al-Kisāʾī

Known above all for inclination. Al-Kisāʾī tilts the long ā extensively, and has a rule of his own for the feminine ending when pausing — inclined, except after ten specific letters. His two transmitters agree often enough that the book names him rather than them.

Measures of madd

In ḥarakāt. Where several are given, all are permitted — the choice is the reciter’s. Vol. I p. 246.

Natural

2

Badal (hamzah first)

2

Separated

4

Connected

4

Obligatory

6

For a pause

2, 4 or 6

Soft-letter

2, 4 or 6 when pausing

Compensatory

2

Minor ṣilah

2

Major ṣilah

4

Transcribed from Vol. I pp. 230–232.

1. 1

   The two transmitters

   الراويان

   al-rāwiyān

   ʿAlī ibn Ḥamzah al-Kisāʾī is the third of the Kūfan readers. His reading reaches us through two transmitters who both took it from him directly: Abū al-Ḥārith al-Layth ibn Khālid al-Baghdādī, and Abū ʿUmar Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Dūrī (the same Dūrī who also transmits from Abū ʿAmr). Abū al-Ḥārith is the one normally recited first, and the two of them differ from one another only on a handful of points; because the differences are so slight, the author attributes the rules below to al-Kisāʾī himself rather than splitting them by transmitter, and flags the few places where a transmitter goes his own way.

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   هو أبو الحسن عليُّ بن حمزة الكسائيُّ ثالث قرّاء الكوفة، وله راويان: أحدهما أبو الحارث الليثُ بن خالد البغداديّ، وثانيهما: أبو عُمر حفص بن عمر بن عبد العزيز الدوريّ، رويا عنه القراءة بلا واسطة، وأبو الحارث مقدَّم في الأداء والخُلف بينهما يسير، ولذا عزوتُ إلى الإمام الكسائيّ

   Examples · 1

   • This is the author's framing paragraph, not a rule of recitation; the book gives no Qurʾānic citation here.
2. 2

   The pronominal hāʾ

   هاء الكناية

   hāʾ al-kināyah

   The suffixed pronoun -hu / -hi ("his, its, him") behaves differently for al-Kisāʾī in six named places. In arjih (al-Aʿrāf 7:111 and al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:36) and fa-alqih (al-Naml 27:28) he gives the hāʾ a kasrah and then stretches it into an audible short ī — the three words end "…hī", two beats, not a clipped "…h". The same stretching applies in yattaqhi (al-Nūr 24:52). In fīhi muhānan (al-Furqān 25:69) he does the opposite: the hāʾ is kept short, one beat, with no drawn-out ī after it. In yarḍahu lakum (al-Zumar 39:7) he stretches the ḍammah instead, giving "…hū". Finally, in wa-mā ansānīhu (al-Kahf 18:63) and ʿalayhu Allāha (al-Fatḥ 48:10) — printed here with a ḍammah because that is how Ḥafṣ reads them — al-Kisāʾī reads the hāʾ with a kasrah: ansānīhi, ʿalayhi.

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   قرأ الكسائيُّ ﴿أَرْجِهِ﴾ في الأعراف والشعراء، و﴿فَأَلْقِهِ﴾ في النمل بكسر الهاء مع صلتها بياء لفظية في الثلاثة، و﴿يَتَّقْهِ﴾ في النور بإشباع كسرة الهاء، و﴿فِيهِ مُهَانًا﴾ بقصر الهاء، و﴿يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ﴾ بإشباع ضمة الهاء، و﴿وَمَآ أَنسَىٰنِيهُ﴾ في الكهف، و﴿عَلَيْهُ ٱللَّهَ﴾ في الفتح بكسر الهاء فيهما.

   Examples · 6

   • أَرْجِهِal-Aʿrāf 7:111; al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:36Kasrah on the hāʾ plus its ṣilah — pronounced arjihī.
   • فَأَلْقِهِal-Naml 27:28Same treatment: fa-alqihī.
   • يَتَّقْهِal-Nūr 24:52Kasrah on the hāʾ fully drawn out.
   • فِيهِ مُهَانًاal-Furqān 25:69Here the hāʾ is short — no ṣilah.
   • يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْal-Zumar 39:7The ḍammah is drawn out: yarḍahū lakum.
   • عَلَيْهُ ٱللَّهَal-Fatḥ 48:10Printed with the ḍammah of Ḥafṣ; al-Kisāʾī reads ʿalayhi with a kasrah, and likewise ansānīhi in al-Kahf 18:63.
   The rule in general → The pronoun hāʾ
3. 3

   Medium length for both the separated and the joined madd

   توسّط المنفصل والمتصل

   tawassuṭ al-munfaṣil wa-l-muttaṣil

   Where a long vowel is followed by a hamzah, al-Kisāʾī holds it for a medium measure — four beats (ḥarakāt) — and he does so with no alternative reading permitted. This covers both cases: the "joined" madd, where the long vowel and the hamzah sit inside one word (as in jāʾa, sūʾ), and the "separated" madd, where the long vowel ends one word and the hamzah begins the next (as in bimā unzila). Ḥafṣ, by comparison, holds both at that same medium-to-long measure only by one of his routes; for al-Kisāʾī four is the single answer, with no shorter or longer option.

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   وقرأ بتوسط المنفصل والمتصل قولًا واحدًا.

