سبعة أحرف
Sabʿatu Aḥrufin
Topic
The seven ways, or modes, in which certain words of the Quran were revealed and may be pronounced.
What it means
Sabʿatu aḥrufin means “seven aḥruf”. It refers to the seven renderings, or ways of pronouncing certain words, in which the Quranic text was revealed. The report that the Quran was sent down in seven aḥruf is found in the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim. The meaning of aḥruf has been much discussed. Scholars have given several views, and none is held by all. The topic is tied to the recitations (qirāʾāt) that Muslims still read today, all of which go back to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through a chain of reciters.
Often misunderstood as
That there are seven different Qurans, when the term refers to approved variations in reading one text.
What the sources say
The reason usually given is ease for a community of many tribes with differing speech. Scholars hold that the codex Uthman had copied preserved the text with these variations, and they distinguish the seven aḥruf from the later seven or ten canonical readings.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 48, listed as SAB'ATU AḤRUFIN. The definition is restated here.