Ithaf Al-Barara with biographies of the ten readers | Episode (3) | Translated by Imam Abu Amr Al-Basri and his narrators Al-Duri and Al-Susi

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:05 *Delighting the Pious with the Biographies of the Ten Reciters*.

0:15 Biography of Imam Abu 'Amr al-Basri.

0:19 He is Abu 'Amr Zabban ibn al-'Ala' ibn 'Ammar al-Mazini al-Basri.

0:27 He was of pure Arabic lineage.

0:30 May Allah have mercy upon him, he was born in Mecca in the year 68 AH.

0:35 It is also said in the year 70 AH.

0:38 He grew up in Basra, then set out with his father to Mecca and Medina.

0:45 He was the most knowledgeable of people in the Qur'an and the Arabic language,

0:48 along with possessing truthfulness, reliability, trustworthiness, and piety.

0:52 He studied recitation under Abu Ja'far the Reciter,

0:55 Shaybah ibn Nassah,

0:57 Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym,

0:59 'Abdullah ibn Kathir,

1:01 'Asim ibn Abi al-Nujud,

1:03 Abu al-'Aliyah al-Riyahi, and others.

1:08 Abu 'Ubaydah said,

1:10 "The manuscripts of Abu 'Amr used to reach

1:12 from the floor to the ceiling.

1:15 Then he devoted himself entirely to worship,

1:16 so he burned them and freed his time for devotion.

1:20 He made it a personal obligation to complete a full recitation of the Qur'an every three nights."

1:24 When the month of Ramadan arrived,

1:27 he would not recite a single line of poetry

1:30 so that he could devote himself entirely to worship.

1:33 Yahya ibn Ma'in said of him,

1:35 "He is trustworthy."

1:36 Abu Hatim said,

1:38 "There is no harm in him."

1:40 Abu 'Amr al-Shaybani said,

1:43 "I have not seen anyone like Abu 'Amr."

1:45 Ibn Mujahid said,

1:47 "They narrated to us on the authority of Wahb ibn Jarir

1:50 that he said,

1:51 'Shu'bah said to me:

1:53 "Hold fast to the recitation of Abu 'Amr,

1:55 for it will surely become an authoritative chain of transmission for the people."'

2:00 Reciting under his instruction and transmitting the recitation from him,

2:02 through both direct presentation and oral hearing, were a great many scholars.

2:06 Among them were Yunus ibn Habib,

2:08 Sibawayh,

2:09 and Yahya ibn al-Mubarak al-Yazidi,

2:12 who passed away in the year 200 AH.

2:16 From him, both narrators took the recitation:

2:19 al-Duri and al-Susi.

2:22 May Allah have mercy upon him, he passed away, according to the majority opinion,

2:25 in the year 154 AH,

2:29 having reached nearly ninety years of age.

2:35 Biography of Imam al-Duri,

2:38 the first narrator

2:40 from Imam Abu 'Amr.

2:43 He is Abu 'Amr,

2:45 Hafs ibn 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Sahban

2:48 al-Duri al-Azdi al-Baghdadi,

2:52 the blind grammarian,

2:54 narrator of the two Imams:

2:55 Abu 'Amr and al-Kisa'i.

2:58 "Al-Duri"

2:59 is an attribution to al-Dur,

3:01 a place on the eastern side of Baghdad.

3:05 May Allah have mercy upon him, he was born

3:07 around the year 150 AH,

3:11 during the reign of al-Mansur.

3:13 He was the leading authority in recitation in his era,

3:16 trustworthy, authoritative,

3:17 and a master of precision.

3:20 It is said that

3:21 he was the first to compile the variant recitations and author works on them.

3:25 He authored the book

3:27 *Recitations of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)*,

3:30 which is currently in print.

3:33 He studied recitation under Isma'il ibn Ja'far

3:35 and heard hadith from him;

3:36 he recited to al-Kisa'i according to his reading;

3:39 he recited to Yahya al-Yazidi according to the reading of Abu 'Amr al-Basri;

3:44 and he recited to Sulaym according to the reading of Hamzah,

3:47 among others.

3:49 He transmitted hadiths from Ahmad ibn Hanbal—

3:51 who was among his peers—

3:53 as well as Abu Isma'il

3:55 Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Mu'addib,

3:57 Ibrahim ibn Abi Yahya,

4:00 Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash,

4:02 Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah,

4:04 and others.

4:06 Abu Dawud said,

4:08 "I saw Ahmad ibn Hanbal

4:10 writing down narrations from Abu 'Amr al-Duri."

4:13 Abu 'Ali al-Ahwazi said,

4:16 "Abu 'Amr traveled in pursuit of the variant recitations,

4:19 reciting all the canonical Seven Readings

4:22 as well as the uncanonical (shadhdh) recitations,

4:23 hearing an immense amount in the process.

4:26 He authored works on recitations,

4:28 and he is trustworthy.

