“卡拉厄”（qiraa’ah）大体上是《古兰经》诵读中所用的一种读音方法。这些读法不同于《古兰经》降示时的七种格式或方式（ahruf）。这七种方式在奥斯曼哈里发时期被归并为一种，即古莱氏的方言。当时他下令以古莱氏方言抄录《古兰经》，并将其分发到当时的伊斯兰各中心。因此，今天只保留了古莱氏的格式，所有的诵读方法都以此为基础。这些各异的读法都可追溯至先知（ﷺ），通过若干以《古兰经》诵读最为著称的圣门弟子传承下来。也就是说，这些圣门弟子曾向先知（ﷺ）诵读《古兰经》，或在他面前诵读，并获得他的认可。其中包括：乌班耶·本·凯尔卜、阿里·本·艾比·塔利卜、宰德·本·萨比特、伊本·麦斯欧德、阿布·德尔达厄和阿布·穆萨·艾什尔里。圣门弟子中的许多其他人都是向这些学者学习的。伊本·阿拔斯是圣门弟子中最杰出的《古兰经》注释家，他曾向乌班耶和宰德学习。 30

A qiraa’ah is, for the most part, a method of pronunciation used in the recitations of the Qur’aan. These methods are different from the seven forms or modes (ahruf) in which the Qur’aan was revealed. The seven modes were reduced to one, that of Quraysh, during the era of Caliph ‘Uthmaan when he ordered that the Qur’aan be copied in the Qurayshee dialect and distributed among the Islaamic centers of the time. Hence, only the Qurayshee mode remains today and all of the methods of recitation are based on this mode. The various methods have all been traced back to the Prophet (ﷺ) through a number of the sahaabah who were most noted for their Qur’aanic recitations. That is, these sahaabah recited the Qur’aan to the Prophet (ﷺ) or in his presence and received his approval. Among them were the following: Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, ‘Ali ibn Abee Taalib, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Ibn Mas‘ood, Aboo ad-Dardaa’, and Aboo Moosaa al-Ash‘aaree. Many of the other sahaabah learned from these masters. Ibn ‘Abbaas, the master commentator of the Qur’aan among the sahaabah, learned from both Ubayy and Zayd. 30

在被称为“al-Taabi‘oon”（再传弟子）的下一代穆斯林中，涌现出许多学者，他们向圣门弟子学习各种诵读方法，并将其传授给他人。诵读《古兰经》的中心在麦地那、麦加、库法、巴士拉和沙姆（大叙利亚）相继形成，《古兰经》诵读逐渐发展成为一门独立的学科。31 到公元八世纪中叶，已有大量杰出学者，他们都被视为诵读领域的专家。他们的大多数诵读方法都由可靠的传述者链条所证实，链条的终点是先知（ﷺ）。传述链每一层都有大量传述人的诵读方法被称为“Mutawaatir”（广泛流传），被认为是最为准确的。而在传述链任一层中传述人较少或仅有一人的诵读方法，则被称为“Shaath”（变体）。

Among the next generation of Muslims, referred to as the taabi‘oon, there arose many scholars who learned the various methods of recitation from the sahaabah and taught them to others. Centers of Qur’aanic recitation developed in Madeenah, Makkah, Koofah, Basrah, and ash-Shaam (Greater Syria), leading to the evolution of Qur’aanic recitation into an independent science.31 By the mideighth century CE, there existed a large number of outstanding scholars, all of whom were considered specialists in the field of recitation. Most of their methods of recitation were authenticated by chains of reliable narrators, ending with the Prophet (ﷺ). Those methods on each level of their chain were called mutawaatir and were considered to be the most accurate. Those methods in which the number of narrators were few or one on any level of the chain were referred to as shaath.

然而，后来一些学者开始做出一种做法：从前一时期的学者中，指定一定数量的个人，将他们视为最杰出、最精准的诵读者。

However, some of the scholars of the following period began the practice of designating a set number of individual scholars from the previous period as being the most noteworthy and accurate reciters.

