A substantial contemporary reference work on Tawjīh al-Qirāʾāt, the discipline concerned with explaining the linguistic, grammatical and interpretive basis of the variant Qurʾānic readings, by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Kamāl ibn Sulaymān Dukhān. The book deals with the Ten Canonical Readings according to the paths of al-Shāṭibiyyah and al-Durrah, combining the practical identification of each variant with an explanation of the grounds upon which that reading is understood and supported.
The author begins with biographies of the Ten Readers and their transmitters, followed by introductory discussions concerning istiʿādhah and basmalah. He also treats a number of sciences closely connected to Qirāʾāt, including the enumeration of Qurʾānic verses (ʿadd al-āy), the orthography of the Muṣḥaf and the principles of the ʿUthmānic script (rasm), and the science of Qurʾānic vocalisation and notation (ḍabṭ). These preliminaries provide the technical background required before proceeding to the individual reading variants.
The main body then proceeds sūrah by sūrah through the Qurʾān. At each relevant word or expression, Dukhān identifies the point over which the readers differ, records the readings transmitted through al-Shāṭibiyyah and al-Durrah, and explicitly attributes each form to the reader or transmitter who recites it. This makes the book useful not merely as a theoretical discussion of tawjīh, but also as a practical reference for locating the farsh differences of the Ten Readers throughout the Muṣḥaf.
Its distinctive feature, however, is the tawjīh accompanying these variants. The author selects the arguments and explanations offered by earlier scholars for each reading, drawing upon the various forms of evidence traditionally employed in this science. These include Arabic grammar (naḥw), morphology (ṣarf), phonetics, the dialects and usages of the Arabs, Arabic poetry, Qurʾānic orthography, reasons of revelation, transmitted reports and the established chains of Qurʾānic transmission. The aim is therefore to demonstrate how the different canonical forms are grounded in both authentic transmission and the resources of the Arabic language.
The author also places numerous supplementary benefits in the margins, including grammatical, morphological, rhetorical and other observations arising from the verses and their variant readings. Bibliographical descriptions specifically note these additional fawāʾid, which broaden the usefulness of the work beyond Qirāʾāt alone and make it valuable to students of Arabic grammar, Tafsīr and Qurʾānic language.
Al-Riyāḍ al-Nāḍirah is thus particularly suited to a student who has learnt the mechanics of the Ten Readings and now wishes to understand why the respective readings are linguistically and exegetically meaningful. Its combination of identifying the variants, attributing them to their readers, and then explaining their linguistic justification makes it a useful bridge between the technical study of al-Shāṭibiyyah and al-Durrah and the wider classical literature of Ḥujaj/Tawjīh al-Qirāʾāt.
إن علم توجيه القراءات هو ذلك العلم الشريف الذي يُعنى ببيان الوجوه والعلل لتلك القراءات والاحتجاج لها، وقد يكون هذا الاحتجاج والانتصار للقراءة نَحْوياً أو صرفياً أو صوتياً أو احتجاجاً بأسباب النزول أو برسم المصحف أو بالرواية أو بالسند المتصل إلى خير البرية صلى الله عليه وسلم، فكما قال أئمتنا: القراءة سنّة متبعة يأخذها الآخر بإسنادها عن الأول، ومن طرق الاحتجاج كذلك الاستشهاد بلغات العرب ولهجاتهم وأشعارهم.
حيث قدم المؤلف ترجمة للقراء العشرة ورواتهم، ثم ذكر ما يتعلق بالاستعاذة والبسملة وذكر مباحث متعلقة بعدّ آي القرآن، ورسم المصحف وقواعد الرسم العثماني، وعلم الضبط، ثم شرع بذكر سور القرآن سورة سورة يذكر الحرف المختلف فيه بين القراء، والقراءات الواردة من الشاطبية والدرة، ثم تخيّر الاحتجاج لكل قراءة، ويذكر ما يعرض له أثناء توجيه القراءات من فوائد صرفية ونحوية وبلاغية وفقهية.
