PREFACE


Introduction to Qur'anic Script has been written in the belief that Allah has made the Qur'an easy to read and easy to learn (Qur'an, 54.17 and 73.20). It is primarily written for the readers who feel the need to read the Qur'an and other Arabic texts in their original language.

The reader is exposed to the Arabic language from the very first lesson; he is taught not only to recognize letters and words but also to understand what they are intended to convey. By the time he has completed the alphabet, he has learnt more than 500 words of Arabic in their Qur'anic context and also some basic grammatical markers.

The Qur'an is the fountainhead of Arabic literature and, I hope, non-Muslim students of Arabic will find this book easier, far more useful and far less time-consuming than any other manual teaching Arabic as a secular exercise.

My gratitude is to Prof. A. H. Johns, Chairman, West Asia Studies Committee of the Australian National University, who kindly read the book in typescript and made valuable suggestions. I greatly value the help of my friend and teacher, Prof. Arthur Delbridge, Head of the Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, who read the typescript and removed ambiguities of language. I have also to thank Prof. Muhammad Abdul Rauf (United Arab Emirate University, Al-Ain) and Hafiz Qari Said-ul-Islam (Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh) who cleared for me several points of Qur'anic sounds. I wish to thank Mr. Mohammed Ismail Khan who corrected the proofs of the English text and Maulavi Muhammad Abdullah Tariq who corrected the proofs of the Arabic text. I also wish to thank Mr. S. Shamim Shah, the Administrator of IHMMR Press, for his unstinting efforts to ensure prompt typesetting of the book.

I also extend sincere appreciation to Mr. S. A. Ali, Director, Indian Institute of Islamic Studies, for his detailed critique of the text and suggestions for improvement of both content and style at many points. In the initial stages of preparing this book I was greatly encouraged by Dr. M. A. Aziz of Port-of-Spain to whom I now wish to acknowledge my thanks. I am especially grateful to Hakeem Abdul Hameed, President, Indian Institute of Islamic Studies, who provided me with an opportunity of completing the final draft of this book in the peaceful environment of the Hamdard Nagar Campus.

I owe a profound debt of thanks to Dr. Lois A. Giffen, Professor of Arabic, University of Utah, for her constant help and criticism. In spite of a heavy academic schedule she revised the manuscript of the book meticulously word for word. My wife, Sabiha, advised me on calligraphy, my elder daughter, Sarah, prepared the typescript for press, my younger daughter, Birjees, collected the specimens of Qur'anic calligraphy from various museums and my son, Nauman, always a thoughtful critic, helped me to rewrite the passages which he considered to be difficult for a beginner.

Although I have made every effort to avoid error, I may have slipped up in a few spots. I hope readers' scrutiny will improve the second edition. It is Allah 'Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not', so if the student of this book one day becomes a fluent reader of the Qur'an and its language, Arabic, that would be through the grace of God and his own efforts. But I hope the reader will remember in his prayers my mother, for she taught me the skill, which I have tried to transmit through this book.

Shafi Manzil
Gulmohar, Indore.
Ramadan al-Mubarak, 1403 hijri