The Recitation That Is Agreed Upon

The standard recitation which the people of the towns (al-amsār) agreed upon is:

وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā adrākum bihi
“Nor would He have made it known to you.”

• Its meaning is clear: Allah alone is the One who made the Qur’an known to them. Had He willed, He would not have informed them of it.
• Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn Jurayj, Qatādah, Ibn Zayd, al-Dahhāk, and others explained it in this way: meaning “nor would He have informed you of it” or “nor would I have warned you of it.”

This is the recitation that al-Tabari affirms as the correct one to be relied upon.

Variant Reported from al-Hasan al-Basri

وَلَا أَدْرَأْتُكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā adraʾtukum bihi
“Nor did I make you aware of it.”

• This introduces the hamzah with a first-person verb form.
• This one means: “I (Muhammad ﷺ) did not make you perceive it or bring it to you by myself.”
• In other words, the Prophet is saying that he was not the cause of their awareness of the Qur’an, rather Allah alone made them aware.

Al-Tabari says the grammarians considered this reading mistaken because the root “adraytu” cannot be shifted in this way.

But he cites al-Farrāʾ who attempted to justify it linguistically by pointing to Arab dialectal shifts (e.g. Tayyʾ or Banū ʿUqayl altering yāʾ into alif). Al-Tabari, however, does not regard this qira’ah as valid, holding that it originates from dialectal habit rather than from the preserved and established Arabic upon which the Qur’an was revealed.

Variant Reported from Ibn ʿAbbās

وَلَا أَنْذَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā andhartukum bihi
“Nor would I have warned you with it.”

• This makes the sense very explicit. The Prophet is not the one bringing warning on his own initiative. His duty is tied to revelation. Without Allah’s will, he could not have conveyed nor warned.
• The meaning here overlaps with the main recitation because “making known” (adrākum) can include “warning.” To make known the Qur’an is to warn and admonish through it.

What Imam At-Tabari Concludes From This

• The recitation upon which there is consensus is wa lā adrākum bihi — “nor would He have made it known to you.”
• One is weak grammatically (al-Hasan Al Basri’s adraʾtukum) and another is explanatory (Ibn ʿAbbās’s andhartukum).

Reconciling The Variants

The different readings and explanations all return to a common meaning:

• Main reading (adrākum): Allah would not have made you know the Qur’an.
• Al-Hasan’s variant (adraʾtukum): The Prophet himself did not bring it to them by his own power, highlighting his lack of independent role.
• Ibn ʿAbbās’s variant (andhartukum): Without Allah’s will, the Prophet could not have warned them by means of the Qur’an.

All these variations show the Qur’an’s coming, its being known, and its function as warning are entirely by Allah’s will and revelation. The Prophet had lived forty years before revelation without reciting or warning, which itself is proof that the Qur’an is not from him but from Allah.

The interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Say, if Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. For I have remained among you a lifetime before it. Do you not reason?” (Yunus: 16).

Abu Ja‘far said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet, making clear the proof against these polytheists who said to him, “Bring a Quran other than this or change it.” Say to them, O Muhammad, “If Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you,” meaning I would not have recited this Quran to you, O people, if Allah had not sent it down upon me and commanded me to recite it to you.

وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā adrākum bihi
“Nor would He have made it known to you.”

Meaning, nor would He have informed you of it.

فَقَدْ لَبِثْتُ فِيكُمْ عُمُرًا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ
faqad labithtu fīkum ʿumuran min qablihi
“For I have remained among you a lifetime before it.”

Meaning, I stayed among you for forty years before I recited it to you and before my Lord revealed it to me.

أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
afalā taʿqilūn
“Do you not reason?”

That if I had invented words not given to me, I would have done so in my youth and early years, before the time when I recited it to you? Today, had it not been revealed to me and I not been commanded to recite it to you, I would have had the choice of avoiding your enmity and living in the state I was in among you before it was revealed to me and before I was commanded to recite it to you.

And with what we have said in this matter the people of tafsir also said.

