ircle (.). The early
Quran Readers did not agree as to the position of these circles, and so
five different ways of arranging them have arisen. This accounts for a
variation in the number of verses in various editions. The varieties are:--

(1). _Kufa_ verses. The Readers in the city of Kufa say that they followed
the custom of 'Ali. Their way of reckoning is generally adopted in India.
They reckon 6,239 verses.

(2). _Basra_ verses. The Readers of Basra follow 'Asim bin Hajjaj, a
Companion. They reckon 6,204.

(3). _Shami_ verses. The Readers in Syria (Sham) followed Abd-ullah bin
'Umr, a Companion. They reckon 6,225 verses.

(4). _Mecca_ verses. According to this arrangement there are 6,219 verses.

(5). _Madina_ verses. This way of reading contains 6,211 verses.

{55}

In each of the above varieties the verse "Bismillah" (in the name of God)
is not reckoned. It occurs 113 times in the Quran.

This diversity of punctuation does not generally affect the meaning of any
important passage. The third verse of the third Sura is an important
exception. The position of the circle (.), the symbol denoting a full stop,
in that verse is of the highest importance in connection with the rise of
scholasticism ('Ilm-i-kalam) in Islam.

Most of the cases, however, are like the following:--

In Sura xxvii. an account is given of the Queen of Sheba's receiving a
letter from King Solomon. Addressing her nobles she said: "Verily, Kings,
when they enter a city (by force) waste the same, and abase the most
powerful of the inhabitants hereof: and so will (these) do (with us)." Many
Readers put the full stop after the word "hereof," and say that God is the
speaker of the words "and so will they do."

(4). _Sura_, or chapter. The word Sura means a row or series, such as a
line of bricks arranged in a wall, but it is now exclusively used for
chapters in the Quran. These are one hundred and fourteen in number. The
Suras are not numbered in the original Arabic, but each one has some
approximate name, (as Baqr--the cow, Nisa--women, &c.,) generally taken
from some expression which occurs in it. They are not arranged in
chronological order, but according to their length. As a general rule, the
shorter Suras which contain the theology of Islam, belong to the Meccan
period of the Prophet's career,[54] and the longer ones relating chiefly to
social duties and relationships, to the organisation of Islam as a civil
polity, to the time when