   Examples · 1

   • The book states the measure without citing a word here; the categories themselves were defined earlier in the volume.
   The rule in general → Separated prolongation
4. 4

   The interrogative hamzah

   همز الاستفهام

   hamz al-istifhām

   Three places that Ḥafṣ reads as plain statements, al-Kisāʾī reads as questions, by prefixing an interrogative hamzah: innakum la-taʾtūn and inna lanā (both in al-Aʿrāf) and āmantum (al-Aʿrāf 7:123, Ṭā Hā 20:71, al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:49) — so "you indeed approach…" becomes "do you really approach…?". In aa-aʿjamiyyun (Fuṣṣilat 41:44, the nominative form) he sounds both hamzahs distinctly and fully, with no easing or separating alif between them. Where a verse asks the question twice over — the pattern a-idhā kunnā turāban a-innā ("when we are dust, are we really…?") — he keeps the question in the first member and turns the second into a statement: a-idhā … innā. In the second of the two occurrences in al-Naml he adds a nūn (a-innanā). He breaks his own pattern once, in al-ʿAnkabūt, where he asks in both members.

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   وقرأ ﴿إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ﴾، و﴿إِنَّ لَنَا﴾ كلاهما في الأعراف، و﴿ءَامَنتُمْ﴾ في الأعراف وطه والشعراء بالاستفهام، و﴿ءَأَعْجَمِىٌّ﴾ المرفوع بفصلت بالتحقيق، وما تكرر فيه الاستفهام نحو ﴿أَءِذَا كُنَّا تُرَٰبًا أَءِنَّا﴾ بالاستفهام في الأول والإخبار في الثاني، مع زيادة نون في ثاني حرفَي النمل، لكنه خالف هذا الأصل في العنكبوت فاستفهم في الحرفَين معًا.

   Examples · 3

   • إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَal-Aʿrāf 7:81Printed as Ḥafṣ has it, a statement; al-Kisāʾī prefixes the interrogative hamzah.
   • ءَامَنتُمْal-Aʿrāf 7:123; Ṭā Hā 20:71; al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:49Read as a question by al-Kisāʾī.
   • ءَأَعْجَمِىٌّFuṣṣilat 41:44Both hamzahs realised fully (taḥqīq).
   The rule in general → Full articulation
5. 5

   Turning a hamzah into a long vowel

   إبدال الهمز

   ibdāl al-hamz

   In a short list of words al-Kisāʾī does not pronounce the hamzah at all; he replaces it with the long vowel matching the preceding short vowel, so the syllable simply stretches. Al-dhiʾb ("the wolf", wherever it occurs) becomes al-dhīb; Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj (al-Kahf and al-Anbiyāʾ) becomes Yājūj wa-Mājūj; muʾṣadah (al-Balad and al-Humazah) becomes mūṣadah. Separately, in yuḍāhiʾūn (al-Tawbah 9:30) he drops the hamzah altogether and puts a ḍammah on the hāʾ, reading yuḍāhūn.

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   وقرأ ﴿ٱلذِّئْبُ﴾ حيث وقع، و﴿يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ﴾ في الكهف والأنبياء، و﴿مُؤْصَدَةٌ﴾ في البلد والهُمَزة بإبدال الهمزة حرف مدٍّ. و﴿يُضَـٰهِـُٔونَ﴾ في التوبة بضم الهاء من غير همز.

   Examples · 2

   • ٱلذِّئْبُYūsuf 12:13, 12:14, 12:17Read al-dhīb, the hamzah becoming a long ī.
   • يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُal-Kahf 18:94; al-Anbiyāʾ 21:96Read Yājūj wa-Mājūj.
   The rule in general → Replacing the hamzah
6. 6

   No pause of breath at the four places

   ترك السكت

   tark al-sakt

   The printed muṣḥaf marks four places with a small sīn, the sign telling a Ḥafṣ reciter to break off the sound for an instant without breathing. Al-Kisāʾī does not make that break at any of them: he joins straight through, as if the sign were not there — ʿiwajan qayyiman (al-Kahf 18:1-2), marqadinā hādhā (Yā Sīn 36:52), man rāq (al-Qiyāmah 75:27), bal rān (al-Muṭaffifīn 83:14). And because he joins them, the assimilation that a pause would have prevented takes effect: the nūn of man and the lām of bal disappear into the rāʾ that follows, giving "mar-rāq" and "bar-rān".

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   وقرأ ﴿عِوَجَاۜ قَيِّمًا﴾ في الكهف، و﴿مَّرْقَدِنَاۜ هَـٰذَا﴾ في يس، و﴿مَنۜ رَاقٍ﴾ في القيامة، و﴿بَلۜ رَانَ﴾ في التطفيف، بترك السكت مع إدغام نون ﴿مَنْ﴾ ولام ﴿بَلْ﴾ في الراء بعدهما.

