Fadail al-Quran lil-Nasai
- Author died
- 303 AH
- Editions
- Dār Iḥyā’ al-‘Ulūm / Dār al-Thaqāfah
Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān (The Virtues of the Qur'an) is a hadith work compiled by the traditionist al-Nasāʾī (d. 303 AH / 915 CE), dedicated to traditions regarding the revelation, collection, recitation, and specific merits of the Qur'an.
Place in the Author's Corpus and Transmission
The work forms a recognized section of al-Nasāʾī's comprehensive hadith compilation, al-Sunan al-Kubrā, and has also been preserved, transmitted, and studied as a standalone monograph. It belongs to the classical genre of faḍāʾil treatises compiled during the third century of Islam alongside similar works by Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, Ibn al-Ḍurays, and Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Firyābī.
Scope and Contents
The compilation is organized into thematic chapters accompanied by full chains of transmission (asānīd) traced back to the Prophet ﷺ and early authorities. In addition to reports on the general rewards of reading and upholding the scripture, it incorporates foundational topics in Qur'anic sciences, including:
- The descent and manner of revelation: Traditions detailing how revelation descended upon the Prophet ﷺ, its sensory effects, and the duration of revelation across the Meccan and Medinan periods.
- The seven modes (aḥruf): Narrations recording the Prophet's instruction that the Qur'an was revealed in seven aḥruf ( إن هذا القرآن أنزل على سبعة أحرف فاقرؤوا ما تيسر منه ).
- Compilation and codification: Accounts of the compilation of the Qur'an under the Caliphs Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq and ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, the role of Zayd ibn Thābit, the annual reviews of the text with Gabriel, and the reliance on the dialect of Quraysh.
- Reciters among the Companions: Reports highlighting prominent Qur'an reciters from whom the Prophet ﷺ instructed Muslims to learn, including ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, Sālim the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfah, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, and Muʿādh ibn Jabal.
- Virtues of individual passages: Chapters documenting hadiths on specific chapters and verses, such as the concluding verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah and Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ equaling a third of the Qur'an.
Printed Editions
The work has been published based on manuscript witnesses, including a critical edition edited by Fārūq Ḥamādah, first published in Casablanca (1400 AH / 1980 CE).
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