Maani al-Qiraat lil-Azhari
- Author died
- 370 AH
- Editions
- Markaz al-Buḥūth fī Kullīyat al-Ādāb - Jāmiʿat al-Malik Saʿūd
Maani al-Qiraat (The Meanings of the Qur'anic Variant Readings) is a 4th-century AH treatise on Qur'anic variant readings and their grammatical and linguistic justifications (tawjih al-qiraat), authored by the philologist and lexicographer Abu Mansur al-Azhari (282–370 AH / 895–980 CE) .
Transmission and Titles
The work has been transmitted under several titles in the scholarly tradition, including Maani al-Qiraat, al-Qiraat wa Ilal al-Nahwiyyin Fiha (The Readings and the Grammarians' Justifications for Them), and Ilal al-Qiraat . It was preserved through the transmission of his student Abu Sa'id Muhammad ibn Ali, who read the text directly to al-Azhari in Herat . In the author's opening sermon, al-Azhari opens with praise for God's facilitation of the Qur'an for recitation, reflection, and memorization .
Contents and Method
The book is arranged according to the standard order of the Qur'anic chapters, beginning with Surah al-Fatihah and proceeding through the text . In it, al-Azhari examines the differences among the readers, citing their specific recitations and evaluating the syntactical (i'rab), morphological, and lexical bases of each variant . He regularly incorporates the linguistic analyses of earlier authorities, frequently citing the grammarian Tha'lab through transmission from Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Abi Ja'far al-Mundhiri .
Reception, Manuscripts, and Editions
Maani al-Qiraat is regarded alongside contemporary 4th-century works by Ibn Khalawayh and Abu Ali al-Farisi as one of the foundational texts in the genre of ihtijaj (justification) for Qur'anic readings . A noted critique of the work is that al-Azhari occasionally deemed certain widely transmitted (mutawatir) readings to be grammatically erroneous or ascribed error (wahm) to established readers .
The primary surviving manuscript contains a lacuna spanning from verse 35 of Surah Yunus to verse 62 of Surah Yusuf . The text was published in three volumes in 1412 AH / 1991 CE by the College of Arts Research Center at King Saud University, edited by Eid Mustafa Darwish and Awad Hamad al-Quzi . It was also published under the title al-Qiraat wa Ilal al-Nahwiyyin Fiha, edited by Nawal bint Ibrahim al-Hilwah .
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