An Analytical Study of the Variant Readings Transmitted from the Seven Canonical Reciters in the Exegesis of Sūrat Yūnus

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Quran and Hadith Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

2 Corresponding author, Ph.D. Candidate in Quran and Hadith Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. Email

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the extent to which the variant readings (ikhtilāf al-qirāʾāt) transmitted from the Seven Canonical Reciters (al-qurrāʾ al-sabʿah) influence the meaning of the verses of Qur'an, specifically in Sūrat Yūnus. It further seeks to clarify the Qurʾān’s own position regarding these variants. The central research problem concerns whether the meanings generated by divergent readings remain consistent with the overall contextual flow (siyāq) of the verses, and which reading may be identified as the most authentic.
Method: The research employs a descriptive-analytical approach, drawing upon authoritative exegetical sources—such as Majmaʿ al-Bayān, al-Kashshāf, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, and al-Mīzān—as well as specialized works on qirāʾāt, including al-Taysīr, al-Nashr, and al-Ḥujjah. The research corpus consists of all twenty-two instances of variant readings attributed to the Seven Reciters in Sūrat Yūnus, each of which is comprehensively examined and analyzed.
Findings: Out of the twenty-two cases of variant readings in Sūrat Yūnus, sixteen do not affect the semantic content of the verse, whereas six result in meaningful semantic variation. In these six instances, the widely transmitted reading of ʿĀṣim as narrated by Ḥafṣ demonstrates full consistency with the contextual coherence and internal harmony of the Qurʾānic discourse, conveying the most precise and comprehensive meaning. The semantically significant cases occur in verses 16 (lā adrākum / la-adrākum), 22 (yusayyirukum / yanshurukum), 30 (tablu / tatlu), 35 (lā yahaddī / lā yahdī), 81 (al-siḥr / āl-siḥr), and 88 (li-yuḍillū / li-yaḍillū).
Conclusion: The Qurʾān, through its intrinsic coherence and unified contextual structure, preserves the authenticity of its own reading. In all instances where variant readings yield divergent meanings, the reading of ʿĀṣim through the transmission of Ḥafṣ aligns most consistently with the broader textual context. This finding indicates that, beyond the authority of transmission chains and the scholarly stature of the reciters, the Qurʾān itself functions as an independent criterion in determining the most sound reading

Keywords


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