Description

First: His name, Lineage, and Nickname:

He is Imam Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Hamza bin Abdullah bin Bahman bin Fayrouz al-Asadi al-Kisa’i al-Kufi al-Nahwi, their master.

He is one of the children of the Persians from sub-Saharan Iraq, and he was born in Kufa around (120 H).

It was said to him: “Why were you called al-Kisa’i?” He said: “Because I entered Ihram in a garment(kisa).”

This is what al-Shatibi referred to in his text. He said:

وأمَّا عليٌّ فالكسائيُّ نعتُه            لـِمَا كان في الإِحرام فيه تَسَرْبَلا

Ali was called Al-Kisai, for what was in ihram when he wore a veil.

Second: His position and knowledge:

One of the seven reciters, one of the imams of language, grammar, and reading in Baghdad, stopped being an Imam at reciting and Arabic after Hamza al-Zayyat. He chose an intermediate recitation from Hamzah’s and others’ recitations, not outside the effects of the preceding imams.

Ibn al-Anbari said about him: “He was the most knowledgeable of people in grammar, Arabic, and recitations, and they used to ask him to recite a lot to them, so he gathered them and sat on a chair and recited the Qur’an from beginning to end, while they listened in concentration to him, from start to end.”

Al-Shafi’i praised him in grammar and said: “Whoever wanted to sail in grammar was dependent on al-Kisa’i although he has learned grammar at an old age.”

Al-Dhahabi said: “Al-Kisa’i was very modest when he attained the leadership, by helping Muhammad Al-Amin the son of Al-Rashid recite and disciplining him, and also punishing Al-Rashid, He earned what no one had of prestige, money, and honor, and achieved the leadership of science and the world.

He would move in the country, so he did not stay in Kufa but went out to the deserts, he was absent for a long time, And he wrote many languages ​​that were unusual to the Arabs in Najd and Tihama, After that, he settled in Baghdad and taught Rashid, then taught his son Al-Amin, and they distinguished him.

Third: His teachers of recitation :

Al-Kisa’i recited to Al-A’mash Suleiman bin Mahran, Asim bin Abi Al-Nujud, and Hamza bin Habib Al-Zayat. It was narrated that he recited the Qur’an to Hamza al-Zayat four times and Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hammad.

Fourth: Narrators about his recitations :

Al-Kisa’i’s students had a significant influence in spreading his recitations. He had students who took over to apply his knowledge, which spread and was written for him to survive.

Amongst who recited to al-Kisa’i:

His narrators Al-Layth Abu Al-Harith, and Hafs Al-Douri, are the most famous of his students.

As narrated by many of the most famous of them:

 Naseer bin Yusuf Al-Razi, Qutaiba bin Mahran, Abu Obaid Al-Qasim bin Salam and others.

Fifth: Transformation of spreading and extinction:

Makki bin Abi Talib said:

“The people were around two hundred in Basra on the recitation of Abu Amr and Ya’qub, And they continued on that, and when it was around three hundred, people began to read Abu Amr and al-Kisa’I recitations. He also taught the people in Kufa recitation for some time until he became the imam of recitation there after Imam Hamzah. When the Caliph asked for him in Baghdad, he taught recitation of the Quran there and in Raqqa and others.”

The places the recitation is spread today:

The general public does not recite this recitation. Instead, it is circulated among scholars and reciters.

Sixth: His death: 

Al-Kisai lived for 70 years and died in Rayy – southeast of Tehran – in 189 H.