Ward al-Taif fi Sharh Rawdat al-Taraif fi Rasm al-Mushaf
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Ward al-Taif fi Sharh Rawdat al-Taraif fi Rasm al-Mushaf (The Gentle Arrival: Commentary on the Garden of Curiosities Regarding Quranic Orthography) is a contemporary scholarly study, critical edition, and commentary by Muhammad Abdullah Ibrahim al-Barkati on Rawdat al-Taraif fi Rasm al-Masahif, a 218-verse didactic poem on Uthmanic Quranic orthography composed in the basit meter by Burhan al-Din Ibrahim ibn Umar al-Ja'bari (d. 732 AH / 1332 CE) .
Background and Context
The poem Rawdat al-Taraif is an exposition of Quranic orthography (rasm al-mushaf) that summarizes and builds upon al-Qasim ibn Firruh al-Shatibi's (d. 590 AH) foundational didactic poem Aqilat Atrab al-Qasa'id, while incorporating additional rules, nuances, and variants from earlier source texts such as Abu Amr al-Dani's al-Muqni' . Al-Barkati prepared this comprehensive study, edition, and commentary at the College of the Holy Quran and Islamic Studies at the University of Jeddah, supervised by al-Safi Salah al-Safi .
Structure and Content
The work is organized into an introductory prologue, a theoretical and analytical study, and the edited text with its commentary :
- Introductory and Analytical Study (al-Dirasah): Examines the principles of Quranic orthography and its historical development through literature up to the eighth century AH . It explores the relationship between orthography and canonical variant readings (qira'at), noting that conformity to the Uthmanic codices constitutes one of the three foundational conditions for a valid recitation . This section also conducts a detailed comparative analysis between al-Ja'bari's Rawdat al-Taraif and al-Shatibi's Aqilah, categorizing al-Ja'bari's additions, omissions, specific conditions, and divergences from mainstream orthographical consensus .
- Critical Edition and Commentary (al-Tahqiq wa-al-Sharh): Contains the fully vocalized, metrically verified text of al-Ja'bari's poem arranged sequentially, accompanied by a line-by-line commentary . The commentary explains technical terminology, rhetorical points, and orthographical divergences among regional codices (such as the Madinan and Syrian codices) .
- Indexes: Concludes with academic indexes covering Quranic verses, qira'at variants, hadiths and historical reports, poetic lines, biographical entries, geographical places, and reference bibliography .
Method and Sources
To establish the critical text of Rawdat al-Taraif, al-Barkati relied on three manuscript copies: a primary copy from the National Library of Israel, collated against copies preserved in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya (designated by the siglum Alif) and the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library in Patna (designated by Ba) .
In the commentary, al-Barkati illustrates orthographical rulings by referencing standard practice in contemporary printed Qurans, contrasting Eastern practice—exemplified by the Mushaf al-Madinah produced by the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran—with Western North African practice, represented by Morocco's al-Mushaf al-Muhammadi following the transmission of Warsh from Nafi' . The author also includes source verification (takhrij) for cited traditions, poems, and biographical notices for mentioned scholars .
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