غيث النفع في القراءات السبع-السلام

Ghayth al-Nafa' fi al-Qira'at al-Sab'

A major classical work on the Seven Canonical Qurʾānic Readings by the distinguished Tunisian Mālikī scholar and specialist in Qirāʾāt Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Sālim al-Nūrī al-Ṣafāqusī (1053–1118 AH). Ghayth al-Nafʿ is regarded as one of al-Ṣafāqusī’s most important works and as a substantial reference for the study of the seven readings transmitted through the pathways of Imām al-Shāṭibī’s Ḥirz al-Amānī. A specialised doctoral study of the work describes it as a comprehensive and authoritative source in the field of the seven Qirāʾāt.

The work is devoted specifically to the readings of the seven Imāms: Nāfiʿ, Ibn Kathīr, Abū ʿAmr, Ibn ʿĀmir, ʿĀṣim, Ḥamzah and al-Kisāʾī, together with their recognised transmissions. Al-Ṣafāqusī begins with important introductory discussions and the general principles (uṣūl) of Qirāʾāt—including istiʿādhah, basmalah and recurring rules—before proceeding through the Qurʾān sūrah by sūrah and verse by verse, identifying those words in which the readers differ.

A particular strength of Ghayth al-Nafʿ is that it goes beyond merely listing variant readings. Al-Ṣafāqusī frequently provides linguistic and grammatical explanation, justification of the readings (tawjīh al-qirāʾāt), discussion of transmission routes and careful clarification of disputed points of performance. He draws extensively upon the earlier masters of the discipline, particularly al-Dānī, al-Shāṭibī and Ibn al-Jazarī, and displays a strong concern for taḥrīr—distinguishing properly transmitted readings and routes from forms that should not be read merely because they are linguistically possible.

The author's defence of the canonical readings against grammatical objections is another notable feature. Where grammarians criticised a transmitted reading, al-Ṣafāqusī insists that an established Qurʾānic reading cannot simply be rejected because it conflicts with a grammarian's preferred rule. His discussions therefore bring together Qirāʾāt, Arabic grammar, linguistic usage and the principles governing authentic Qurʾānic transmission, making the work particularly valuable to advanced students who wish to understand not only how the seven readers differ but also the scholarly reasoning surrounding those differences.

The book is especially useful for students working through al-Shāṭibiyyah, since its seven-reading framework is fundamentally tied to that tradition. Its combination of practical presentation with detailed scholarly discussion has ensured its continued use among specialists in Qirāʾāt, and it has received considerable attention from later scholars; among those who worked on the text was the renowned Egyptian master of Qirāʾāt Shaykh ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Ḍabbāʿ (d. 1380 AH).

The Dār al-Salām edition is associated with the editorial work of contemporary Qirāʾāt specialist Shaykh Muḥammad al-Dasūqī Amīn Kuḥaylah; bibliographical notices from his own works record Ghayth al-Nafʿ among his critical editions for Dār al-Salām. This edition is particularly suited to serious students of the Seven Qirāʾāt, al-Shāṭibiyyah, tawjīh al-qirāʾāt and the technical principles of Qurʾānic recitation.