   Examples · 2

   • مَنۜ رَاقٍal-Qiyāmah 75:27The small sīn is the sakt sign; al-Kisāʾī ignores it and assimilates: mar-rāq.
   • بَلۜ رَانَal-Muṭaffifīn 83:14Read bar-rān, no break.
   The rule in general → Brief pause
7. 7

   Assimilation of a vowelless consonant into the next

   الإدغام الصغير

   al-idghām al-ṣaghīr

   Al-Kisāʾī merges a great many vowelless consonants into the consonant that follows, so that the first letter is not heard at all and the second is doubled. The families are: the dhāl of idh before tāʾ, dāl and the whistling letters (ṣ, s, z); the dāl of qad before its eight letters; a vowelless feminine tāʾ before its six; the lām of hal before its three; the lām of bal before its seven; and a jussive bāʾ before fāʾ. Then a set of individual words: the dhāl merges into a following tāʾ in ʿudhtu, fa-nabadhtuhā, ittakhadhtum and akhadhtum wherever they occur (so ʿuttu, akhattum); the dāl into the dhāl of Kāf-Hā-Yā-ʿAyn-Ṣād / dhikru; the dāl into the thāʾ of wa-man yurid thawāba (Āl ʿImrān 3:145); the bāʾ into the mīm of yuʿadhdhibu man (al-Baqarah 2:284); the nūn into the wāw of Yā Sīn wa-l-Qurʾān and Nūn wa-l-qalam; the fāʾ into the bāʾ of nakhsif bihim (Sabaʾ 34:9); and the thāʾ into the tāʾ of awrathtumūhā, labithta and labithtum however they are inflected.

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   وأدغم ذال ﴿إِذْ﴾ في التاء والدال وحروف الصفير، ودال ﴿قَدْ﴾ في أحرفها الثمانية، وتاء التأنيث الساكنة في أحرفها الستة، ولام ﴿هَلْ﴾ في حروفها الثلاثة، ولام ﴿بَلْ﴾ في حروفها السبعة، والباء المجزومة في الفاء، والذال في التاء من ﴿عُذْتُ﴾، و﴿فَنَبَذْتُهَا﴾، و﴿ٱتَّخَذْتُمْ﴾، و﴿أَخَذْتُمْ﴾، كيف وقعا، والدال في الذال من ﴿كٓهيعٓصٓ ذِكْرُ﴾، وفي الثاء من ﴿وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ﴾ بآل عمران، والباء في الميم من ﴿يُعَذِّبُ مَن﴾ من آخر البقرة، والنون في الواو من ﴿يسٓ وَٱلْقُرْءَانِ﴾، و﴿نٓ وَٱلْقَلَمِ﴾، والفاء في الباء من ﴿نَخْسِفْ بِهِمُ﴾ بسبأ، والثاء في التاء في ﴿أَوْرِثْتُمُوهَا﴾، و﴿لَبِثْتَ﴾، و﴿لَبِثْتُمْ﴾، كيف أتيا.

   Examples · 6

   • عُذْتُGhāfir 40:27; al-Dukhān 44:20The dhāl disappears into the tāʾ: ʿuttu.
   • أَخَذْتُمْRead akhattum.
   • وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَĀl ʿImrān 3:145The dāl merges into the thāʾ.
   • يُعَذِّبُ مَنal-Baqarah 2:284The bāʾ merges into the mīm.
   • نَخْسِفْ بِهِمُSabaʾ 34:9The fāʾ merges into the bāʾ.
   • لَبِثْتَThe thāʾ merges into the tāʾ: labitta.
8. 8

   Abū al-Ḥārith alone: jussive lām into dhāl

   إدغام أبي الحارث اللام المجزومة في الذال

   idghām Abī al-Ḥārith al-lām al-majzūmah fī al-dhāl

   This is a point where the two transmitters part company. Abū al-Ḥārith — but not al-Dūrī — merges the vowelless lām of yafʿal into the dhāl that begins dhālika, so wa-man yafʿal dhālika is heard as "wa-man yafʿa-dhdhālika". It applies wherever that phrase occurs.

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   وأدغم أبو الحارث اللام المجزومة في الذال من ﴿وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ﴾ حيث وقع.

   Examples · 1

   • وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَal-Baqarah 2:231; Āl ʿImrān 3:28; al-Nisāʾ 4:30 and elsewhereAbū al-Ḥārith assimilates; al-Dūrī does not.
9. 9

   Inclining an alif that was originally a yāʾ

   إمالة الألف المنقلبة عن ياء

   imālat al-alif al-munqalibah ʿan yāʾ

   Wherever a final alif goes back historically to a yāʾ, al-Kisāʾī does not pronounce it as a plain long "aa"; he tips it strongly toward "ee", so al-hudā sounds close to al-hudē and atā like atē. This is full imālah (imālah kubrā), not the lighter shading some readers use. The test the book gives for whether an alif is "yāʾ-based": with a noun, put it in the dual; with a verb, attach the first-person -tu. If a yāʾ surfaces (fatā → fatayān, atā → ataytu) the alif may be inclined; if a wāw surfaces instead, it may not. He makes exceptions for a set of wāw-based words that he inclines anyway — al-ʿulā, al-quwā, al-ḍuḥā, daḥāhā, ṭaḥāhā, talāhā, al-ribā, and kilāhumā in al-Isrāʾ — and, as a general principle, any wāw-based word longer than three letters is inclined too, because the extra length turns it into a yāʾ-type form: yarḍā, marḍā, tazakkā, yudʿā, tutlā, tajallā, iʿtadā, fa-taʿālā, istaʿlā.

