Chapter 1. Introduction

This chapter establishes the book's central problem and theoretical framework. Vatican Arabic MS 13 (Vat. Ar. 13) — one of the earliest known Arabic Gospel translations — has attracted significant scholarly attention, yet contradictory linguistic characterizations of it have proliferated without any systematic study of its language: some scholars describe it as exhibiting "Classical Arabic" features, others as exemplifying "Middle Arabic." Stokes argues that both camps rely on an anachronistic and over-unified conception of Classical Arabic, treating later normative grammars as if they were already in effect during the 9th–10th century CE when the manuscript was produced. Drawing on recent scholarship on the Quranic consonantal text, the qirāʾāt traditions, and pre-Islamic epigraphy, the chapter demonstrates that Arabic of the early Islamic period was far more diverse and pluriform than the bipolar Classical/Middle Arabic paradigm assumes. In response, the book proposes a "multipolar" methodology: rather than measuring features against a single Classical Arabic pole, linguistic variation in Vat. Ar. 13 should be situated among all relevant comparanda — including Quranic recitation traditions, papyri, inscriptions, and other contemporary Christian Arabic manuscripts — without assuming any single variety constituted the prestige norm. The chapter concludes with an outline of each subsequent chapter's scope and methodology.