Mention of those who said that:

Al Mathna narrated to me, he said, Abdullah narrated to us, he said, Mu‘awiyah narrated to me, from Ali, from Ibn Abbas (d. 68 AH) regarding His saying:

وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā adrākum bihi
“Nor would He have made it known to you.”

He said: nor would He have informed you.

Muhammad ibn Sa‘d narrated to me, he said, my father narrated to me, he said, my uncle narrated to me, he said, my father narrated to me from his father, from Ibn Abbas regarding His saying:

لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ
law shāʾa llāhu mā talawtuhu ʿalaykum wa lā adrākum bihi
“If Allah had willed I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you.”

He said: meaning, if Allah had willed, He would not have taught it to you.

Al Qasim narrated to us, he said, al Husayn narrated to us, he said, Hajjaj narrated to me from Ibn Jurayj, he said, Ibn Abbas said regarding His saying:

لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ
“If Allah had willed I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you.”

He said: meaning, I would not have warned you with it.

Bishr narrated to us, he said, Yazid narrated to us, he said, Sa‘id narrated to us, from Qatadah (d. 117 AH) regarding His saying:

وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ قَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا ائْتِ بِقُرْآنٍ غَيْرِ هَذَا أَوْ بَدِّلْهُ
“And when Our verses are recited to them as clear proofs, those who do not expect to meet Us say, bring a Quran other than this or change it” (Yunus: 15).

He said: this was the statement of the polytheists of Makkah to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Then Allah said to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him:

قُلْ لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ فَقَدْ لَبِثْتُ فِيكُمْ عُمُرًا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
“Say, if Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. For I have remained among you a lifetime before it. Do you not reason?” (Yunus: 16).

He remained forty years.

Yunus narrated to me, he said, Ibn Wahb informed us, he said, Ibn Zayd (d. 182 AH) said regarding His saying:

قُلْ لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ
qul law shāʾa llāhu mā talawtuhu ʿalaykum wa lā adrākum bihi
“Say, if Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you.”

He said: nor would He have informed you of it.

Muhammad ibn Abd al A‘la narrated to me, he said, Muhammad ibn Thawr narrated to us, from Ma‘mar, from al Hasan (d. 110 AH), that he used to recite:

وَلَا أَدْرَأْتُكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā adraʾtukum bihi
“Nor did I make you aware of it.”

Meaning, I did not inform you of it. (In the manuscript it says “wala adra’kum,” and in the printed version “wala adratukum” without hamzah. The correct form is what is written here, as mentioned by Ibn Khalawayh in Shawadh al Qira’at p. 56: “with hamzah and ta,” and also in Ma‘ani al Qur’an by al Farra).

I was told by al Husayn ibn al Faraj, he said: I heard Abu Mu‘adh say, Ubayd informed us, he said, I heard al Duhhak (d. 105 AH) say regarding His saying:﴿وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ

wa lā adrākum bihi
“Nor would He have made it known to you.”

He said: meaning, nor would Allah have made you aware of it.

Abu Ja‘far said: and this recitation which has been related from al Hasan is, according to the people of grammar, an error.

Al Farra (d. 207 AH) used to say about that: it has been mentioned from al Hasan that he said:

وَلَا أَدْرَأْتُكُمْ بِهِ
wa lā adraʾtukum bihi
“Nor did I make you aware of it.”

He said: if there is in this a language other than “daraytu” and “adraytu,” then perhaps al Hasan leaned towards it. But if it is from “daraytu” or “adraytu,” it does not work.

Because the ya and the waw, if preceded by a fathah and followed by sukun, remain as they are and do not change into an alif, like “qadaytu” (I judged) and “da‘awtu” (I called). Perhaps al Hasan returned to his natural speech and eloquence, so he added a hamzah, because it resembles “daraʾtu al-hadd” (I repelled the punishment) and its like.

And sometimes the Arabs make mistakes in a word when it resembles another with hamzah, so they hamzah-ize what is not hamzah.