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   وأمال الكسائيُّ كل ألف منقلبة عن ياء تحقيقًا حيث وقعت في اسم نحو ﴿ٱلْهُدَىٰ﴾، و﴿ٱلْهَوَىٰ﴾، أو فعْل نحو ﴿أَتَىٰ﴾، و﴿سَعَىٰ﴾، وتُعرَف ذوات الياء من الأسماء بالتثنية، ومن الأفعال بإسناد الفعل إلى تاء المتكلم، فمتى ظهرت الياء جازتْ الإمالة، ومتى ظهرت الواو امتنعتْ، إلا أنه أمال من ذلك ﴿ٱلْعُلَىٰ﴾، و﴿ٱلْقُوَىٰ﴾، و﴿ٱلضُّحَىٰ﴾، و﴿دَحَىٰهَا﴾، و﴿طَحَىٰهَا﴾، و﴿تَلَىٰهَا﴾، وكذا ﴿ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟﴾، و﴿كِلَاهُمَا﴾ بالإسراء، وإذا زاد الواويُّ على ثلاثة أحرف نحو ﴿يَرْضَىٰ﴾، و﴿مَرْضَىٰ﴾، و﴿تَزَكَّىٰ﴾، و﴿يُدْعَىٰ﴾، و﴿تُتْلَىٰ﴾، و﴿تَجَلَّىٰ﴾، و﴿ٱعْتَدَىٰ﴾، و﴿فَتَعَـٰلَىٰ﴾، و﴿ٱسْتَعْلَىٰ﴾ أماله لكونه بسبب تلك الزيادة يصير يائيًّا.

   Examples · 4

   • ٱلْهُدَىٰA noun with a yāʾ-based alif — inclined.
   • سَعَىٰA verb with a yāʾ-based alif — inclined.
   • ٱلضُّحَىٰWāw-based but inclined anyway, by exception.
   • ٱسْتَعْلَىٰṬā Hā 20:64Wāw-based but over three letters, so inclined.
   The rule in general → Full inclination
10. 10

    Inclining the feminine -ā ending and every alif written as yāʾ

    إمالة ألفات التأنيث المقصورة وما رُسم بالياء

    imālat alifāt al-taʾnīth al-maqṣūrah

    Beyond alifs that were historically yāʾ, al-Kisāʾī also inclines the feminine ending -ā of nouns such as ṭūbā, bushrā, taqwā, asrā, iḥdā, dhikrā, yatāmā, kusālā, naṣārā, and any word on the patterns fuʿālā / faʿālā such as usārā. More broadly still, he inclines every alif that the muṣḥaf writes in the shape of a yāʾ — matā, balā, yā-asafā, yā-waylatā, yā-ḥasratā, ʿasā, and the interrogative annā. Five words are excluded from all of this and kept flat: ladā, ilā, ḥattā, ʿalā, and mā zakā, because all the readers are agreed on pronouncing those with a plain open alif.

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    وأمال أيضًا ألفات التأنيث المقصورة نحو ﴿طُوبَىٰ﴾، و﴿بُشْرَىٰ﴾، و﴿تَقْوَىٰ﴾، و﴿أَسْرَىٰ﴾، و﴿إِحْدَىٰ﴾، و﴿ذِكْرَىٰ﴾، و﴿يَتَـٰمَىٰ﴾، و﴿كُسَالَىٰ﴾، و﴿نَصَـٰرَىٰ﴾، وما كان على وزن فُعالى وفَعالى نحو ﴿أُسَـٰرَىٰ﴾، وكل ألف رُسمت في المصاحف ياء نحو ﴿مَتَىٰ﴾، و﴿بَلَىٰ﴾، و﴿يَـٰأَسَفَىٰ﴾، و﴿يَـٰوَيْلَتَىٰ﴾، و﴿يَـٰحَسْرَتَىٰ﴾، و﴿عَسَىٰ﴾، و﴿أَنَّىٰ﴾ الاستفهامية، لكنه استثنى من ذلك خمس كلمات وهي ﴿لَدَى﴾، و﴿إِلَى﴾، و﴿حَتَّىٰ﴾، و﴿عَلَى﴾، و﴿مَا زَكَىٰ﴾ للاتفاق على فتحهنَّ.

    Examples · 4

    • بُشْرَىٰFeminine -ā ending, inclined.
    • نَصَـٰرَىٰInclined.
    • بَلَىٰWritten with a yāʾ in the muṣḥaf, so inclined.
    • يَـٰحَسْرَتَىٰal-Zumar 39:56Inclined.
    The rule in general → Full inclination
11. 11

    Particular words that are inclined

    إمالة كلمات مخصوصة

    imālat kalimāt makhṣūṣah

    A further group of named words gets the same inclined vowel. Al-Tawrāh ("the Torah") wherever it occurs; bal rān in al-Muṭaffifīn; and any alif that sits between two rāʾs where the first carries a fatḥah and the second a kasrah — al-abrār, min qarār, dhāti qarār, dāru al-qarār, mina al-ashrār. Also the alif of hārin in al-Tawbah 9:109. Two more: wa-naʾā in al-Isrāʾ and Fuṣṣilat, and raʾā, in both of which the rāʾ and the hamzah are inclined together. Raʾā, however, has a condition: he inclines both letters only when the next word begins with a pronounced consonant, as in raʾā kawkaban and raʾāka alladhīna. When the next word begins with a vowelless consonant — raʾā al-qamara — he reads both letters flat while joining, and inclines them only if he stops there.

