SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The Thesis aims at presenting a critical edition of "Sharh al-Durar al-Lawami'" by the Andalusian scholar al-Minturi (834/1431), and also at studying the Qur'anic Reading of Nāfi'. The Thesis falls into two parts. Part One, an introductory survey, consists of four Chapters. Chapter I deals with al-Minturi's life and times, firstly a brief account of the political and literary environment of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada is given, than al-Minturi's life and works are discussed. Chapter II studies Nafi''s Reading, its introduction to Andalusia and its spread there, examining in particular how and why it became the dominant Reading in that region. Chapter III discusses the "Durar" as the standard text for the study of NafiC's Reading, and how it rapidly attracted great interest among the students of Qir'aat of different places and ages. Al-Minturi's commentary is a very important product of that interest, tor it is a well-researched and documented work. Chapter IV is devoted to explaining the method of editing the text, the layout of the text, the apparatus criticus, and the scope of the commentary notes. Part Two consists of the edited text, in which al-Minturi presents a thorough account of Nafi''s Reading and its major characteristics. The author furnished his book with an Appendix dealing with phonetic classification and points of articulation. The Thesis is in two volumes, and for convenience of handling, part of the Arabic text is included in Volume One, whereas the rest of the text together with the commentary notes are incorporated in Volume Two.