13

Allah says:

enter image description here

Translation: And We have put before them a barrier and behind them a barrier and covered them, so they do not see. (Surah Yasin, verse 9)

In the most common qira'ah (Hafs 'an 'Aasim), this ayah is recited with the word "saddan" (barrier/dam). However, in Qaloon, this ayah is recited with "sudan" or "suddan" instead.

What exactly is the difference of meaning between these two versions, and do they provide complimentary meanings that support each other?

Improve this question
1
  • This is not only the case in surat Yasin and you may find it before in surat al-Kahf legacy.quran.com/18/93. And those who read it with fatha saddan are ibn Kathir and abu 'Amr and in riwayat Hafs 'an 'Asim while the other riwayat and readings read it with damah suddan. While in legacy.quran.com/18/94 again the majority read it with dama suddan those who read it with fatha are ibn Kathir, abu 'Amr, Hafs 'an 'Asim, al-Kisaa-i and Khalaf.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 5:44

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
9

There are three different opinions by Arabic language scholars about the difference:

  • Al-Kisa'i الكسائي: They're two spellings for the same meaning.

  • Sibawayh سيبويه and Al-Khalil (Al-Farahidi): سُداً (Suddan) is the noun, and سَداً (Saddan) is the infinitive form of the verb.

  • Abu-Obaidah and Ibn-Alanbari: سُداً (Suddan) is a barrier made by Allah (plural: سُدُد Sudud), and سَداً (Saddan) is a barrier made by mankind (plural: سُدُود Sudood).

The third opinion is very strong, and on it depends Qaloon in his reading (qira'ah), not only in this ayah, but in these two ayat [Surat Al-Kahf:93-94]:

enter image description here enter image description here

The images show the qira'ah of Hafs for the words "السَّدَّيْنِ Assaddayni" and "سَدَّاً Saddan". But the qira'ah of Qaloon differs for "السُدَّيْنَ Assuddayini". That's because in the first ayah, السدين refers to two mountains, which are made by Allah of course, while in the second ayah, people are asking Thu-AlQarnain to build a barrier سداً, so it'll be made by humans.

Sources:

Improve this answer
1
  • You should also take a look in 'iraab al-Quran of Imam al-'Ukbary.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 5:49

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .