Different Versions of the Quran: Hafs, Warsh and the Readings

مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ

“Master of the Day of Judgement.” (Q 1:4, Hafs)

مَلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ

“King of the Day of Judgement.” (Q 1:4, Warsh)

“Master,” or “King”? One word, two readings, both recited as Quran.

Today: the versions of the Quran, in Arabic only. Not translations.

A version is a reading, a qira'a, named for a master reader and his transmitter: Hafs from Asim, Warsh from Nafi.

Most differences are dots and vowels.

But not all. Uthman's copies for different cities differed in places by a letter or a whole word.

And Companion codices reportedly differed by verses, even chapters.

Tradition says Islam's Prophet allowed this: the Quran came down in seven ahruf, or modes.

But did Muhammad ever recite in different ahruf himself?

In Bukhari, Umar and Hisham recite one chapter differently, and Islam's Prophet approves both.

But there's no agreed account of what the seven were, or whether today's readings preserve them.

By the 900s, there were at least fifty readings. Ibn Mujahid accepted seven.

A rival reciting Companion variants was flogged. Ibn al-Jazari later confirmed ten.

Some change the meaning. Did a prophet “fight,” or was he “killed”?

Is the messenger “not stingy” with the unseen, or “not suspected”?

At 2:222, “until they are pure,” or “until they purify themselves”? One letter decides.

Our data: Warsh and Hafs differ in dots or letters in 161 words across 150 verses, plus 1,306 vowel-only places.

A 1924 Cairo print in Hafs became the model for most Qurans today.

Tradition traces all ten readings to Islam's Prophet. Historians see a selection made over centuries.

Muslims believe the Quran is kept on a preserved tablet.

Even that verse has two readings: is the tablet preserved, or the Quran?

So which Arabic version is preserved in paradise? Sources at thequran.com.