After some time...

After some time, however, all conceded that it was absolutely needed and Abu al-Aswad went forward to lay down the following system: the vowel “a,” the pronunciation of which needs a full upward opening (fathah) of the mouth, to be marked with a dot above the letter, the vowel “i,” the pronunciation of which needs a little downward movement (kasrah) of the mouth, to be marked with a dot below the letter, the vowel “u,” the pronunciation of which needs a rounded closing (dammah) of the lips, to be marked with a dot in front of the letter.[^6] This system of dots is to be seen in one of the oldest copies of the Qur’an dated 77/696, now preserved in the National Library at Cairo.

The text on parchment is in black, while the vowel dots are in red, in accordance with the usual practice.

It has been noted that a similar system of dots was in use in the writing of Syriac, and, though Abu al-Aswad’s contacts with the Syrians are not expressly alluded to, it stands more than probable that having realized the urgency he turned round and took the cue from his compatriots of the Syrian Christian Church.[^7] It is also possible, as some reports make out, that Abu al-Aswad went a step further to propound some broad distinctions in the main parts of a sentence such as the subject and the predicate.

On the whole, however, his contribution was merely to focus attention on the usage of vowel endings as the distinctive…