Ibn Dhakwān ʿan Ibn ʿĀmir¶

ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Bashīr ibn Dhakwān al-Qurashī al-Dimashqī, Abū ʿAmr (173–242 AH / 789–856 CE), imām of the Umayyad Mosque and head of the reciters of al-Shām, rāwī of the imām ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĀmir al-Shāmī al-Yaḥṣubī (8–118 AH / 629–736 CE), the imām of recitation in Damascus, who took his reading from Abū al-Dardāʾ and al-Mughīrah ibn Abī Shihāb, from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. See the imām's overview.

Uṣūl¶

Basmalah Between Sūrahs (البَسْمَلة بَين السُّورَتَين)¶

• Rule: Between two sūrahs Ibn Dhakwān has the three permitted ways: (1) basmalah, (2) sakt (a brief breathless pause, no basmalah), or (3) waṣl (joining directly). He is in the choice-group with Warsh and Abū ʿAmr — not one of the always-basmalah readers.
• Explanation: When the basmalah is used it attaches to the start of the following sūrah, never to the end of the previous one. At the start of any sūrah other than al-Tawbah the basmalah is required; before al-Tawbah there is none, and the al-Anfāl→al-Tawbah junction takes the usual waqf/sakt/waṣl.
• Example: end of al-Fātiḥah → (1) … الرَّحِيمِ ۝ الٓمٓ with basmalah, or (2) a silent pause, or (3) joined directly.
• Matn: lines 100–101 (al-Wāfī p.46–47: Ibn ʿĀmir + Warsh + Abū ʿAmr)

Madd Muttaṣil (المَدّ المُتَّصِل)¶

• Rule: 4–5 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When a long vowel (alif, wāw, or yāʾ) is followed by a hamzah within the same word, Ibn Dhakwān prolongs it in the moderate range — neither the qaṣr of Ibn Kathīr nor the ṭūl of Ḥamzah/Warsh.
• Example: جَآءَ, السَّمَآءِ, سُوٓءِ.
• Matn: line 161

Madd Munfaṣil (المَدّ المُنفَصِل)¶

• Rule: 4–5 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When a long vowel ends one word and the next word begins with a hamzah, Ibn Dhakwān prolongs it 4–5 ḥarakāt, matching his muttaṣil length.
• Example: بِمَآ أُنزِلَ, قُوٓا أَنفُسَكُمْ, يَٰٓأَيُّهَا.
• Matn: line 161

Madd ʿĀriḍ lil-Sukūn (المَدّ العارِض للسُّكون)¶

• Rule: 2, 4, or 6 ḥarakāt (all three permitted).
• Explanation: When stopping on a word whose final letter becomes sākin at waqf and a madd letter precedes it, the madd may be shortened, medium, or full.
• Example: Stopping on الْعَٰلَمِينَ, نَسْتَعِينُ.
• Matn: line 174

Madd Lāzim (المَدّ اللازِم)¶

• Rule: 6 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When a madd letter is followed by an original (permanent) sukūn or a shaddah, the prolongation is the full six ḥarakāt.
• Example: الضَّآلِّينَ, الٓمٓ (the مِيم spelled مِيمٓ).
• Matn: line 177

Madd al-Badal (مَدّ البَدَل)¶

• Rule: Natural madd — 2 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When a long vowel comes after a hamzah, Ibn Dhakwān reads it as the ordinary natural madd of two counts.
• Example: ءَامَنَ, أُوتِيَ, إِيمَٰنًا.
• Matn: line 171

Madd al-ʿIwaḍ (مَدّ العِوَض)¶

• Rule: 2 ḥarakāt at waqf on tanwīn fatḥah.
• Explanation: When stopping on a word ending in tanwīn fatḥah, the tanwīn becomes a sustained /aa/ of two counts.
• Example: Stopping on كِتَٰبًا → كِتَابَا.
• Matn: line 174

Madd in the Disconnected Letters (مَدّ الحُروف المُقَطَّعة)¶

• Rule: 6 ḥarakāt for the three-letter-spelled openers; 2 ḥarakāt for the two-letter-spelled openers; عٓ given 4 or 6 (6 preferred).
• Explanation: Letters whose spelling places a madd letter before a sākin (نٓ، مٓ، صٓ، لٓ، كٓ، سٓ، قٓ) take madd lāzim of six; those whose spelling is two letters (طَا، هَا، يَا، حَا، رَا) take the natural two; أَلِف has no madd letter.
• Example: الٓمٓ — the لَام and مِيم at six counts; طٰهٰ at two counts.
• Matn: line 177