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    وأمال أيضًا ﴿ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَ﴾ حيث وقع، و﴿بَلۜ رَانَ﴾ في التطفيف، والألف الواقعة بين راءين: أولاهما مفتوحة، والثانية مجرورة وهي في ﴿ٱلْأَبْرَارِ﴾، و﴿مِن قَرَارٍ﴾، و﴿ذَاتِ قَرَارٍ﴾، و﴿دَارُ ٱلْقَرَارِ﴾، و﴿مِنَ ٱلْأَشْرَارِ﴾، وألف ﴿هَارٍ﴾ في التوبة، وأمال أيضًا حرفَي ﴿وَنَـَٔا﴾ في الإسراء وفصلت، وحرفَي ﴿رَءَا﴾ حيث وقع قبل محرَّك نحو ﴿رَءَا كَوْكَبًا﴾، و﴿رَءَاكَ ٱلَّذِينَ﴾، فإن وقع قبل ساكن نحو ﴿رَءَا ٱلْقَمَرَ﴾ فتح حرفَيه وصلًا وأمالهما وقفًا.

    Examples · 4

    • ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَInclined wherever it occurs.
    • دَارُ ٱلْقَرَارِGhāfir 40:39Alif between a fatḥah-bearing rāʾ and a kasrah-bearing rāʾ.
    • رَءَا كَوْكَبًاal-Anʿām 6:76Both letters inclined, because a pronounced consonant follows.
    • رَءَا ٱلْقَمَرَal-Anʿām 6:77Flat when joined, inclined when stopping.
    The rule in general → Full inclination
12. 12

    Inclining the disconnected letters that open sūrahs

    إمالة حروف فواتح السور

    imālat fawātiḥ al-suwar

    In the isolated letters that open certain sūrahs, al-Kisāʾī inclines the vowel of the letter-name itself. He inclines the rāʾ of alif-lām-rā at the head of Yūnus and its sister sūrahs, and of alif-lām-mīm-rā at the head of al-Raʿd — so "rā" is heard as "rē". He inclines the hāʾ in the openings of Maryam and Ṭā Hā, the yāʾ in the openings of Maryam and Yā Sīn, the ṭāʾ of Ṭā Hā, Ṭā Sīn Mīm and Ṭā Sīn, and the ḥāʾ of Ḥā Mīm in all seven sūrahs that begin with it.

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    وأمال أيضًا الراء من ﴿الٓر﴾ أول يونس وأخواتها، و﴿الٓمٓر﴾ أول الرعد، والهاء من فاتحتَي مريم وطه، والياء من فاتحتَي مريم ويس، والطاء من ﴿طه﴾، و﴿طسٓمٓ﴾، و﴿طسٓ﴾، والحاء من ﴿حمٓ﴾ في السور السبع.

    Examples · 2

    • الٓرYūnus 10:1 and its sister sūrahsThe rāʾ inclined.
    • حمٓthe seven Ḥā-Mīm sūrahsThe ḥāʾ inclined.
    The rule in general → Full inclination
13. 13

    Al-Dūrī alone: alif before a final kasrah-bearing rāʾ

    فصل: إمالة الدوريّ الألفات قبل الراء المتطرفة المكسورة

    faṣl: imālat al-Dūrī

    A section for al-Dūrī on his own. Where an alif is followed by a rāʾ at the end of a word and that rāʾ carries a kasrah, al-Dūrī inclines the alif — abṣārihim, al-dār, bi-qinṭār, wa-awbārihā, wa-ashʿārihā, ḥimārik, al-ḥimār, wa-l-jār, jabbārīn — and likewise kāfirīn and al-kāfirīn wherever they appear in their yāʾ form. He extends the same inclination to a further list: anṣārī, ādhānihim, ādhāninā, bāriʾikum, al-bāriʾ, wa-sāriʿū, yusāriʿūn, nusāriʿu, al-jawār, and also ruʾyāk (the form with the -ka suffix, at the beginning of Yūsuf), wa-maḥyāya at the end of al-Anʿām, mathwāya in Yūsuf, hudāya in al-Baqarah and Ṭā Hā, and ka-mishkāh in al-Nūr. Abū al-Ḥārith does not share this.

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    فصل: أمال الدوريُّ الألفات الواقعة قبل الراء المتطرفة المكسورة نحو ﴿أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ﴾، و﴿ٱلدَّارِ﴾، و﴿بِقِنطَارٍ﴾، و﴿وَأَوْبَـٰرِهَا﴾، و﴿وَأَشْعَارِهَا﴾، و﴿حِمَارِكَ﴾، و﴿ٱلْحِمَارِ﴾، و﴿وَٱلْجَارِ﴾، و﴿جَبَّارِينَ﴾، وكذا ﴿كَـٰفِرِينَ﴾، و﴿ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ﴾ حيث وقعا بالياء، و﴿أَنصَارِى﴾، و﴿ءَاذَانِهِمْ﴾، و﴿ءَاذَانِنَا﴾، و﴿بَارِئِكُمْ﴾، و﴿ٱلْبَارِئُ﴾، و﴿وَسَارِعُوٓا۟﴾، و﴿يُسَـٰرِعُونَ﴾، و﴿نُسَارِعُ﴾، و﴿ٱلْجَوَارِ﴾، وكذا ﴿رُءْيَاكَ﴾ المضاف للكاف وهو في أول يوسف، و﴿وَمَحْيَاىَ﴾ آخر الأنعام، و﴿مَثْوَاىَ﴾ بيوسف، و﴿هُدَاىَ﴾ بالبقرة وطه، و﴿كَمِشْكَوٰةٍ﴾ بالنور.

