Ithaf Fudala al-Bashar fi al-Qiraat al-Arbaat Ashar
- Author died
- 1117 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah
Ithaf Fudala al-Bashar bi al-Qiraat al-Arbaat Ashar (The Gift to Noble Humankind Regarding the Fourteen Quranic Readings) is a comprehensive treatise on Quranic readings composed by the Egyptian Shafi'i scholar Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Banna al-Dimyati (d. 1117 AH / 1705 CE) . The work covers the ten widely transmitted (mutawatir) readings alongside the four anomalous (shadhdh) readings, detailing their rules, variant pronunciations, and grammatical justifications .
Composition and Title
Al-Banna also named the book Muntaha al-Amani wa al-Masarrat fi Ulum al-Qiraat (The Utmost of Hopes and Joys in the Sciences of Readings), though it became widely known by the title Ithaf Fudala al-Bashar . In the prologue, the author notes that he traveled to Medina in 1082 AH (1671–1672 CE), where a circle of scholars accompanied him in reciting and studying the seven and ten readings . He subsequently resolved to compile an abridgment of the ten readings and expand its utility by incorporating the four non-canonical readings—namely those of Ibn Muhaysin, al-Yazidi, al-Hasan al-Basri, and al-A'mash—noting that recording and analyzing them is permissible despite scholarly consensus on their anomalous status .
Structure and Contents
The work goes beyond a simple catalogue of variants, encompassing several related Quranic disciplines :
- Introductory treatise: Defines the science of Quranic readings (ilm al-qiraat), its scope, transmission, and categories, followed by biographical entries on the fourteen principal readers, their primary transmitters (ruwah), their lines of transmission (turuq), and the historical reasons for attributing specific readings to them .
- Orthography (al-Rasm al-Uthmani): A dedicated chapter examining the rules, conventions, and guidelines of Uthmanic codex spelling .
- Etiquette of the Quran: A chapter addressing the manners of reciting, the duties incumbent upon the reciter, and the methods used by early generations (al-Salaf) for combining multiple readings (jam' al-qiraat) .
- General principles (Usul al-Qiraat): Exposition of foundational phonetic and morphological rules (such as lengthening, shortening, and assimilation) alongside their linguistic and grammatical justifications (tawjih) .
- Individual variant words (Farsh al-Huruf): A surah-by-surah examination documenting the specific variant readings throughout the entire Quran from al-Fatihah to al-Nas .
Method and Sources
In structuring the book, al-Banna modeled his approach on Shihab al-Din al-Qastallani's Lata'if al-Isharat li-Funun al-Qira'at, presenting a more concise treatment while rectifying and clarifying several points with precise citation . In citations where he refers unconditionally to "our shaykh" (shaykhuna), he indicates his teacher Nur al-Din Ali al-Shabramallisi . The book serves as a major reference for both canonical and non-canonical Quranic readings and is regarded as one of the most prominent later works on the linguistic justification and argumentation (ihtijaj) of readings .
Editions
The work was printed early at the al-Maymaniyya Press in Cairo (1317 AH) and reissued in Cairo by Abd al-Hamid Ahmad Hanafi . It was published with corrections and annotations by the Egyptian scholar Ali Muhammad al-Dabba' at Maktabat al-Mashhad al-Husayni in Cairo . A critical edition was prepared by Sha'ban Muhammad Isma'il, published in two volumes in 1407 AH (1987 CE) jointly by 'Alam al-Kutub in Beirut and Maktabat al-Kulliyyat al-Azhariyya in Cairo .
Answer updated