Al-Duri an al-Kisai

Hafs ibn Umar al-Duri transmitted two of the seven canonical readings, Abu Amr's and, separately, that of Ali ibn Hamza al-Kisai; this entry records the second of those two lines. His transmission of al-Kisai's reading is recorded at Kufa, al-Kisai's own reading centre, and stands beside the transmission of Abu al-Harith as the two riwayat through which al-Kisai's reading survives.

Al-Duri's transmission from al-Kisai renders the hamza in full and applies imala extensively, inclining certain long alif vowels toward ya well beyond the handful of words where some other readings apply it narrowly. It lengthens both detached and connected vowel junctures to four or five counts, leaves the closing mim of plural pronouns silent before a following vowel, and does not apply the greater assimilation that merges some final and initial consonants. No light pause is observed, the basmala is recited between suras, and the takbir plays no part in the reading. Verse numbering follows the Kufan count.

That al-Duri transmitted two entirely separate seven canon readings makes him one of the more heavily relied upon transmitters in the group the seven readings depend on; Ibn Mujahid's tenth century selection treated both of his lines as independently mutawatir, carrying the standing of the seven rather than of a lesser, individually weaker chain.