到公元十世纪中叶（伊历六世纪），将最优秀的诵读家限定为七位，成为一种流行的惯例，因为这一数字与《古兰经》降示所用的方言数目相吻合。同样，在这一时期，伊斯兰教法学派（math-habs）在经历了众多学派并存的时期之后，也被缩减为著名的四大学派。最先将公认可靠的诵读家限定为七位的是伊拉克学者艾卜·伯克尔·伊本·穆贾希德（卒于公元936年），此后撰写诵读学著作的人都效仿了他的做法。 这种限定并不能准确反映古典《古兰经》诵读学者的实际情况。除这七位之外，还有许多学者与他们同样出色，其中一些人甚至超过他们。事实上，对学者的分级，实际上是依据其诵读方法被保存得有多完善来划分的。因此，那著名的七位是来自不同世代的早期学者，他们的诵读方法拥有最多的传述链，并且在传述链的每一层级上都有大量的传述。然而，还有其他古典学者，他们的诵读方法同样以确凿可靠的方式（mutawaatir）得到记录，与那七位著名学者一样可靠。下面列出了十位诵读方法保存得最为完善的《古兰经》诵读学者：

By the middle of the tenth century CE (6th century AH), it became a popular convention to limit the number of best reciters to seven, since this number coincided with the number of dialects in which the Qur’aan was revealed. Similarly, during this period the number of schools of Islaamic law (math-habs) were reduced to the famous four after a period in which there were many. The first to limit the number of authentic reciters to seven was the ‘Iraaqi scholar, Aboo Bakr ibn Mujaahid (d. 936 CE), and those who wrote books on qiraa’ah after him followed suit.32This limitation is not an accurate representation of the classical scholars of Qur’aanic recitation. There were many others who were as good as the seven and a number who were greater than them. In fact, the classification of scholars was really a classification of how well their methods of recitation were preserved. Hence, the famous seven were those early scholars from different generations whose methods of recitation had the most chains of narrators with many narrations on each level of the chain. However, there were other classical scholars whose methods of recitation were just as authentically (mutawaatir) recorded as the famous seven. A list of the ten scholars of Qur’aanic recitation whose methods were best preserved is as follows:

1. 巴士拉的艾布·阿慕尔·伊本·阿尔-阿拉（卒于公元771年/伊历154年）

1. Aboo ‘Amr ibn al-‘Alaa (d. 771 CE/154 AH) of Basrah

2. 伊本·凯西尔（卒于公元738年／伊历119年）是麦加圣门弟子（sahaabah）的学生之一。

2. Ibn Katheer (d. 738 CE/119 AH) was among the students of the sahaabah of Makkah.

3. 纳菲（Naafi‘，卒于公元786年/伊历169年）原籍伊斯法罕，但他的诵读方式经瓦尔什（Warsh，卒于公元812年/伊历196年）传述后，属于麦地那的诵读传统。

3. Naafi‘ (d. 786 CE/169 AH) was originally from Isfahaan, and his recitation, as transmitted by Warsh (d. 812 CE/196 AH), was of Madeenah.

4. 伊本·阿米尔（卒于公元737年/伊历118年）是瓦利德·伊本·阿卜杜勒·马立克在位期间大马士革的首席法官（卡迪）。瓦利德与其他倭马亚哈里发一道，以该城为都城。

4. Ibn ‘Aamir (d. 737 CE/118 AH) was the chief judge (qaadi) of Damascus during the reign of al-Waleed ibn ‘Abdul Maalik, who, along with the other Umayyad caliphs, made that city his capital.

5. 库法的ʿĀṣim（卒于公元746年／伊历128年）是当今通行的主流诵读法的传述人。通过Ḥafṣ传述的他的诵读法，是当今穆斯林世界除非洲以外最常用的传述方式。

5. ‘Aasim (d. 746 CE/128 AH) of Koofah was the narrator of the dominant recitation in current use. His narration, as transmitted by Hafs, is the most common method of narration used in the Muslim world today with the exception of Africa.

6. 哈姆扎（卒于公元773年/伊历156年），库法人。

6. Hamzah (d. 773 CE/156 AH) of Koofah.

7. 阿里·al-Kisaa'ee（即 Al-Kisaa'ee，公元805年／伊历189年去世）是库法最杰出的语法学家之一，他在阿拉伯语语法规则的制定中发挥了重要作用。

7. Al-Kisaa’ee (d. 805 CE/189 AH) of Koofah was one of the foremost grammarians. He played a major role in the formulation of Arabic grammar rules.

