Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (9/132)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He selected a mode of recitation that gained wide renown and was eventually counted among the seven canonical readings.

In grammar he kept the company of al-Khalīl, and he spent a period roaming the deserts of the Ḥijāz in search of authentic Arabic. It was said that he returned after having exhausted fifteen flasks of ink in writing. He also studied under Yūnus (1).

Al-Shāfiʿī declared, “Whoever wishes to plumb the depths of grammar is dependent on al-Kisāʾī.”

Ibn al-Anbārī said, “In him were combined unmatched mastery of grammar, singular expertise in rare vocabulary, and unrivalled knowledge of the Qurʾān. People flocked to him in such numbers that precision became difficult, so he would gather them together, seat himself on a chair, and recite while they recorded from him—even the pause marks.”

Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm said, “I heard al-Kisāʾī recite the Qurʾān to the people twice.”

Khalaf related: “I used to sit before al-Kisāʾī while he recited, and they would add the diacritical points to their codices according to his reading.”

Among those who received their recitation from him were: Abū ʿUmar al-Dūrī, Abū al-Ḥārith al-Layth, Nuṣayr (2) ibn Yūsuf al-Rāzī, Qutaybah ibn Mihrān al-Iṣbahānī, Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj, Aḥmad ibn Jubayr al-Anṭākī, Abū Ḥamdūn al-Ṭayyib, ʿĪsā ibn Sulaymān al-Shayzarī, and several others.

(1) Yunus ibn Habib al-Dabbi, the foremost Basran grammarian of his time, died in 182 AH. Among his pupils were Sibawayh, al-Kisai, al-Farra, and other leading scholars. (2) In the printed edition of Al-Ibar, 1/434, his name is incorrectly rendered as Nasr; the correct entry is found in Ghaya al-Nihaya, 2/340–341.

وَاخْتَارَ قِرَاءةً اشْتُهِرَتْ، وَصَارَتْ إِحْدَى السَّبْعِ. وَجَالَسَ فِي النَّحوِ الخَلِيْلَ، وَسَافَرَ فِي بَادِيَةِ الحِجَازِ مُدَّةً لِلْعَرَبِيَّةِ، فَقِيْلَ: قَدِمَ وَقَدْ كَتَبَ بِخَمْسَ عَشْرَةَ قِنِّيْنَةَ حِبْرٍ. وَأَخَذَ عَنْ: يُوْنُسَ (١) . قَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ: مَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَتَبَحَّرَ فِي النَّحوِ، فَهُوَ عِيَالٌ عَلَى الكِسَائِيِّ. قَالَ ابْنُ الأَنْبَارِيِّ: اجْتَمَعَ فِيْهِ أَنَّهُ كَانَ أَعْلَمَ النَّاسِ بِالنَّحوِ، وَوَاحِدَهُم فِي الغَرِيْبِ، وَأَوحَدَ فِي عِلْمِ القُرْآنِ، كَانُوا يُكْثِرُوْنَ عَلَيْهِ، حَتَّى لاَ يَضبِطَ عَلَيْهِم، فَكَانَ يَجمَعُهُم، وَيَجْلِسُ عَلَى كُرْسِيٍّ، وَيَتْلُو، وَهُم يَضبِطُوْنَ عَنْهُ، حَتَّى الوُقُوفِ. قَالَ إِسْحَاقُ بنُ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ: سَمِعْتُ الكِسَائِيَّ يَقرَأُ القُرْآنَ عَلَى النَّاسِ مَرَّتَيْنِ. وَعَنْ خَلَفٍ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ أَحضُرُ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ الكِسَائِيِّ وَهُوَ يَتْلُو، وَيُنَقِّطُونَ عَلَى قِرَاءتِهِ مَصَاحِفَهُم. تَلاَ عَلَيْهِ: أَبُو عُمَرَ الدُّوْرِيُّ، وَأَبُو الحَارِثِ اللَّيْثُ، وَنُصَيْرُ (٢) بنُ يُوْسُفَ الرَّازِيُّ، وَقُتَيْبَةُ بن مِهْرَانَ الأَصْبَهَانِيُّ، وَأَحْمَدُ بنُ أَبِي سُرَيْجٍ، وَأَحْمَدُ بنُ جُبَيْرٍ الأَنْطَاكِيُّ، وَأَبُو حَمْدُوْنَ الطَّيِّبُ، وَعِيْسَى بنُ سُلَيْمَانَ الشَّيْزَرِيُّ، وَعِدَّةٌ.

(١) هو يونس بن حبيب الضبي النحوي، إمام نحاة البصرة في عصره، المتوفى (١٨٢هـ) . أخذ عنه سيبويه، والكسائي، والفراء، وغيرهم من الأئمة. (٢) تحرف في المطبوع من " العبر " ١ / ٤٣٤ إلى نصر، وهو مترجم في " غاية النهاية " ٢ / ٣٤٠، ٣٤١.