How many versions of Quran are available now?

Question

here is a question about qiraat-of-quran.

but my question is:

Does difference between versions in Qiraat? In all Copies of the Koran?

Answer 1

There are seven dialects of reading the Qur'an (Qira'at) as is clear in the following Hadith from Sahih Bukari:

Allah's Messenger (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said, "Gabriel read the Qur'an to me in one way (i.e. dialect) and I continued asking him to read it in different ways till he read it in seven different ways."

‏ "‏ أَقْرَأَنِي جِبْرِيلُ عَلَى حَرْفٍ، فَلَمْ أَزَلْ أَسْتَزِيدُهُ حَتَّى انْتَهَى إِلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ ‏"‏‏.‏

Bukari

An example of a difference of Qira'at is in the 41 Ayah of Surat Hood,

وَقَالَ ٱرۡڪَبُواْ فِيہَا بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ مَجۡر۪ٮٰهَا وَمُرۡسَٮٰهَآ‌ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى لَغَفُورٌ۬ رَّحِيمٌ۬ (٤١)

And he said: Embark therein! In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. Lo! my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. (41)

The people of Makka and Basrah used to put a Damma on both the Meems in

مُجراها و مُرساها

while Al A'mash, Hamzah, and Al Kasa'i used to read the first meem with a Fathah

بسم الله مَجريها

and with a Dammah on the second meem:

مُرساها

Source (In Arabic)

It is to be clear, that though yes there are seven ways of reading the Qur'an, non of the ways changes the meaning. The most famous reading (Qira'a) you would find in most Masahif is the reading of Hafsa. As for the reason for that, that would be off-topic in this answer.

As for the English translations, and all the other translations, they are not the Qur'an, for Allah has specified in multiple verses that the language of the Quran is Arabic, not english, Chinese, or Malaysian.

كِتَـٰبٌ۬ فُصِّلَتۡ ءَايَـٰتُهُ ۥ قُرۡءَانًا عَرَبِيًّ۬ا لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَعۡلَمُونَ (٣)

A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Qur'an for a people who know,

Surah Fussilat

Rather, one can correctly think of these translations as attempted tafseers but in other languages.