The Quran in the Warsh ‘an Nafi‘ riwaya

Warsh ‘an Nafi‘ is the reading of Nafi‘, the leading reader of Medina, as transmitted by the Egyptian ‘Uthman ibn Sa‘id, known as Warsh (728–812; 110–197 AH), who was born in Qift in Upper Egypt and became the foremost teacher of the Quran in his country. The second most widespread riwaya after Hafs, it is the usual reading of the Maghreb and much of West Africa.

From Medina to Egypt

Nafi‘ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Nu‘aym (d. 785; 169 AH), whose family came from Isfahan, learned the Quran from some seventy Successors in Medina, among them Abu Ja‘far Yazid ibn al-Qa‘qa‘, Shayba ibn Nisah and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A‘raj. Their reading goes back, through Ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Hurayra and ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ayyash, to Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, who learned it from the Prophet.

Warsh travelled to Medina in 155 AH to study with Nafi‘ and recited the whole Quran to him several times. Nafi‘ gave him his nickname, reportedly likening his fair complexion to a white bird, the warashan. Back in Egypt he became the undisputed master of recitation, admired for his fine voice. His transmission has come down mainly through the route (tariq) of his successor al-Azraq, Yusuf ibn ‘Amr (d. c. 240 AH), the route followed by the Shatibiyya and throughout the Maghreb; the other main route is that of al-Asbahani.

Distinctive features (al-Azraq route)

• the vowel of a hamza is moved onto the silent consonant before it (naql): qad aflaḥa becomes qadaflaḥa;
• a silent hamza becomes a long vowel: yu’minūna becomes yūminūna;
• joined and separated madd of 6 counts, and a choice of 2, 4 or 6 counts for a long vowel following a hamza (madd al-badal), as in āmanū;
• taqlil, an alif pronounced between "a" and "e", in many words such as Mūsā;
• a light ra after an "i" (khabīran) and a heavy lam after ṣ, ṭ or ẓ (aṣ-ṣalāh).

Following Nafi‘, Warsh reads Maliki yawmi d-dīn (1:4) without the long alif. Qalun, Nafi‘'s other transmitter, agrees with him on most words but not on these rules of pronunciation.

Where it is recited

The dominant reading of Egypt until the Ottoman period and of al-Andalus, it is today the reading of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and many countries of West Africa; Morocco and Algeria print their copies of the Quran in Warsh.

Reciters who have recorded it include Mahmoud Khalil Al-Husary, Omar Al-Qazabri, Laayoun El Kouchi, Yassin Al-Jazairi and Ibrahim Al-Dossari.