8. 阿布·贾法尔（卒于公元750年/伊历132年），麦地那人。

8. Aboo Ja‘far (d. 750 CE/132 AH) of Madeenah.

9. 叶耳古卜（Ya‘qoob，公元820年/伊历204年去世）（巴士拉人）。

9. Ya‘qoob (d. 820 CE/204 AH) of Basrah.

10. 赫拉夫（卒于公元844年/伊历229年），巴格达人

10.Khalaf (d. 844 CE/229 AH) of Baghdaad

与学者们为判定归于先知（r）的言行是否真实而制定圣训学条件的同时，诵读学学者也制定了条件，以便对现存的诵读方式进行批判性分析。任何一种诵读要被视为真实可靠（saheeh），必须满足三个条件。若缺少其中任何一个条件，该诵读即被归类为shaath（异常）。第一个条件是该诵读须有可靠的传述链；也就是说，传述链必须连贯不断，传述人须以正直著称，并且须以记忆力良好著称。此外还要求，在圣门弟子层级以下的传述链每一层，该诵读都须由大量传述人传递（即tawaatur的条件）。拥有可靠传述链但缺乏tawaatur条件的记载，被视为圣门弟子的释义（tafseer）而接受，但不被视为诵读古兰经的方式。至于那些连可靠传述链都不具备的记载，则被归为“baatil”（虚假），并被完全拒绝。

At the same time that scholars of hadeeth laid down conditions to determine the authenticity of statements or actions attributed to the Prophet (r), scholars of Qur’aanic recitation also formulated conditions to facilitate critical analysis of the existing recitations. For any given recitation to be accepted as authentic (saheeh), it had to fulfill three conditions. If any of the conditions were missing, such a recitation was classified as shaath (unusual). The first condition was that the recitation have an authentic chain of narration; that is, that the chain of narrators had to be unbroken, that the narrators were known to be righteous, and that they were known to possess good memories. It was also required that the recitation be conveyed by a large number of narrators on each level of the chain of narration below the level of the sahaabah (the condition of tawaatur). Narrations which had authentic chains but lacked the condition of tawaatur were accepted as explanations (tafseer) of sahaabah, but were not considered as methods of reciting the Qur’aan. As for narrations which did not even have an authentic chain of narration, they were classified “baatil” (false) and rejected totally.

第二个条件是：各种诵读的变化必须符合已知的阿拉伯语语法结构。不常见的结构，只有在前伊斯兰时期的散文或诗歌中找到其存在的依据，才能被认可。第三个条件要求，该诵读必须与奥斯曼哈里发时期所颁发的《古兰经》抄本之一的书写形式相符。因此，由圆点位置不同所造成的差异（例如 ta‘lamoon 与 ya‘lamoon），只要符合其他条件，便被视为可以接受。如果某种不常见的结构找不到任何依据，则该结构的诵读将被归为沙兹（shaath）。33

The second condition was that the recitations’ variations match known Arabic grammatical constructions. Unusual cons-tructions were verified by their existence in passages of pre-Islamic prose or poetry. The third condition required the recitation to coincide with the script of one of the copies of Qur’aan distributed during the era of Caliph ‘Uthmaan. Hence, differences which result from dot placement (e.g. ta‘lamoon and ya‘lamoon) are considered acceptable, provided the other conditions are met. If no support for an unusual condition could be found, the recitation of that construction would be classified shaath. 33

这种分类并不意味着诵读的所有方面都被视为"shaath"（怪异）；事实上，公认的十种读法中，没有一种完全不含某些"shaath"构成。这类"shaath"的传述也可用来解释那些真实可靠的传述，因为它们显然是圣门弟子的言论。

This classification did not mean that all aspects of the recitation were considered shaath; in fact, none of the accepted ten methods are totally free from some shaath constructions. Shaath narrations of this type also serve as explanations for the authentic narrations, as they are obviously statements of the sahaabah.