Abū ʿAmr al-Baṣrī (أَبُو عَمْرٍو البَصْرِي)¶
Biography¶
أَبُو عَمْرِو بْنُ العَلَاءِ المَازِنِيُّ التَّمِيمِيُّ البَصْرِي — Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ al-Māzinī al-Baṣrī (c. 68–154 AH / c. 687–770 CE; his given name is most commonly reported as Zabbān) was the imām of recitation in Basrah and one of the founding figures of Arabic philology — among the most learned people of his era in the Qurʾān, Arabic language, and the speech of the Arabs.
He is distinguished by the breadth of his teachers: he read in Makkah, Madinah, Kūfah, and Basrah, taking from Mujāhid ibn Jabr, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, ʿIkrimah, ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, Ibn Kathīr al-Makkī, Abū Jaʿfar al-Madanī, and many others — chains reaching the Prophet ﷺ through Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, ʿUmar, and Ibn ʿAbbās.
Both of his canonical rāwīs transmit through one intermediary, his student al-Yazīdī (Yaḥyā ibn al-Mubārak, d. 202 AH), who took over teaching in Abū ʿAmr's place. The riwāyah of al-Dūrī ʿan Abī ʿAmr remains a living recitation today in Sudan, the Horn of Africa, and parts of Yemen and West Africa.
His Two Rāwīs¶
- al-Dūrī (الدُّورِي) — Abū ʿUmar Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Dūrī (d. 246 AH), from al-Dūr near Baghdad. The first to systematically collect the qirāʾāt. He is the only man among the fourteen rāwīs who transmits from two different imāms — he is also al-Kisāʾī's rāwī.
- al-Sūsī (السُّوسِي) — Abū Shuʿayb Ṣāliḥ ibn Ziyād al-Sūsī (d. 261 AH). Known above all for carrying Abū ʿAmr's idghām kabīr, the most extensive assimilation system among the fourteen riwāyāt.
Rumūz in al-Shāṭibiyyah¶
| Who | Ramz |
|---|---|
| Abū ʿAmr (both rāwīs) | ح (ḥāʾ) |
| al-Dūrī | ط (ṭāʾ) |
| al-Sūsī | ي (yāʾ) |
Abū ʿAmr is also included in the group codes سَمَا (with Nāfiʿ and Ibn Kathīr), حَقّ (with Ibn Kathīr), and نَفَر (with Ibn Kathīr and Ibn ʿĀmir). See The Rumūz System.
Defining Characteristics at a Glance¶
- Taqlīl (partial imālah) across large classes of words, plus imālah kubrā in specific categories (alifs before a final majrūr rāʾ, التَّوْرَاة, and others).
- Madd munfaṣil — al-Dūrī: 2 or 4 ḥarakāt (bi-khulf); al-Sūsī: qaṣr (2) only; muttaṣil at 4 for both.
- Al-Sūsī's idghām kabīr — assimilating voweled letters into following identical or near letters, the signature of his riwāyah.
- Al-Sūsī's ibdāl of the sākin hamzah — a sākin hamzah becomes a madd letter (يُؤْمِنُونَ → يُومِنُونَ).
- Iskān/ikhtilās in verb clusters — بَارِئِكُمْ, يَأْمُرُكُمْ read with full sukūn (al-Sūsī) or ikhtilās (al-Dūrī).
- Basmalah — the three-way choice between sūrahs (basmalah, sakt, or waṣl), shared with Warsh and Ibn ʿĀmir.
- Idghām of close letters and the softened treatment of two hamzahs meeting between words.