The Three Duraʿ

Tilāwah: Sūrah al-Furqān 61 – 77; Sūrah al-Fajr 1 – 22

Qirāʾah: Khalaf ʿan Ḥamzah

(This article contains several audio clips | The article is 6 to 7 minutes long)

The transition from Warsh to Khalaf seemed to have ripened today with the latter being prioritized over others in a recitation which saw glimpses of Warsh, al-Sūsī and even Ḥafṣ during its melodious course.

Khalaf’s chain of transmission as well as his rules of recitation have been briefly discussed in a previous article which can be found here. Today, we’ll discuss some peculiarities of Khalaf that starkly distinguish him from other qurrāʾ and ruwāt.

Contrary to precedent, the recitation began with a heavy base of bayātī featuring Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim which soon transitioned into Khalaf three verses into the passage. The full madd (six ḥarakāt) in the word al-samāʾ gave out early possible indications of Khalaf which was soon confirmed when there was no ghunnah in the idghām of wāw in the phrase بروجا وجعل and the word sirājan was recited as surujan (سُرُجًا) in verse 61. Listen to audio here.

The subsequent verses continued in Khalaf with يذَّكَّرَ being recited as يَذْكُرَ and saktahs adorning the hamzahs like beautiful lampposts illuminating the cobbled streets of medieval Kūfah, the domicile of Ḥamzah, the qārī of Khalaf. Listen to audio here.

The sixty-seventh verse saw recitations in Khalaf, Warsh and al-Sūsī. While the ʾishbāʾ (full madd) in the word ʾidhā (إذا) indicated Khalaf, the tarqīq of the letter rāʾ in the second repetition along with reading يَقْتُرُوا as يُقْتِرُوا let alone the ʾishbāʿ as mentioned previously gave away Warsh. The third repetition belonged to al-Sūsī which was identified by the qaṣr replacing ʾishbāʿ (in إذا) as well as يَقْتُرُوا becoming يَقْتِرُوا and lastly, the idghām kabīr of the mutaqāribayn in ذلك قواما. Listen to audio here.

The first peculiarity of Khalaf inherited from Ḥamzah is multiple methods of stopping at places involving a hamzah. For instance, when Ḥamzah stops at a phrase (mafṣūl) that would otherwise serve as a juncture for a saktah, he deems all three possible manners of stopping there permissible. Let us use the example from verse sixty-eight. If a reader is reciting in the narration of Khalaf with a saktah, like in the case of the present recitation, then, taking the phrase إلها آخر (ilāhan ʾākhar) into consideration, if the reader wishes to stop here, Ḥamzah offers three solutions listed in order of preference: (1) To stop with naql, (2) To stop with saktah, (3) To stop with taḥqīq without a saktah. Remember this feature well, it will be recalled later in the article. Listen to the audio here.

The word فيه in the sixty-ninth verse was recited with and without the ṣilah covering all possible methods of reciting this word. Listen to the audio here.

The following verse was recited in the maqām of Ḥijāz. This verse featured the second peculiarity of Khalaf inherited from Ḥamzah while stopping on words that include a vowelled hamzah which occurs in the middle of the word and is preceded by an alif, for example: أولئك. Ḥamzah allows for the tas-hīl on the hamzah and permits qaṣr of the madd along with its ʾishbāʿ. The qaṣr was recited with the tas-hīl while stopping on أولئك. The verse was repeated with madd and tas-hīl. Two similar instances were treated likewise further ahead.

The two peculiarities of Khalaf ʿan Ḥamzah indicate the tendency of this narration to hasten towards stoppages which demonstrates the perception of a waqf in the eyes of Ḥamzah.

With a couple more flashes of Ḥafṣ, the recitation proceeded to Sūrah al-Fajr.

The initial verses saw a display of Warsh in the word يسر which was recited as يسري. The lack of ghunnah on the subsequent lām in قسم لذي and the lack of idghām kabīr in ذلك قسم paved the way for ascertaining the narration as that of Warsh. The same verses were repeated in Ḥafṣ.

The Sūrah was then repeated from the beginning in Khalaf. This continued till the twenty-second verse when the recitation was abruptly terminated since al-Dai al-Ajal Syedna Aali Qadr Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS) had set foot in the vicinity of the masjid. Whether it was a coincidence or a sign from providence, but the verse on which the recitation ended was the following:

وَجَآءَ رَبُّكَ وَٱلۡمَلَكُ صَفّٗا صَفّٗا

(and your Lord and the Angels have arrived, rank in rank)

May Allah Taʿālā grant a long and healthy life to our Mawla, al-Dai al-Ajal Syedna Aali Qadr Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS) till the day of judgement. Ameen.