I heard a woman from Tayy say: “rathaʾtu zawji bi-abyāt” (I composed elegies for my husband in verses). And they say: “labbaʾtu bil-hajj” and “halaʾtu al-sawīq.” This is a mistake, because “halaʾtu” is used for driving away thirst from camels, and “labbaʾtu” is from “libaʾ al-shāʾ” (the first milk of sheep), and “rathaʾtu zawji” is confused with “rathaytu al-laban” when you mix fresh milk with curd, which becomes rathīthah. (This is the exact wording of al Farra in Ma‘ani al Qur’an 1:459 with slight letter differences).

And some of the Basri grammarians used to say: there is no basis for this recitation of al Hasan, because it is from “adraytu,” like “a‘taytu.” But the dialect of Banu Aqil is “a‘taʾtu,” meaning “a‘taytu,” they change the ya into an alif. The poet said:

لقد آذنت أهل اليمامة طيئ
laqad ādhannat ahla al-yamāmati ṭayyʾun
“Indeed, Tayy has warned the people of Yamamah.”

بِحَرْبٍ كَنَاصَاةِ الأَغَرِّ المُشَهَّرِ
bi-ḥarbin kanāṣāti al-agharri al-mushahhari
“Of a war like the forelock of the bright renowned one.”

He meant: “kanāṣiyah.” This was related from al Mufaddal. And Zayd al Khayl said:

لَعَمْرُكَ مَا أَخْشَى التَّصَعْلُكَ مَا بَقَا
laʿamruka mā akhshā al-taṣaʿluka mā baqā
“By your life, I do not fear poverty so long as it remains.”

عَلَى الأَرْضِ قَيْسِيٌّ يَسُوقُ الأَبَاعِرَا
ʿalā al-arḍi qaysiyyun yasūqu al-abāʿirā
“As long as there remains on earth a man from Qays driving camels.”

And the poet said:

لَزَجَرْتُ قَلْبًا لا يَرِيعُ لِزَاجِرٍ
lazajartu qalban lā yarīʿu lizājirin
“I would have restrained a heart that does not respond to a restrainer.”

إِنَّ الغَوِيَّ إِذَا نُهَا لَمْ يَعْتِبِ
inna al-ghawiyya idhā nuhā lam yaʿtib
“For the one astray, when prohibited, does not return.”

He meant “nuhī.” He said: and all this supports the recitation of al Hasan, but it is disliked. He said: and Tayy change every ya preceded by a kasrah into an alif. They say: “hādhihi jārāt” instead of “jāriyah.” And in “tarquwah” they say “tarqāh,” and in “ʿarqūwah” they say “ʿarqāh.” And some of Tayy say: “qad laqat fazārah,” deleting the ya from “laqītu” when it is not possible for them to change it into an alif, because of the sukun of the ta, which would cause two sukuns to meet. And Yunus said that “nasā” and “riḍā” are known dialects. The poet said:

وَأُبْنِيْتُ بِالأَعْرَاض ذَا الْبَطْنِ خالِدًا
wa ubnītu bil-aʿrāḍi dhā al-baṭni khālidā
“I was raised in al-A‘rad, the big-bellied Khalid.”

نَسَا أوْ تَنَاسَى أَنْ يَعُدَّ المَوَالِيَا
nasā aw tanāsā an yaʿudda al-mawāliyā
“He forgot, or pretended to forget, to count the clients.”

And it was narrated from Ibn Abbas in another recitation also:

Al Mathna narrated to us, he said, al Muʿalla ibn Asad narrated to us, he said, Khalid ibn Hanzalah narrated to us, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, from Ibn Abbas that he used to recite:﴿قُلْ لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَنْذَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ

qul law shāʾa llāhu mā talawtuhu ʿalaykum wa lā andhartukum bihi
“Say, if Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would I have warned you with it.”

Abu Ja‘far said: and the recitation that we do not permit ourselves to go beyond is the recitation upon which the reciters of the towns are agreed:

﴿قُلْ لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا تَلَوْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَدْرَاكُمْ بِهِ﴾
qul law shāʾa llāhu mā talawtuhu ʿalaykum wa lā adrākum bihi
“Say, if Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you.”

With the meaning: nor would He have informed you of it, nor made you aware of it.

Tafsir At Tabari (12/