Blessing, clinging, familiarity, custom – or ship: a new reading of the word Īlāf in Q106 (Quraysh)

The word إيلاف (īlāf ) in Q106 (sūrat Quraysh) has been the subject of debate among Qur’ān commentators and scholars since the first centuries of Islam. There is uncertainty about the spelling, reading, and meaning of the word. In standard editions of the Qur’ān, it is written ايلف (alif-yā’-lām-fā’) in the first verse and الف (alif-lām-fā’) in the second. The following is the Arabic text of the sūra as it appears in the Cairo edition of the Qur’ān, together with an English translation by Droge. ¹