Ibn Kathīr al-Makkī (ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ المَكِّي)¶
Biography¶
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ الدَّارِيُّ المَكِّي — ʿAbdullāh ibn Kathīr al-Dārī al-Makkī, Abū Maʿbad (45–120 AH / c. 665–738 CE), was the imām of recitation in Makkah. He was a Tābiʿī: he met Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, among them ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr, Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, and Anas ibn Mālik. (He is not to be confused with the much later historian and exegete Ismāʿīl ibn Kathīr, d. 774 AH.)
He took his reading from ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Sāʾib (a Companion), from Mujāhid ibn Jabr, and from Dirbās, the client of Ibn ʿAbbās — chains that go back through Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and Ibn ʿAbbās to the Prophet ﷺ. His epithet al-Dārī is linked to the perfume trade. He led the reading of the people of Makkah until his death, and Imām al-Shāfiʿī recited by his reading.
Both of his canonical rāwīs were born long after his death and transmit through short intermediary chains: al-Bazzī through ʿIkrimah ibn Sulaymān, and Qunbul through Aḥmad al-Qawwās.
His Two Rāwīs¶
- al-Bazzī (البَزِّي) — Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh al-Bazzī, Abū al-Ḥasan (170–250 AH). Muʾadhdhin of the Sacred Mosque in Makkah for decades. Distinguished by the takbīr at the ends of the closing sūrahs and by tashdīd of certain tāʾ-prefix verbs.
- Qunbul (قُنْبُل) — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Makhzūmī, Abū ʿUmar, known as Qunbul (195–291 AH). Head of the reciters of the Ḥijāz in his era. Differs from al-Bazzī mainly in certain hamzah treatments and in reading سِراط with sīn.
Rumūz in al-Shāṭibiyyah¶
| Who | Ramz |
|---|---|
| Ibn Kathīr (both rāwīs) | د (dāl) |
| al-Bazzī | هـ (hāʾ) |
| Qunbul | ز (zāy) |
Ibn Kathīr is also included in the group codes سَمَا (with Nāfiʿ and Abū ʿAmr), حَقّ (with Abū ʿAmr), نَفَر (with Abū ʿAmr and Ibn ʿĀmir), and حِرْمِيّ (with Nāfiʿ). See The Rumūz System.
Defining Characteristics at a Glance¶
- Zero imālah — unique among the seven: no imālah anywhere in the Qurʾān (among the ten, Abū Jaʿfar shares this).
- Qaṣr in madd munfaṣil (2 ḥarakāt) — the shortest munfaṣil, giving the reading a fast, flowing feel; muttaṣil at 4.
- Mīm al-jamʿ with ṣilah — the plural mīm takes a connecting wāw-vowel (عَلَيْهِمُو).
- Extended hāʾ al-kināyah ṣilah — the pronoun hāʾ takes ṣilah even after a sākin (فِيهِي).
- Tashīl of two hamzahs in one word — the second hamzah is softened rather than fully pronounced.
- Basmalah always between sūrahs — obligatory, no option to omit.
- Takbīr — اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ at the ends of the sūrahs from al-Ḍuḥā to al-Nās: al-Bazzī's hallmark (for Qunbul it is a secondary transmission).