Imālah of جَاءَ and شَاءَ (الإمالة)¶

• Rule: Ibn Dhakwān reads the past-tense verbs جَاءَ ("he came") and شَاءَ ("he willed") with full imālah (kubrā), definitely (no khilāf). A further word-set — جَارِك، الْحِمَار، الْمِحْرَاب، الإِكْرَام، عِمْرَان، and the trilateral verbs خَابَ، خَافَ، طَابَ، ضَاقَتْ، حَاقَ، زَاغَ، زَادَ — he reads with khulf (fatḥ or imālah). The one exception is the genitive الْمِحْرَاب («فِي الْمِحْرَابِ» Āl ʿImrān 3:39, «مِنَ الْمِحْرَابِ» Maryam 19:11), which he reads with imālah only — no khilāf.
• Explanation: The matn names جَاءَ/شَاءَ explicitly («وَجَاءَ ٱبْنُ ذَكْوَانٍ وَفِي شَاءَ مَيَّلَا»); the word-set's khulf and the lone majrūr-exception are stated together — «وَكُلٌّ بِخُلْفٍ لِابْنِ ذَكْوَانَ غَيْرَ مَا يُجَرُّ مِنَ الْمِحْرَابِ»: all with khilāf except the genitive of al-miḥrāb. (A non-genitive الْمِحْرَاب — nominative or accusative — still falls under the khulf.)
• Example: فَلَمَّا جَاءَ — alif inclined (qaṭʿan); يُصَلِّي فِي الْمِحْرَابِ — imālah, no khilāf; but a non-genitive الْمِحْرَاب — fatḥ or imālah.
• Matn: lines 319, 333 (al-Wāfī p.155).

Hāʾ al-Kināyah — General Rule (هاء الكِناية)¶

• Rule: Ṣilah (connecting the pronoun hāʾ هُ/هِ with a small wāw or yāʾ) only when the hāʾ falls between two voweled letters; no ṣilah before a sākin.
• Explanation: This is the standard treatment. The hāʾ is connected when both the letter before it and the letter after it are voweled; when a sākin follows, the hāʾ stands plain.
• Example: إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ (ṣilah present); لَهُ مَا (ṣilah present); but بِهِ ٱلْـ... — no ṣilah before the sākin lām.
• Matn: line 158

Hāʾ al-kināyah — يُؤَدِّهِ class (هاء الكِناية — يُؤَدِّهِ)¶

• Rule: In يُؤَدِّهِ، نُؤْتِهِ، نُوَلِّهِ، نُصْلِهِ, Ibn Dhakwān reads the hāʾ with ishbāʿ — the full ṣilah (يُؤَدِّهِۦ). He does not silence it.
• Explanation: al-Wāfī (hāʾ-kināyah bāb) places Ibn Dhakwān with Warsh, Ibn Kathīr, Ḥafṣ, and al-Kisāʾī in the ishbāʿ group; the sukūn belongs to Ḥamzah, Shuʿbah, and Abū ʿAmr. His fellow rāwī Hishām differs — qaṣr or ishbāʿ bi-khulf. (Corrects the earlier "sukūn" reading.)
• Example: يُؤَدِّهِۦٓ إِلَيْكَ (Q3:75) — with the connecting yāʾ.
• Matn: lines 160–161 (resolved via al-Wāfī)

أَرْجِئْهُ (hamz + ḍamm hāʾ)¶

• Rule: With the نَفَر group (Ibn Kathīr + Abū ʿAmr + Ibn ʿĀmir), Ibn Dhakwān reads أَرْجِئْهُ (al-Aʿrāf 111; al-Shuʿarāʾ 36) with a sākin hamzah and ḍammah on the hāʾ — أَرْجِئْهُ (no kasrah, no ṣilah).
• Explanation: The hamzah is kept sākin and the pronoun hāʾ takes a bare ḍammah; readers outside نَفَر read it with kasrah and ṣilah.
• Example: قَالُوا أَرْجِئْهُ وَأَخَاهُ.
• Matn: lines 166–167

Mīm al-Jamʿ (مِيم الجَمْع)¶

• Rule: No ṣilah — the plural mīm (هُمْ، كُمْ، تُمْ) stays sākin.
• Explanation: Ibn Dhakwān does not add a connecting wāw after the plural mīm before a voweled letter; the mīm is pronounced with a plain sukūn.
• Example: عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ, أَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ — mīm sākin, no connecting vowel.
• Matn: line 108

Verb Lightening (Iskān) (الإسْكان)¶

• Rule: Ibn Dhakwān applies iskān (placing a sukūn on a consonant to lighten a heavy cluster) in certain heavy verb forms, such as بَارِئْكُمْ.
• Explanation: Where a vowel between heavy consonants would be awkward, the vowel is dropped to ease pronunciation. The matn marks this with his rumūz letter alongside Abū ʿAmr's.
• Example: فَتُوبُوٓا إِلَىٰ بَارِئْكُمْ (Q2:54) — read with sukūn on the hamzah of بَارِئ.
• Matn: line 454

