Nāfi‘ and ‘Āsim are not the seven forms in which the Quran was revealed. On this, the scholars of the early and later generations agree. Likewise, these seven readings do not comprise the entirety of any single one of the seven forms in which the Quran was revealed, according to the consensus of recognized scholars. Rather, the readings established from leading reciters—such as al-A‘mash, Ya‘qūb, Khalaf, Abū Ja‘far Yazīd ibn al-Qa‘qā‘, Shaybah ibn Nisāh, and others—have the same standing as the readings established from these seven, for anyone to whom their transmission has been established just as that of the seven has been. This, too, was undisputed among the leading authorities followed in jurisprudence, Quranic recitation, and other disciplines.

The disagreement among later generations concerned only the authoritative ‘Uthmānic codex, upon which the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, those who followed them in righteousness, and the Muslim community after them agreed. Does this codex—with the seven readings it accommodates, the additional readings completing the ten, and others—represent one of the seven forms in which the Quran was revealed, or does it encompass all seven? There are two well-known positions. The first is the position of the leading early authorities and scholars; the second is held by groups of speculative theologians, Quranic reciters, and others.

They agree that the seven forms do not differ from one another in a way that makes their meanings mutually opposed or contradictory. Rather, they confirm one another, just as the verses confirm one another.