    Examples · 3

    • ٱلدَّارِAlif before a final rāʾ with a kasrah — inclined by al-Dūrī.
    • ٱلْحِمَارِal-Baqarah 2:259Same pattern.
    • ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَInclined wherever it occurs in this form.
14. 14

    Note: a following vowelless letter or tanwīn blocks the inclination

    تنبيه: مانع الساكن والتنوين

    tanbīh: māniʿ al-sākin wa-l-tanwīn

    A caution about when the inclination disappears. If a vowelless consonant or a tanwīn follows the inclined alif, the alif itself is elided in pronunciation, and with it goes the inclination — there is no vowel left to incline. But if you stop on the word, the tanwīn or the following consonant drops out of the picture, the alif comes back, and so does the inclination, exactly as the underlying rule requires. This, the author says, is the position acted upon; the disagreement over tanwīn cases recorded in al-Shāṭibī's Ḥirz al-Amānī should be set aside, as Ibn al-Jazarī pointed out in al-Nashr.

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    تنبيه: إذا وقع بعد الألف المُمالة ساكن أو تنوين وسقطتِ الألف لأجله امتنعتِ الإمالة، فإذا زال ذلك الساكن أو التنوين بالوقف عادتِ الإمالة على ما تأصَّل، هذا هو المعمول به، وما ذكره في ((الحرز)) من الخلاف في المُنَوَّن ينبغي تركه كما نبَّه عليه في النشر.

    Examples · 1

    • The book states the principle without citing a word here.
    The rule in general → Full inclination
15. 15

    Inclining the feminine hāʾ when stopping

    إمالة هاء التأنيث في الوقف

    imālat hāʾ al-taʾnīth fī al-waqf

    This is the rule al-Kisāʾī is best known for, and it applies only when you stop on the word. A feminine noun ending in tāʾ marbūṭah is pronounced with a hāʾ at a stop — raḥmah, jannah. Al-Kisāʾī does not stop with a plain open "-ah"; he tips the vowel toward "e", so raḥmah is heard closer to raḥmeh. Whether he does so depends entirely on the letter immediately before the hāʾ, and the letters fall into three groups. First, fifteen letters, gathered in the mnemonic sentence fa-jathat Zaynabun li-dhawdi shamsin (f, j, th, t, z, y, n, b, l, dh, w, d, sh, m, s). After any of these he inclines, with no alternative reading — khalīfah, bahjah, thalāthah, maytah, aʿizzah, khashyah, jannah, ḥabbah, laylah, ladhdhah, quwwah, baldah, ʿīshah, raḥmah, khamsah. Second, the letters of the mnemonic khuṣṣa ḍaghṭin qaẓ ḥiʿ — kh, ṣ, ḍ, gh, ṭ, q, ẓ, ḥ, ʿ. These are the emphatic and throat letters, and after them he keeps the vowel flat and open: al-ṣākhkhah, khāliṣah, baʿūḍah, ṣibghah, basṭah, ṭāqah, mawʿiẓah, al-naṭīḥah, sabʿah. Third, four letters gathered as a-k-h-r (alif, kāf, hāʾ, rāʾ). These are conditional: he inclines only if what stands before them is a vowelless yāʾ, or a kasrah — whether directly attached or separated from them by one vowelless consonant. So he inclines ka-hayʾah, fiʾah, al-aykah, wa-l-muʾtafikah, ālihah, wijhah, kabīrah, laʿibrah; but he keeps flat imraʾah, al-shawkah, safāhah, ḥasrah, where no yāʾ or kasrah precedes. The author adds that a body of practitioners transmit from him a blanket inclination before every letter without any of this sorting, the sole agreed exception being alif, which everyone reads flat.

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    وأمال الكسائيُّ هاء التأنيث في الوقف قولًا واحدًا إذا وقع قبلها حرف من (فَجَثَتْ زَيْنَبٌ لِذَوْدِ شَمْسٍ) نحو ﴿خَلِيفَةً﴾، و﴿بَهْجَةٍ﴾، و﴿ثَلَـٰثَةُ﴾، و﴿مَيْتَةً﴾، و﴿أَعِزَّةٍ﴾، و﴿خَشْيَةِ﴾، و﴿جَنَّةٍ﴾، و﴿حَبَّةٍ﴾، و﴿لَيْلَةَ﴾، و﴿لَذَّةٍ﴾، و﴿قُوَّةٍ﴾، و﴿بَلْدَةٍ﴾، و﴿عِيشَةٍ﴾، و﴿رَحْمَةٍ﴾، و﴿خَمْسَةَ﴾. وإذا كان قبلها حرف من (خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قَظْ حِعْ) نحو ﴿ٱلصَّآخَّةُ﴾، و﴿خَالِصَةً﴾، و﴿بَعُوضَةً﴾، و﴿صِبْغَةَ﴾، و﴿بَسْطَةً﴾، و﴿طَاقَةَ﴾، و﴿مَوْعِظَةٌ﴾، و﴿ٱلنَّطِيحَةُ﴾، و﴿سَبْعَةً﴾ فتحها، وإذا كان قبلها حرف من (أكهر) فإن كان قبله ياء ساكنة أو كسرة متصلة أو منفصلة بساكن نحو ﴿كَهَيْـَٔةِ﴾، و﴿فِئَةٍ﴾، و﴿ٱلْأَيْكَةِ﴾، و﴿وَٱلْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ﴾، و﴿ءَالِهَةً﴾، و﴿وِجْهَةٌ﴾، و﴿كَبِيرَةً﴾، و﴿لَعِبْرَةً﴾ أمالها، وإلَّا فتحها نحو ﴿ٱمْرَأَةٍ﴾، و﴿ٱلشَّوْكَةِ﴾، و﴿سَفَاهَةٍ﴾، و﴿حَسْرَةً﴾. وذهب جماعة من أهل الأداء إلى إطلاق الإمالة عنه عند جميع الحروف بلا تفصيل ما عدا الألف للإجماع على الفتح معها.

