come pregnant remarks upon the subject from the introduction to the famous commentary of Imām Husain. The great commentator writes thus,
“And as the readings which are authorized to be read are various, and their difference in letters and words innumerable, trustworthy readings according to Bakr, approved by Imām ʿAsim, prevalent in this country and reliable, are inserted in these pages (of this commentary). And a few such passages, which, on account of the difference, entirely alter the meaning of the Qurān, and opposed by Hafaz, are also referred to.”
From these candid remarks of the great commentator Kamal-ud-dīn Husain it is clear that a number of various readings still exist in the Qurān, and that in words and letters ‘innumerable’ corruptions have crept into the text. Not only so; but the great scholar freely confesses that in a number of cases the meaning of the Qurān is quite altered thereby. The Imām further informed us that various readings are current in different countries, some of which are trustworthy, whilst others are not. Others of the readings to be referred to by him, he tells us, are opposed to the reading of Hafaz, that is, of the reading current in India to-day; but which reading, of all these conflicting copies, really represents the original Qurān circulated by ʿUsmān, not to speak of that Qurān taught by Muhammad himself, neither
