Jamal al-Qurra wa Kamal al-Iqra
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- T al-Mamun · t Abd al-Haqq
Jamal al-Qurra wa Kamal al-Iqra (The Beauty of Reciters and the Perfection of Quranic Recitation) is an encyclopedic treatise on the Quranic sciences and recitation (qira'at) composed by the Syrian-Egyptian scholar Alam al-Din al-Sakhawi (558/559–643 AH / c. 1163–1245 CE) .
Structure and Contents
The work was designed as a comprehensive manual assembling multiple specialized disciplines of Quranic study into a single unified compendium . Because each constituent subject was framed to function as a self-contained treatise, biographers and bibliographers frequently cataloged individual parts as standalone books, and several circulated as separate manuscripts . The compendium comprises ten distinct thematic sections designated as books (kutub) :
- Nathr al-Durar fi Dhikr al-Ayat wa'l-Suwar (Scattering Pearls on the Verses and Surahs)
- al-Iffsah al-Mujaz fi Idah al-Mu'jiz (Concise Exposition on Elucidating the Inimitable)
- Manazil al-Ijlal wa'l-Ta'zim fi Fada'il al-Qur'an al-'Azim (Stations of Reverence and Honor Concerning the Virtues of the Magnificent Quran)
- Tajzi'at al-Qur'an (The Divisions of the Quran)
- Aqwa al-'Adad fi Ma'rifat al-'Adad (The Strongest Calculation in Knowing Verse Counts)
- Dhikr al-Shawadhdh (Account of Non-Canonical/Anomalous Recitations)
- al-Tawd al-Rasikh fi al-Mansukh wa'l-Nasikh (The Firm Mountain on the Abrogating and Abrogated)
- Maratib al-Usul wa-Ghara'ib al-Fusul (Ranks of Principles and Curious Chapters)
- Minhaj al-Tawfiq ila Ma'rifat al-Tajwid wa'l-Tahqiq (The Path of Facilitation to the Knowledge of Tajwid and Precise Pronunciation), which includes his didactic poem in the rhyme of nun (al-Nuniyyah) on tajwid
- al-Ihtida' fi Ma'rifat al-Waqf wa'l-Ibtida' (Guidance in Understanding Pausing and Resuming)
An alternate classification frames the work as encompassing seven major core sciences structured in the stylistic fashion of early classical scholars, marked by minimal sub-branching .
Methodology
Al-Sakhawi composed the work to distill scholarly consensus and divergent opinions into an accessible reference for students and teachers of recitation . He documented numerous prophetic traditions along with their chains of transmission (asānīd) extending from his own teachers to primary hadith sources . The text opens with an introduction asserting that Quranic sciences hold the highest rank among Islamic disciplines, stating that the treatise aims to provide students with essential knowledge in an accessible manner .
Reception and Transmission
The 9th-century reciter Ibn al-Jazari praised the book as "rare and unique in its category" (gharīb fī bābihi) for its synthesis of recitation variants, tajwīd, abrogation, and pausing rules . Ibn al-Jazari documented receiving the text through a chain of transmission running through his teacher Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Kafri, back through Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Raqqi and Shihab al-Din Muhammad ibn Muzhir al-Dimashqi, the latter having read it directly with al-Sakhawi . Material and insights from Jamal al-Qurra were cited by later authorities including Abu Shamah al-Maqdisi, Ibn al-Jazari, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, and the modern scholar Abd al-Fattah al-Qadi .
Editions
The work has been edited and published in modern print editions:
- An edition edited by Ali Husayn al-Bawwab, published by Matba'at al-Madani in Cairo (1408 AH) .
- An edition edited by Marwan al-Attiyyah and Muhsin Kharabah, published by Dar al-Ma'mun li'l-Turath in Damascus and Beirut (1st edition, 1418 AH / 1997 CE) in one volume .
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