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“Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study

The Ḥirz al-Amānī wa-Wajh al-Tahānī of Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1193) became one of the most widely studied texts associated with the recitation of the Qur’an. A didactic versification of Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī’s (d. 444/1053) Kitāb al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabaʿ, the Shāṭibiyya was com...

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Main Author: Hearn, Jonathan
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2025
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access_status_str Open Access
author Hearn, Jonathan
author_browse Hearn, Jonathan
author_facet Hearn, Jonathan
author_sort Hearn, Jonathan
collection Thesis
description The Ḥirz al-Amānī wa-Wajh al-Tahānī of Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1193) became one of the most widely studied texts associated with the recitation of the Qur’an. A didactic versification of Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī’s (d. 444/1053) Kitāb al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabaʿ, the Shāṭibiyya was composed in Ayyubid Egypt and transformed the discipline of the variant readings (qirāʾāt). Despite its popularity and acknowledged impact upon the discipline, the Shāṭibiyya remains a relatively untapped resource for understanding the Qur’an in its recited form. This thesis studies the recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo through the Shāṭibiyya, using the didactic poem as a methodological fulcrum to analyse the texts, networks, and institutions to which it gave shape. Situating the Shāṭibiyya’s reception in the context of the sonic turn in Qur’anic and Islamic Studies and the debates surrounding an embodied epistemology in Islam, this thesis argues that the Shāṭibiyya and the discipline of the qirāʾāt were vital spheres of meaning-making for premodern Muslims. The highly-technical discourse of the Shāṭibiyya fashioned bearers of the Qur’an able to sonically reproduce the Qur’an in the various spaces and institutions of Mamluk Cairo. By analysing a range of adjacent texts, such as Ibn al-Jazarī’s (d. 833/1429) biographical dictionary of Qur’an reciters and Aḥmad al-Qas‏ṭallānī’s (d. 923/1517) work of manāqib on al-Shāṭibī, combined with the study of waqfiyyas and Qur’anic inscriptions, this thesis presents a novel approach to the study of the Shāṭibiyya, contributing to the growing literature that emphasises the significance of the recited Qur’an.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2025
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source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3533 “Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study Hearn, Jonathan The Ḥirz al-Amānī wa-Wajh al-Tahānī of Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1193) became one of the most widely studied texts associated with the recitation of the Qur’an. A didactic versification of Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī’s (d. 444/1053) Kitāb al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabaʿ, the Shāṭibiyya was composed in Ayyubid Egypt and transformed the discipline of the variant readings (qirāʾāt). Despite its popularity and acknowledged impact upon the discipline, the Shāṭibiyya remains a relatively untapped resource for understanding the Qur’an in its recited form. This thesis studies the recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo through the Shāṭibiyya, using the didactic poem as a methodological fulcrum to analyse the texts, networks, and institutions to which it gave shape. Situating the Shāṭibiyya’s reception in the context of the sonic turn in Qur’anic and Islamic Studies and the debates surrounding an embodied epistemology in Islam, this thesis argues that the Shāṭibiyya and the discipline of the qirāʾāt were vital spheres of meaning-making for premodern Muslims. The highly-technical discourse of the Shāṭibiyya fashioned bearers of the Qur’an able to sonically reproduce the Qur’an in the various spaces and institutions of Mamluk Cairo. By analysing a range of adjacent texts, such as Ibn al-Jazarī’s (d. 833/1429) biographical dictionary of Qur’an reciters and Aḥmad al-Qas‏ṭallānī’s (d. 923/1517) work of manāqib on al-Shāṭibī, combined with the study of waqfiyyas and Qur’anic inscriptions, this thesis presents a novel approach to the study of the Shāṭibiyya, contributing to the growing literature that emphasises the significance of the recited Qur’an. 2025-06-18T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2485 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3533/viewcontent/jonathan_hearn_thesis.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Qur’an recitation Shāṭibiyya variant readings (qirāʾāt) didactic verse embodied learning soundscape. Arabic Studies Islamic Studies Islamic World and Near East History
spellingShingle Qur’an
recitation
Shāṭibiyya
variant readings (qirāʾāt)
didactic verse
embodied learning
soundscape.
Arabic Studies
Islamic Studies
Islamic World and Near East History
Hearn, Jonathan
“Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study
title “Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study
title_full “Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study
title_fullStr “Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study
title_full_unstemmed “Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study
title_short “Perfect Hearts and Pure Pages”: The Transmission and Recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo—the Shāṭibiyya as a Case Study
title_sort perfect hearts and pure pages the transmission and recitation of the qur an in mamluk cairo the shatibiyya as a case study
topic Qur’an
recitation
Shāṭibiyya
variant readings (qirāʾāt)
didactic verse
embodied learning
soundscape.
Arabic Studies
Islamic Studies
Islamic World and Near East History
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2485
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3533/viewcontent/jonathan_hearn_thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hearnjonathan perfectheartsandpurepagesthetransmissionandrecitationofthequraninmamlukcairotheshatibiyyaasacasestudy