Tayyibat al-Nashr fī al-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr (The Poetry of Goodness on the Ten Recitations)

Author: Imam Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Jazarī (d. 833 AH / 1429 CE), famously known as the “Sheikh of the Reciters.”

Overview

Tayyibat al-Nashr is the ultimate, definitive, and most important poetic reference in the science of the “Ten Major Recitations” (Al-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr al-Kubrā) of the Holy Quran. Composed by Imam Ibn al-Jazarī, this masterpiece represents the absolute pinnacle of his lifelong scholarship and dedication to preserving the transmission of the Quran.

Key Features of the Work

Scientific Objective: In this poem, Imam Ibn al-Jazarī compiled and systematically organized all the authentic variations among the Ten Reciters, selecting only the most rigorously verified transmission routes (turuq) which he had previously analyzed in his massive, encyclopedic prose book, Al-Nashr fī al-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr.

Length: The poem consists of 1,014 verses.

Poetic Meter: It is written in bahr al-rajaz (a very rhythmic, driving meter: mustaf’ilun repeated six times), which was intentionally chosen to make the extensive technical details easier for students to memorize, recite, and retain.

Methodology: The poem is divided into two major sections:

Al-Uṣūl (The General Principles): Covering overarching phonetic and recitation rules such as assimilation (idghām), elongation (madd), shortening (qaṣr), and pronunciation of letters.

Farsh al-Ḥurūf (The Specific Words): Dedicated to explaining word-by-word variations as they appear chronologically throughout the chapters (Surahs) of the Quran.