Two Hamzahs from Different Words — Taḥqīq (الهَمْزَتان في كَلِمَتَين — التَّحْقيق)¶

• Rule: Taḥqīq — both hamzahs across a word boundary are pronounced fully and distinctly.
• Explanation: When a word ending in hamzah meets a word beginning with hamzah, Ibn Dhakwān articulates each hamzah completely, without dropping, facilitating, or substituting either one.
• Example: جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا, مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ إِن, أَوْلِيَآءُ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ — each pair of hamzahs sounded in full.
• Matn: line 202

Two Hamzahs in One Word — Taḥqīq (الهَمْزَتان في كَلِمة — التَّحْقيق)¶

• Rule: Taḥqīq — both hamzahs of a same-word double-hamzah are pronounced fully.
• Explanation: For the three patterns fatḥ+fatḥ (أَءَنذَرْتَهُمْ), fatḥ+kasr (أَئِنَّا), and fatḥ+ḍamm (أَءُنزِلَ), Ibn Dhakwān sounds both hamzahs in full, without facilitating the second.
• Example: أَءَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ — both hamzahs articulated clearly.
• Matn: line 183

Yāʾ al-iḍāfah (ياء الإضافة)¶

• Rule: Where the readers differ on the first-person yāʾ ("my"), Ibn Dhakwān opens (fatḥ) several words that Ḥafṣ reads with sukūn, and closes (iskān) several that Ḥafṣ opens.
• Fatḥ where Ḥafṣ has sukūn:
  • لَعَلِّيَ in its six places (Q12:46, 20:10, 23:100, 28:29, 28:38, 40:36) — line 398.
  • أَرَهْطِيَ (Q11:92) — with the سَمَا group; Hishām keeps sukūn here — line 398.
  • رُسُلِيَ (Q58:21) — line 402.
  • دُعَائِيَ (Q71:6) and آبَائِيَ (Q12:38) — the Kūfans, including Ḥafṣ, read sukūn — line 403.
  • حُزْنِيَ (Q12:86) and تَوْفِيقِيَ (Q11:88) — line 404.
  • أَرْضِيَ (Q29:56) and صِرَاطِيَ (Q6:153) — Ibn ʿĀmir alone among the seven — line 416.
• Iskān where Ḥafṣ has fatḥ:
  • مَعِيَ → مَعِيْ in nine places (Q7:105; Q9:83 مَعِيَ عَدُوًّا; Q18:67, 72, 75; Q21:24; Q26:62; Q26:118; Q28:34). In Q9:83 مَعِيَ أَبَدًا and Q67:28 he opens the yāʾ like Ḥafṣ — lines 398, 417.
  • لِيَ → لِيْ in Q38:23, Q14:22, Q38:69, and وَلِيَ فِيهَا (Q20:18) — lines 417, 419.
  • يَدِيَ (Q5:28) — line 402.
  • لِعِبَادِيَ (Q14:31) and آيَاتِيَ (Q7:146) — line 408.
  • بَيْتِيَ → بَيْتِيْ (Q2:125, 22:26, 71:28) — Ibn Dhakwān only; Hishām opens like Ḥafṣ — line 414.
  • وَلِيَ دِينِ → وَلِيْ دِينِ (Q109:6) — Ibn Dhakwān only — line 415.
  • مَا لِيَ → مَا لِيْ (Q27:20) — Ibn Dhakwān only; Hishām and Ḥafṣ open — line 416.
  • عِبَادِي (Q43:68) — read with a sākin yāʾ in both waṣl and waqf, where Ḥafṣ has no yāʾ at all — line 418.
• Matn: lines 388–419

Yāʾāt al-zawāʾid (ياءات الزَّوائِد)¶

• Rule: In تَسْأَلْنِي (Q18:70) Ibn Dhakwān is transmitted with khulf: dropping the yāʾ in both waṣl and waqf (his other way affirms it, as Ḥafṣ does) — line 440.
• Also: in فَمَا آتَانِ (Q27:36) Ibn ʿĀmir has no yāʾ in either state, while Ḥafṣ reads آتَانِيَ in waṣl and stops with two wajhs — line 429.
• Matn: lines 420–441

Farsh¶

Ibn Dhakwān's distinctive farsh readings — places where his reading differs from Ḥafṣ — listed in muṣḥaf (matn) order: each row gives the verse, Ḥafṣ's reading for contrast, Ibn Dhakwān's actual reading, a Qurʾānic example, and the matn line. Rows marked (awaiting confirmation) are low-confidence decodings or involve khilāf/khulf not yet cross-checked against a printed sharḥ.