    Examples · 6

    • رَحْمَةٍPreceded by mīm, one of the fifteen — inclined at a stop.
    • جَنَّةٍPreceded by nūn — inclined at a stop.
    • بَعُوضَةًal-Baqarah 2:26Preceded by ḍād, one of the excepted letters — kept flat.
    • مَوْعِظَةٌPreceded by ẓāʾ — kept flat.
    • كَبِيرَةًRāʾ preceded by a vowelless yāʾ — inclined.
    • حَسْرَةًRāʾ with no preceding yāʾ or kasrah — kept flat.
    The rule in general → Inclining the feminine hāʾ on pause
16. 16

    How he stops on particular words

    الوقف

    al-waqf

    When al-Kisāʾī stops on a feminine ending that the muṣḥaf spells with an open tāʾ rather than a tied one, he still stops with a hāʾ — the details were set out earlier under Ḥafṣ. He does the same on dhāta in dhāta bahjah (al-Naml), hayhāta in both places in al-Muʾminūn, marḍāta in al-Baqarah, al-Nisāʾ and al-Taḥrīm, wa-lāta ḥīna in Ṣād, and al-Lāta in al-Najm. On ayyuha he stops with the alif restored after the hāʾ (ayyuhā) in al-Nūr, al-Zukhruf and al-Raḥmān. On wayka'anna Allāha and wayka'annahu, both in al-Qaṣaṣ, he stops at the yāʾ — that is, on "way". He restores the yāʾ after the dāl when stopping on wādi al-naml in its own sūrah and bi-hādi al-ʿumy there and in al-Rūm. On ayyan mā in al-Isrāʾ he may stop on ayyan, or on mā; and he stops on the lām in fa-māli hāʾulāʾi (al-Nisāʾ), māli hādhā (al-Kahf and al-Furqān), and fa-māli alladhīna (al-Maʿārij). Ibn al-Jazarī in al-Nashr judged this last practice correct for all the readers, not only al-Kisāʾī.

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    ووقف بالهاء على هاء التأنيث المرسومة تاءً مجرورة، وقد مر تفصيلها في أصول رواية حفص، وكذا وقف على ﴿ذَاتَ﴾ من ﴿ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍ﴾ في النمل، و﴿هَيْهَاتَ﴾ موضعَي المؤمنون، و﴿مَرْضَاتَ﴾ بالبقرة والنساء والتحريم، و﴿وَلَاتَ حِينَ﴾ في ص، و﴿ٱللَّـٰتَ﴾ بالنجم، ووقف بإثبات الألف بعد الهاء في ﴿أَيُّهَ﴾ في النور والزخرف والرحمن، ووقف على الياء في ﴿وَيْكَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ﴾، و﴿وَيْكَأَنَّهُ﴾، كلاهما في القصص، ووقف بإثبات الياء بعد الدال في ﴿عَلَىٰ وَادِ ٱلنَّمْلِ﴾ بسورته، و﴿بِهَـٰدِ ٱلْعُمْىِ﴾ فيها وفي الروم، ووقف على ﴿أَيًّا﴾ من ﴿أَيًّا مَّا﴾ في الإسراء، وعلى ﴿مَّا﴾ وعلى (اللام) في ﴿فَمَالِ هَـٰؤُلَآءِ﴾ في النساء، و﴿مَالِ هَـٰذَا﴾ في الكهف والفرقان، و﴿فَمَالِ ٱلَّذِينَ﴾ في المعارج، وصوَّب ذلك في النشر للجميع.

