Tilāwah: Sūrah al-Isrāʾ Verses 70 – 96 & Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ

Qirāʾah: Warsh ʿan Nāfiʿ and some transitions.

On the 9th of Muharram, Shehzada Saheb (DM) recited two and a half pages of fascinating tilāwah in the reading of Warsh ʿan Nāfiʿ. This was followed by a recitation of Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ in multiple readings.

As far as the tilāwah of Sūrah al-Isrāʾ is concerned, Shehzada Saheb (DM) continued in the reading of Warsh till Verse 77 (سنة من قد). He then recited this particular verse again in the qirāʾah of Abū ʿAmr. This difference was highlighted when Shehzada Saheb read the hamzah in والأرض (wal-arḍ) with taḥqeeq (wal-arḍ) instead of naql (wa-larḍ), the latter being the norm in Warsh. Furthermore, the word رسلنا was recited as ruslinā instead of rusulinā. Abū ʿAmr’s reading is the lone reading which contains this difference. 

In the very next verse, Shehzada Saheb (DM) transitioned into the reading of Ibn Kathīr which was highlighted when the word قرآن was recited as qurān instead of qurʾān. 

After this, Shehzada Saheb (DM) transitioned back into Warsh and continued in that reading till he reached Verse 82 (وننزل من القرآن) and changed to the reading of al-Dawrī ʿan Abū ʿAmr (and those who match him in this instance) that was highlighted through the following difference: The word ننزل was recited as nunzilu instead of nunazzilu. The recitation continued in Warsh till Verse 88. This verse was again repeated in the reading of Ibn Kathīr as mentioned in the previous paragraph and the word qurʾān was changed to qurān along with ṣilah al-mīm (صلة الميم) in the word بعضهم (baʿḍuhumū).

The next verse (ولقد صرفنا) was first recited in Warsh and then in the reading of al-Dawrī ʿan Abū ʿAmr. This was made clear when Shehzada Saheb (DM) did the idghām of the letter دال into the letter صاد in the phrase ولقد صرفنا rendering the phrase as walaqaṣ-ṣarrafnā. There was an addition of imālah in both instances of the word al-nās.

The subsequent recitation continued in Warsh till the end of Verse 96. Let us now discuss some peculiarities of the reading of Warsh which help us identify it with relative ease: 

1. You will come across instances when the letter lām is recited with tafkhīm. Listen here.
2. There are instances in this reading where the madd badal is elongated 2, 4 or 6 ḥarakāt. Listen here. 
3. There are naql al-ḥarakah of hamzah to the silent letter (حرف ساكن) that comes before it. Listen to examples here.
4. There are instances of imālah and taqlīl.
5. There are instances where the mīm of plurality is elongated to the extent of a madd munfaṣil when it occurs before a hamzah. Listen here.
6. There are instances when the letter rāʾ is recited with tarqīq. Listen here.

The second part of the tilāwah contained a mixed recitation of Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ. The differences are listed below: 

1. Kufuʾana-ḥad = Warsh ʿan Nāfiʿ
2. Kufuʾan aḥad = Ibn Kathīr and others
3. Kufuwan aḥad = Hafṣ
4. The three wujūh of Ḥamzah: Kufʾana-ḥad (naql), Kufʾan aḥad (taḥqīq of hamzah), Kufʾan aḥad (saktah and taḥqīq).