Appendix A: Quick-Reference Tables for the Seven Reciters and Fourteen Rāwīs¶

Note to the student: This appendix is a condensed quick-reference only. It summarises the key uṣūl distinctions per rāwī for rapid comparison and review. For complete rules, conditions, and exceptions, consult the corresponding chapters. Where a value is not confirmed with certainty, the notation (awaiting confirmation) is used in place of a guess.

A.1 — Reciters and Rāwīs: Master Table¶

The seven accepted reciters (al-qurrāʾ al-sabʿah) and their two rāwīs each, giving fourteen chains of transmission. Rumūz (mnemonic letters) follow the convention of the Shāṭibiyyah poem, in which al-Shāṭibī assigns the letters in abjad order:

أَبَجْ · دَهَزْ · حُطِّيْ · كَلَمْ · نَصَعْ · فَضَقْ · رَسَتْ

giving: ا=Nāfiʿ، ب=Qālūn، ج=Warsh، د=Ibn Kathīr، هـ=al-Bazzī، ز=Qunbul، ح=Abū ʿAmr، ط=al-Dūrī، ي=al-Sūsī، ك=Ibn ʿĀmir، ل=Hishām، م=Ibn Dhakwān، ن=ʿĀṣim، ص=Shuʿbah، ع=Ḥafṣ، ف=Ḥamzah، ض=Khalaf، ق=Khallād، ر=al-Kisāʾī، س=Abū al-Ḥārith، ت=al-Dūrī (of al-Kisāʾī). The letter و is not a rumūz — al-Shāṭibī uses it to separate two distinct matters within a line.

Note on al-Dūrī: The rāwī al-Dūrī (Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar) transmitted from both Abū ʿAmr (rumūz ط) and al-Kisāʾī (rumūz ت). These are treated as two distinct transmission chains despite being from the same individual.

A.2 — Uṣūl Comparison Table: All 14 Rāwīs¶

One row per rāwī. For each uṣūl category, the value given is the rāwī's confirmed position. (awaiting confirmation) indicates the value is not confirmed to the necessary level of certainty.

Confidence key: ✓ = confirmed | ◎ = matn-summary (reliable but not independently verified) | ? = awaiting confirmation

Columns explained¶

A.3 — Imālah Summary¶

Imālah kubrā (full inclination of fatḥah toward kasrah):

Summary by group:

A.4 — Hamzah Approach Summary¶

The reciters differ significantly in how they handle hamzah, especially in clusters (two consecutive hamzahs or hamzah preceded by sākin).

Group 1 — Tashīl (facilitation / softening)¶

These rāwīs pronounce a hamzah that would be difficult as musahhalah — a sound between hamzah and the corresponding long vowel:

Group 2 — Ibdāl (substitution with long vowel letter)¶

These rāwīs replace hamzah with its corresponding long vowel letter (ā → alif; ī → yāʾ; ū → wāw) in specific contexts:

Group 3 — Taḥqīq (full precise articulation)¶

These rāwīs pronounce every hamzah clearly and fully, even in potentially difficult clusters:

On Ḥamzah's waqf rules: Khalaf and Khallād both follow Ḥamzah's tradition of complex hamzah treatment when stopping (waqf) — involving replacement with wāw, yāʾ, alif, or sukūn depending on the word's structure. This is an extensive subsystem treated in Chapter 7.

A.5 — Quick Diagnostic: Key Distinguishing Features¶

Use this table to identify a recitation by its most recognisable features.

End of Appendix A. For the complete rules governing each category, see the corresponding chapter: Chapter 2 (Basmalah), Chapter 3 (Mīm al-Jamʿ), Chapter 4 (Hāʾ al-Kināyah), Chapter 5 (Idghām Kabīr), Chapter 6 (Madd), Chapter 7 (Hamzah), Chapter 8 (Imālah).