al-Hibat al-Sunniya al-Aliya ala Abyat al-Shatibiya al-Raiya
- Author died
- 1014 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ṭaybah al-Khaḍrā' lil-Nashr wal-Tawzī'
al-Hibat al-Sunniya al-Aliya ala Abyat al-Shatibiya al-Raiya (The Sublime Gifts upon the Verses of the Shatibian Ra'iyya) is a specialized commentary on Quranic orthography (rasm al-mushaf) by the Hanafi scholar al-Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH / 1606 CE) .
Subject and Scope
The work is an explanation of Aqilat Atrab al-Qasa'id fi Asna al-Maqasid, commonly known as al-Ra'iyya, composed by Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Firruh al-Shatibi (d. 590 AH / 1194 CE) . Al-Shatibi’s 298-verse poem, rhyming in the letter ra', versifies the classical treatise on the orthography of early Quranic codices, al-Muqni' fi Ma'rifat Marsum Masahif Ahl al-Amsar by Abu Amr al-Dani (d. 444 AH / 1053 CE), incorporating minor additions . Al-Qari’s commentary elucidates the linguistic, grammatical, and technical rules governing the Ottoman spelling conventions of the Quranic text systematically through each verse of the poem .
Method and Sources
In his opening remarks, al-Qari notes that several notable scholars had previously commented on al-Shatibi’s poem, specifically singling out Alam al-Din al-Sakhawi (d. 643 AH / 1245 CE) as the foremost commentator whose work serves as a foundational reference . Al-Qari expressed his intention to join these scholars in addressing the subject to provide clarity on its technical nuances and orthographic rules .
Title and Attribution
Al-Qari did not state the specific title of the commentary within the opening text itself . However, manuscript copies consistently carry the full title al-Hibat al-Sunniya al-Aliya ala Abyat al-Shatibiya al-Raiya, and its attribution to al-Qari is recorded uniformly across manuscript traditions as well as biographical and bibliographical references, including Katip Celebi’s Kashf al-Zunun and Ismail Pasha al-Babani’s Hadiyyat al-Arifin .
Editions
The work was printed in Ottoman Turkey at al-Matba'a al-Amira in 1302 AH (1884–1885 CE) and subsequently in Delhi, India, in 1348 AH (1929–1930 CE) . In modern scholarship, it has been edited critically in several academic theses:
- An edition prepared by Azizah bint Husayn al-Yusuf as a master's thesis at King Saud University in Riyadh (1423 AH / 2002–2003 CE) .
- A critical edition by Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Sudais, originally prepared as a doctoral dissertation at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca (defended in 1422 AH / 2001 CE), and published by Dar Taybah al-Khadra in 1440 AH (2018 CE) .
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