4:30 He lived a long life,

4:32 attained an advanced age,

4:33 was sought out from distant horizons,

4:35 and accomplished scholars crowded around him

4:38 owing to the loftiness of his chain of transmission and the breadth of his knowledge.

4:41 Towards the end of his life, he lost his sight,

4:44 and he was a man of deep piety."

4:46 Among those who recited to him were Ahmad ibn Farah the exegete,

4:50 al-Hasan ibn Bashshar ibn al-'Allaf,

4:52 Abu al-Za'ra'

4:54 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abdus,

4:56 Ahmad ibn Yazid al-Halwani,

4:59 and others.

5:01 May Allah have mercy upon him, he passed away in the year 246 AH according to the correct view,

5:07 during the reign of al-Mutawakkil.

5:12 A sample from the transmission of al-Duri

5:14 from Abu 'Amr:

5:16 "I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed."

5:20 "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."

5:25 ◁ O you who have believed, ▷

5:29 ◁ let not your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. ▷

5:31 “O ye who believe! Let not your wealth nor your children distract you from remembrance of Allah. Those who do so, they are the losers.” (63:9)

5:39 “O ye who believe! Let not your wealth nor your children distract you from remembrance of Allah. Those who do so, they are the losers.” (63:9)

5:49 ◁ And spend [in the way of Allah] from what We have provided you before death comes to one of you and he says, "My Lord, if only You would delay me for a short term ▷

5:58 “And spend of that wherewith We have provided you before death cometh unto one of you and he saith: My Lord! If only thou wouldst reprieve me for a little while, then I would give alms and be among the righteous.” (63:10)

6:02 “And spend of that wherewith We have provided you before death cometh unto one of you and he saith: My Lord! If only thou wouldst reprieve me for a little while, then I would give alms and be among the righteous.” (63:10)

6:21 ◁ so I would give charity and be among the righteous." ▷

6:29 “But Allah reprieveth no soul when its term cometh, and Allah is Informed of what ye do.” (63:11)

6:37 ◁ And Allah is Acquainted with what you do. ▷

6:50 Biography of Imam al-Susi,

6:53 the second narrator from Imam Abu 'Amr.

6:58 He is Abu Shu'ayb

7:00 Salih ibn Ziyad ibn 'Abdullah

7:02 al-Raqqi al-Susi,

7:05 in reference to Sus,

7:06 which is a city in Ahwaz.

7:10 May Allah have mercy upon him, he was born

7:11 in the year 172 AH.

7:15 He was a precise, trustworthy narrator,

7:18 a meticulous teacher of Qur'anic recitation,

7:20 and among the most noble and senior companions of al-Yazidi.

7:24 He recited the Qur'an under Yahya al-Yazidi,

7:27 and heard hadith in Kufa from 'Abdullah ibn Numayr

7:30 and Asbat ibn Muhammad,

7:33 and in Mecca from Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah.

7:36 Transmitting the recitation from him were

7:38 his son Abu Ma'sum,

7:40 Musa ibn Jarir the grammarian,

7:43 'Ali ibn al-Husan,

7:45 Abu al-Harith Muhammad ibn Ahmad,

7:48 Abu 'Uthman the grammarian—

7:50 all of al-Raqqah—

7:52 as well as Abu 'Ali

7:53 Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Harrani.

7:56 Transmitting hadith from him were

7:58 Abu Bakr ibn Abi 'Asim,

8:00 Abu 'Arubah al-Harrani,

8:03 Abu 'Abd al-Rahman Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i, the master of hadith,

8:06 and others.

8:08 May Allah have mercy upon him, he passed away in al-Raqqah

8:11 in the year 261 AH,

8:15 having approached ninety years of age.

8:19 A sample from the transmission of al-Susi

8:22 from Abu 'Amr:

8:25 "I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed."

8:28 "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."

8:33 ◁ O you who have believed, ▷

8:36 ◁ spend from that which We have provided for you ▷

8:42 ◁ before there comes ▷

8:46 ◁ a Day in which there is no exchange ▷

8:49 “O ye who believe! spend of that wherewith We have provided you ere a day come when there will be no trafficking, nor friendship, nor intercession. The disbelievers, they are the wrong-doers.” (2:254)

8:54 ◁ and the disbelievers - it is they who are the wrongdoers. ▷

9:01 ◁ Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. ▷

9:09 “Allah! There is no deity save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous.” (2:255)

9:18 ◁ To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. ▷

9:24 “Allah! There is no deity save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous.” (2:255)

9:33 ◁ He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, ▷

9:40 ◁ and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge ▷

9:46 ◁ except for what He wills. ▷

9:51 “Allah! There is no deity save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous.” (2:255)

9:57 ◁ And their preservation tires Him not. ▷

10:01 ◁ And He is the Most High, the Most Great. ▷

10:16 May Allah reward on our behalf with all goodness the Imams

10:21 who transmitted the Qur'an to us pure and fluid.

Ithaf Al-Barara with biographies of the ten readers | Episode (3) | Translated by Imam Abu Amr Al-Basri and his narrators Al-Duri and Al-Susi

Transcript