Page:William Goldsack-The Qurān in Islām (1906).djvu/31

 22 remained as a ‘sign’ for the warning and instruction of all who should come after him. Thus in the cucrent Qurān we read, “" A sign for those who come after thee.” But Baizāwi tells us that some copies of the Qurān read, "" "A sign for Him who created thee.” Here the meaning of the Qurān is entirely altered; and the perplexed Muslim must ever remain in ignorance as to which of these rival readings represents the original Qurān.

Yet another extraordinary variation of reading is found in verse 36 of Sūra Kahaf. In current copies of the Qurān the passage reads,

“But God is my Lord, and I will not associate any with my Lord.” But the Kāzi tells us in his commentary that in some copies the passage reads thus,

“But God is my Lord; but we are not God; He only is our Lord.” Comment on this extraordinary corruption of the Qurānic text would be superfluous. The reader may judge for himself.

Another serious wilful corruption of the Qurān is made evident by Kāzi Baizāwi’s comment on verse 38 of Sūra Y. S. The passage alluded to runs thus, "" ‘‘And the sun hasteneth to his place of rest.’’ No educated Muslim believes that the sun moves by day, and rests during the time we call night; but a liberal view of this passage would suggest that it simply speaks in popular language, and does not attempt to impart scientific truth. But some zealous followers of the prophet, not content with this explanation and seeking to remove a fancied imperfection from the pages of the Qurān, have adopted the drastic expedient of adding a