مقدمة النفحات في أصول القراءات من طريقي الشاطبية و الدرة

Muqaddimat al-Nafahat fi Usul al-Qira'at min Tariqay al-Shatibiyyah wa al-Durrah

A clear and accessible contemporary manual introducing the principles (uṣūl) of the Ten Canonical Qurʾānic Readings, by Qirāʾāt specialist Dr. Muḥammad Ḥusām Ibrāhīm Sabsabī. The work is based specifically upon the two classical transmission-paths represented by al-Shāṭibī’s Ḥirz al-Amānī (al-Shāṭibiyyah) for the Seven Readers and Ibn al-Jazarī’s al-Durrah al-Muḍiyyah for the three supplementary readers, thereby covering the Ten Qirāʾāt through these two foundational texts.

Unlike works that present the rules topic by topic while requiring the student to continually track which reader each rule applies to, Muqaddimat al-Nafaḥāt adopts a particularly student-friendly arrangement: it presents the uṣūl of each reader or transmitter separately, beginning with Qālūn and proceeding through the canonical transmissions until Khalaf al-ʿĀshir. Within the section devoted to each reading, the author identifies what agrees with the familiar reading of Ḥafṣ and then concentrates on those principles in which that reader differs from him.

The rules extend from istiʿādhah and basmalah through to the chapter of al-yāʾāt al-zawāʾid, following the general sequence established by al-Shāṭibī and Ibn al-Jazarī. Each principle is explained in straightforward language and accompanied by practical Qurʾānic examples. The author then supplies the relevant shāhid from al-Shāṭibiyyah or al-Durrah, connecting the simplified explanation directly to the classical didactic poems upon which formal study of these readings is based. Where necessary, he also notes important taḥrīrāt concerning the permissible transmission-paths and combinations, but deliberately avoids lengthy digressions.

This method makes the book particularly useful as a bridge into the formal study of Qirāʾāt. A beginner can first understand the practical rules belonging to each reader before confronting the compressed terminology and symbolic system of the classical poems, while an existing student can use it as a convenient revision manual for keeping the respective uṣūl distinct. The author developed the material through repeated teaching, and the book is explicitly presented as suitable for use as an academic teaching text in which the principles of the readings can be communicated to students in a systematic and manageable form.

It should therefore be distinguished from a complete manual of farsh al-ḥurūf: its particular purpose is to simplify and organise the recurring foundational rules of the Ten Readings according to the ṭarīqs of al-Shāṭibiyyah and al-Durrah. This makes it especially suitable for students beginning the Ten Qirāʾāt, teachers looking for a structured introductory syllabus, and more advanced students seeking a compact reference for revision.

يُعد هذا الكتاب مقدمة مُيسرة وواضحة في علم أصول القراءات، حيث يركز على طريقي الشاطبية والدرة وهما أساس القراءات العشر الصغرى والكبرى المتواترة. يقدم الدكتور محمد حسام سبسبي من خلال هذا العمل دليلاً منهجيًا للطالب المبتدئ والراغب في فهم جذور اختلاف القراء في رواية القرآن الكريم.