this is unfortunately said by some sunni ulama, but it is actually a shiah saying.
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i have not seen this cited by any of the well-known sufi masters or mufassirin. besides, there is an anachronism here - perhaps i have posted here before, or i think i had discussed this with some brothers in private messages. regardless, it is not plausible.
the arabic script was not written with dots or diacritics in the 6-7th century. the first century of the hijrah calendar.
i.e., at the time of mawla ali karramAllahu waj'hah. so the point [sic] of dots being used in the script is itself moot.
abu aswad al-du'ali introduced a system of dots - but they were not to differentiate between letters. rather, they were only to indicate diacritics. fat'hah, dammah and kasrah. furthermore these dots were coloured initially, but the iraqis abandoned it.
in fact, the different mus'hafs of the age are identified by these elements. masahif al-amsar, the qur'an copies of the early ages in various cities, is an interesting subject. maybe i will post something on it later. in sha'Allah
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among sunni ulama, this saying:"ana nuqtah taHta'l baa" is attributed to the sufi master shibli (or to his shaykh, sayyiduna junayd) and apparently, he said this in self-effacement when someone asked him: "are you shibli". so he said: am the dot below the baa - implying "i am insignificant".
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ibn ajibah, murtada zabidi in his it'Haf al-sadah* and books of shaykh al-akbar, mention this.
another is abdul ghani nablusi in his sharh of a salawat by ibn arabi.
*though zabidi also said: 'it is reported by mawla ali that he said: i am the dot below baa.." but he said it similar to shibli's statement; that is, as a statement of humility and not related to the tafsir.
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Allah ta'ala knows best.
. Apt timing by bro ali bash and anwar. Ma sha Allah Azza wajal
