Page 333 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

THE ORIENTALIST AND THE QUR'AN 313

2. From sura I7:12 9
Printed Qur'an (as .uy
given by Mingana): l.:S),
Mingana's .uy
manuscript: l.:S.;:
Notes: Anyone perusing the Mushaf now printed in Madinah will
find that the published spellingis LS.;:,30 not LSJ~' SOMingana inserts
the alij of his own accord in the first instance, then leaves it out in
the second to create a 'variant'. Also, the word barak (!l.;:) means
blessing as well as to kneel, and of this he takes advantage by trans-
lating the first line (with his added alij) as 'blessed', and the second
as 'knelt'.
3. From sura 9:37 31

I Printed Qur'an (as [J-)l5:JI] i..,All ..s~ 'i
given by Mingana): I I
Mingana's
[J-)l5:J\] i..,Al I~'i
manuscript:
Notes: It is no secret that early scribes occasionally dropped vowels
(I, J, and i.?) in their copies," and here the writer dispensed with
the final vowel in ..s~ because it is silent. Once again Mingana takes
advantage, this time through an absolutely ludicrous transposition.
He separates the alij(' \') from i..,All and places it after --4;'i, creating
a new ungrammatical phrase that is bereft of all meaning. This is
analogous to taking the phrase 'tigers hunting' and converting it to
'tiger shunting'.
4. From sura 40:85 33
Printed Qjir'an (as
given by Mingana): ~~J ~ ~ ~
Mingana's
manuscript: ~'-'.I ~ ~ ~
Notes: The same trick is employed here, though with somewhat
more sophistication. Transposing the '..' from ~ to~, Mingana
creatively adds his own dots to the dotless text to form~.

29 ibid, p. xxxviii.
30 There is a small alif on y which, unfortunately, this word-processor lacks.
31 Mingana, Leaoesfrom Three Ancient Qurans, p. xxxviii. He cites the same wording
for verse 9:24.
32 See this work pp. 130-1.
33 Mingana, Leaoesfrom Three Ancient Qyrans, p. xxxix.