Akhbar al-Mushafin
- Author died
- 382 AH
- Editions
- ‘Ālam al-Kutub
Akhbar al-Mushaffin (Arabic: أخبار المصحفين, lit. 'Reports Concerning Textual Misreaders') is a concise treatise on scribal misreadings (tashif) and anecdotes of scholars who misread written texts, composed by the traditionist and philologist Abu Ahmad al-Askari (d. 382 AH / 993 CE).
Context and Composition
Abu Ahmad al-Askari composed multiple treatises addressing graphic confusion and scribal corruption (al-tashif wa-l-tahrif), a field necessitated by Arabic orthography prior to widespread dotting and vocalization. Al-Askari originally compiled an extensive comprehensive work covering graphic errors occurring across disciplines; he subsequently produced specialized works, such as Tashifat al-muhaddithin for hadith scholars and Sharh ma yaqa'u fihi al-tashif wa-l-tahrif for literary scholars (ahl al-adab). Akhbar al-Mushaffin represents his shortest work in this domain, focusing specifically on anecdotal narratives, humorous blunders, and historical accounts of individuals prone to misreading written documents.
Contents and Scope
The work opens with an isnad reaching the early authority Sulayman ibn Musa, quoting the traditional pedagogical maxim: لا تأخذوا القرآن من المصحفين ولا العلم من الصحفيين ("Do not take the Quran from those who learned solely from manuscripts, nor knowledge from those who learned solely from written sheets").
The text records instances where readers and scholars made errors by relying on undotted or unvocalized manuscripts rather than oral transmission from authorized teachers. Among the material preserved in the treatise:
- Textual misreadings attributed to Quran reciters and traditionists, including accounts of Uthman ibn Abi Shayba misreading words in the Quran due to identical skeletal shapes of letters (such as reading rijl akhihi instead of rahl akhihi in Surah Yusuf), and reports regarding Ibn Ishaq misreading proper names because he extracted them directly from administrative registers (al-diwan).
- Hadith narrators who misread unusual vocabulary, such as Abu Musa Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna al-Zamin misreading the vocalization of a rare verb in a prophetic report.
- Anecdotes concerning prominent philologists and grammarians, such as al-Mubarrad, and poetic verses composed either in praise of scholars who rigorously avoided misreading—such as Khalaf al-Ahmar—or in satire of those publicly exposed for relying on unchecked written texts.
Editions
The treatise has been edited and published in modern times from manuscript transmissions, including:
- An edition edited by Subhi al-Badri al-Samarra'i, published in Beirut by 'Alam al-Kutub (1406 AH / 1986 CE).
- An edition edited by Ibrahim Salih, published by Dar al-Basha'ir in Damascus and Beirut (1416 AH / 1995 CE).
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