Intermediate
Phonology
Surah: Al-Fatiha (6)
"Sirat" with Sad and Sin — Their Linguistic Arabic Causes
ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ
— الفاتحة الآية 6
The word and its readings:
The word "sirat" (path) appears in multiple Quranic positions — including "Guide us to the straight path" (1:6) — with three variants:
An Arabic linguistic phenomenon: sin converts to sad before emphatic letters (kha, sad, dad, ta, dha, ghayn, qaf) — the word has an emphatic rolled r that influenced the sin, converting it to sad through assimilation of emphasis.
Ibn Al-Jazari in Al-Nashr: "The sad in sirat is the more eloquent and more common of the two forms in the Quran — the sin is a valid linguistic form and the z in ishman is a third form."
The word "sirat" (path) appears in multiple Quranic positions — including "Guide us to the straight path" (1:6) — with three variants:
- With sad: "Sirat" (emphatic s) — the majority reading (Hafs from Asim and others). Its origin is "sirat" from "sarat": swallowing — because the path swallows its traveler
- With sin: "Sirat" (plain s) — reading of Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr in one narration — the original linguistic form
- With ishman (between sad and z): "Zirat" — reading of Hamza Al-Zayyat — the ishman is influence from the emphatic r sound
An Arabic linguistic phenomenon: sin converts to sad before emphatic letters (kha, sad, dad, ta, dha, ghayn, qaf) — the word has an emphatic rolled r that influenced the sin, converting it to sad through assimilation of emphasis.
Ibn Al-Jazari in Al-Nashr: "The sad in sirat is the more eloquent and more common of the two forms in the Quran — the sin is a valid linguistic form and the z in ishman is a third form."
Source: Al-Nashr (2/217); Al-Dani, Al-Taysir (p.16); Al-Shatibiyya (verse 18)
Test Yourself
What are the three variants of "sirat" and who reads each? Why did sin shift to sad?
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