign.” It was used by Muḥammad for short sections or verses of his supposed revelation. The division of verses differs in different editions of the Arabic Qurʾān. The number of verses in the Arabic Qurʾāns are recorded after the title of the Sūrah, and the verses distinguished in the text by a small cypher or circle. The early readers of the Qurʾān did not agree as to the original position of these circles, and so it happens that there are five different systems of numbering the verses.
(a) Kūfah verses. The Readers in the city of al-Kūfah say that they followed the custom of ʿAlī. Their way of reckoning is generally adopted in India. They reckon 6,239 verses.
(b) Baṣrah verses. The Readers of al-Baṣrah follow ʿĀṣim ibn Ḥajjāj, a Companion. They reckon 6,204 verses.
(c) Shāmī verses. The Readers in Syria (Shām) followed ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn ʿUmar, a Companion. They reckon 6,225 verses.