    Examples · 4

    • هَيْهَاتَal-Muʾminūn 23:36Stopped on with a hāʾ: hayhah.
    • أَيُّهَal-Nūr 24:31; al-Zukhruf 43:49; al-Raḥmān 55:31Stopped on with the alif restored: ayyuhā.
    • وَيْكَأَنَّهُal-Qaṣaṣ 28:82Stopped on at the yāʾ: way.
    • عَلَىٰ وَادِ ٱلنَّمْلِal-Naml 27:18Stopped on with the yāʾ restored: wādī.
    The rule in general → Pausing on final letters
17. 17

    The possessive yāʾ

    ياءات الإضافة

    yāʾāt al-iḍāfah

    The yāʾ meaning "my" at the end of a noun is sometimes given a fatḥah (baytiya) and sometimes left vowelless (baytī); readers differ word by word. Al-Kisāʾī leaves it vowelless in the whole of the following list, all of which the printed lemma shows with the fatḥah of Ḥafṣ: baytī (al-Baqarah, al-Ḥajj, Nūḥ), wajhī (Āl ʿImrān, al-Anʿām), yadī ilayka, wa-ummī ilāhayni (al-Māʾidah), ajrī illā (Yūnus, two places in Hūd, five in al-Shuʿarāʾ, one in Sabaʾ), yā-ʿibādī alladhīna (al-ʿAnkabūt, al-Zumar), qul li-ʿibādī (Ibrāhīm), maʿī (al-Aʿrāf, two in al-Tawbah, three in al-Kahf, al-Anbiyāʾ, two in al-Shuʿarāʾ, al-Qaṣaṣ, al-Mulk), mā kāna liya (Ibrāhīm, Ṣād), wa-liya fīhā (Ṭā Hā), wa-liya naʿjah (Ṣād) and wa-liya dīn (al-Kāfirūn). One word goes the other way: in ʿahdī al-ẓālimīn (al-Baqarah 2:124) — which Ḥafṣ reads with a vowelless yāʾ — al-Kisāʾī gives the yāʾ a fatḥah, ʿahdiya.

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    وقرأ ﴿بَيْتِىَ﴾ بالبقرة والحج ونوح، و﴿وَجْهِىَ﴾ بآل عمران والأنعام، و﴿يَدِىَ إِلَيْكَ﴾، و﴿وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـٰهَيْنِ﴾ بالمائدة، و﴿أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا﴾ بيونس وحرفَي هود وخمسة الشعراء وفي سبأ، و﴿يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ﴾ بالعنكبوت والزمر، و﴿قُل لِّعِبَادِىَ﴾ بإبراهيم، و﴿مَعِىَ﴾ بالأعراف وحرفَي التوبة وثلاثة الكهف وفي الأنبياء وحرفَي الشعراء وفي القصص والملك، و﴿مَا كَانَ لِىَ﴾ في إبراهيم وفي ص، و﴿وَلِىَ فِيهَا﴾ في طه، و﴿وَلِىَ نَعْجَةٌ﴾ في ص، و﴿وَلِىَ دِينِ﴾ بالكافرون، بإسكان الياء فيهنَّ، و﴿عَهْدِى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ﴾ بفتحها.

    Examples · 3

    • بَيْتِىَal-Baqarah 2:125; al-Ḥajj 22:26; Nūḥ 71:28Printed with the fatḥah of Ḥafṣ; al-Kisāʾī reads baytī, yāʾ vowelless.
    • مَعِىَRead maʿī with a vowelless yāʾ in all the places listed.
    • عَهْدِى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَal-Baqarah 2:124The one that reverses: al-Kisāʾī gives the yāʾ a fatḥah, ʿahdiya.
    The rule in general → The possessive yāʾ
18. 18

    The yāʾ not written in the muṣḥaf

    ياءات الزوائد

    yāʾāt al-zawāʾid

    Some words end in a yāʾ that the muṣḥaf does not write, and readers differ over whether to pronounce it and in which state. Al-Kisāʾī pronounces the yāʾ in yawma yaʾti (Hūd 11:105) and nabghi (al-Kahf 18:64) when he joins on to the next word, but drops it when he stops. In fa-mā ātāni (al-Naml 27:36) he pronounces the yāʾ, vowelless, in both states — joining and stopping alike.

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    وقرأ ﴿يَوْمَ يَأْتِ﴾ في هود، و﴿نَبْغِ﴾ في الكهف بإثبات الياء فيهما وصلًا، و﴿فَمَآ ءَاتَىٰنِ﴾ في النمل بإثبات الياء ساكنة في الحالين. وهنا تمت أصوله ولله الحمد.

    Examples · 3

    • يَوْمَ يَأْتِHūd 11:105Yāʾ pronounced when joining, dropped when stopping.
    • نَبْغِal-Kahf 18:64Same: yāʾ in waṣl only.
    • فَمَآ ءَاتَىٰنِal-Naml 27:36Yāʾ pronounced vowelless both joining and stopping.
    The rule in general → The restored yāʾ

Cross-reference

Every rule in the general reference that names al-Kisāʾī explicitly, or that applies to all ten.

• Natural prolongationالمد الطبيعي

  All ten: 2 counts, without exception

• Separated prolongationالمد المنفصل

  4 — A long vowel at the end of a word followed by a hamzah at the start of the next — length varies from 2 to 6.

• Connected prolongationالمد المتصل

  All ten: 4

• Substitute prolongationمد البدل

  All ten: 2 — everyone else

• Obligatory prolongationالمد اللازم

  All ten: 6, unanimously

• Prolongation for a pauseالمد العارض للسكون

  All ten: 2, 4 or 6

• Soft-letter prolongationمد اللين

  All ten: 2, 4 or 6 when pausing

• Minor connectionۥۦالصلة الصغرى

  All ten: 2

• Major connectionۥۦالصلة الكبرى

  4 — The same glide, but before a hamzah — so it lengthens like a separated madd.