al-Kisāʾī al-Kūfī (الكِسَائِيُّ الكُوفِي)¶
Biography¶
عَلِيُّ بْنُ حَمْزَةَ الكِسَائِيُّ الأَسَدِي — ʿAlī ibn Ḥamzah al-Kisāʾī, Abū al-Ḥasan (c. 119–189 AH / c. 737–805 CE), of Persian origin, was the last of the seven imāms chronologically and a double authority: imām of recitation in Kufa and the head of the Kūfan school of Arabic grammar. He served the Abbasid court as tutor to Hārūn al-Rashīd's sons, al-Amīn and al-Maʾmūn. His epithet comes from the kisāʾ (cloak) — by one well-known account, the one he wore when he entered iḥrām.
In qirāʾah his principal teacher was Ḥamzah al-Zayyāt, to whom he read the Qurʾān four times; he also took from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā and ʿĪsā ibn ʿUmar al-Hamadānī, then selected (ikhtāra) his own reading — close to Ḥamzah's, but independent where he judged the transmission and the Arabic to warrant it.
He died at Ranbawayh (near Rayy) while travelling to Khurāsān with al-Rashīd — reportedly on the same day as the great jurist Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, prompting al-Rashīd's famous remark: "Today we buried fiqh and Arabic grammar."
His Two Rāwīs¶
- Abū al-Ḥārith (أَبُو الحَارِث) — al-Layth ibn Khālid al-Baghdādī (d. 240 AH). One of al-Kisāʾī's most trusted companions in recitation.
- al-Dūrī (الدُّورِي) — Abū ʿUmar Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Dūrī (d. 246 AH). The same al-Dūrī who narrates from Abū ʿAmr — the only rāwī among the fourteen who transmits from two different imāms.
Rumūz in al-Shāṭibiyyah¶
| Who | Ramz |
|---|---|
| al-Kisāʾī (both rāwīs) | ر (rāʾ) |
| Abū al-Ḥārith | س (sīn) |
| al-Dūrī al-Kisāʾī | ت (tāʾ) |
Al-Kisāʾī also appears in the group codes شَفَا (with Ḥamzah), صُحْبَة (with Ḥamzah and Shuʿbah), صِحَاب (with Ḥamzah and Ḥafṣ), جَوَاد (with Warsh), رِجَال (with Hishām), and حِصْن (the Kūfans with Nāfiʿ). See The Rumūz System.
Defining Characteristics at a Glance¶
- Basmalah always between sūrahs — with Qālūn, Ibn Kathīr, and ʿĀṣim. (Unlike Ḥamzah, who omits it.)
- Extensive imālah kubrā — scope similar to Ḥamzah's, with his own additions and exceptions.
- Imālah of hāʾ al-taʾnīth at waqf — unique to al-Kisāʾī: the fatḥah before a final ةْ is tilted when stopping (with a fixed set of excepted letters).
- Madd muttaṣil and munfaṣil at 4–5 (tawassuṭ) — moderate, unlike Ḥamzah's ṭūl.
- Ishmām of the قِيلَ class — the passive verbs قِيلَ, غِيضَ, سِيءَ and their sisters take a hint of ḍammah.
- Two rāwīs nearly identical — Abū al-Ḥārith and al-Dūrī differ from each other only in a handful of fine points, so mastering one nearly gives you the other.