al-Kanz fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr
- Author died
- 741 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Thaqāfah al-Dīniyyah
al-Kanz fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr (The Treasure in the Ten Readings) is a manual on the ten canonical Quranic recitations composed by the Iraqi scholar Abu Muhammad al-Wasiti (671–741 AH / 1272–1341 CE; another report gives 740 AH).
Composition and Scope
In his opening prologue, al-Wasiti states that he named his work simply al-Kanz, framing it as an accessible, concise synthesis of earlier literature on Quranic readings that deliberately omits dialectical justifications and theoretical arguments (al-hujaj wa-al-taʿlīl). Later bibliographers and reciters universally recorded it under the expanded title al-Kanz fī al-Qirāʾāt al-ʿAshr (or fī Qirāʾāt al-ʿAsharah).
The book primarily merges the material of two foundational recitational works: al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabʿ by Abu Amr al-Dani and Irshād al-mubtadī wa-tadhkirat al-muntahī by Abu al-Izz al-Qalanisi. In addition to consolidating the readings in those two works, al-Wasiti supplemented them with transmission variants and points from several other texts that he named directly, including al-ʿUnwān, al-Tabṣirah, and al-Kāfī.
Structure
Al-Wasiti structured the book into three main divisions:
- The Introduction (al-Muqaddima): Outlining his purpose, methods, and terminology.
- The General Principles (al-Uṣūl): Detailing recurring phonetic and grammatical rules across recitational systems, such as assimilation, vowel prolongation, and the vocalization of hamzas.
- The Individual Variant Readings (al-Farsh): Proceeding sequentially through the chapters of the Quran, starting from Surah al-Fatiha through Surah al-Nas, addressing all documented variant letters across the ten recitations, with only Surah al-Asr having no distinct variants mentioned.
Versification and Reception
Al-Wasiti subsequently versified al-Kanz into a didactic poem of 1,273 lines rhyming in the letter lām, composed in the meter and style of Ḥirz al-Amānī (popularly known as al-Shāṭibiyyah), which he titled al-Kifāyah fī al-Qirāʾāt al-ʿAshr (recorded by al-Salāmī under the name al-Ghāyah).
Al-Kanz was recognized by subsequent specialists as a major reference in the field. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani described it as a "precious book on the Ten Readings." Ibn al-Jazari praised it as "a fine book in its genre" and incorporated it into the direct source apparatus for his definitive work, al-Nashr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-ʿAshr. Ibn al-Jazari received the text through several of al-Wasiti’s direct students, including Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Labbān, Ahmad ibn Rajab al-Salāmī al-Baghdādī, Salāh al-Dīn Abū Bakr Muhammad al-Iʿzāzī, and Abū al-ʿAbbās Ahmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Tahhān al-Manbijī.
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