Warsh Quran

Warsh 'an Nafi': the reading of the Maghreb

The riwaya of Warsh (رواية ورش عن نافع) is the transmission of the reading of Nafi' al-Madani through his Egyptian student 'Uthman ibn Sa'id, known as Warsh. It is the dominant reading in Morocco, Algeria, parts of Tunisia and Libya, as well as Mauritania, Senegal, Mali and West Africa more broadly. For many families of Maghrebi origin it is the reading their parents and grandparents learned — and a child memorising in Hafs at the mosque while revising from the family's Warsh mushaf runs into trouble quickly. Hence the point of choosing your riwaya deliberately.

What actually differs from Hafs

The Quranic text is the same; the modes of transmission differ. In practice a Warsh mushaf differs from a Hafs one in three respects:

• Recitation — the treatment of certain prolongations (madd al-badal), taqlil and imala in certain words, specific points of pronunciation, and the conventions of the tariq of al-Azraq, the route followed in the Maghreb.
• Script and vowelling — a number of words are not written or vowelled the same way, and not all the marks used are identical. This is exactly why you cannot recite Warsh from a Hafs mushaf.
• Layout — Warsh has no universal standard equivalent to the 15-line Madinah mushaf. Pagination varies by edition, which is why staying with one edition matters throughout a memorisation.

Memorising in Warsh: stay with one edition

This is the most useful advice on this page. Because Warsh editions do not all share the same pagination, the visual memory of the page — which is most of what makes a hifz solid — only transfers between copies of the same edition. Before buying, check the lines-per-page figure on the listing, and if you are already memorising, buy the same model rather than a nicer one. If you are unsure, write to us and we will tell you whether the copy in stock matches the one you own.

Maghrebi script or naskh?

Two families of editions coexist. Maghrebi editions often use a script close to khatt maghribi, with its own letter forms and conventions — what anyone who studied in Morocco or Mauritania is used to. Middle Eastern editions set Warsh in naskh, the script familiar to a reader trained on a Madinah mushaf. Neither is better: take the one your eye reads without effort. We state the script on every listing.

Sizes, paper and binding

As across the range, three things make the difference in use. Size: pocket for travel, 14 × 20 cm for daily reading, 17 × 24 cm and above for memorisation and long sessions. Paper: cream or ivory, slightly thick, is easier on the eye than thin white stock that shows the reverse side. Binding: sewn opens flat and survives years of handling; glued gives way. Every listing states the size in centimetres, the line count, the paper, the binding and the publisher.

Colour-coded tajweed in Warsh

Warsh tajweed mushafs exist, with colours marking the rules specific to this riwaya. They are a good support for correcting recitation between sessions with a teacher — provided the copy really is Warsh and not a Hafs tajweed mushaf, a common mix-up among resellers, since the coloured rules are not the same. We check this before dispatch.

The other riwayat

If you are unsure which riwaya is yours, compare before buying: Hafs Quran ('an 'Asim) is the reading of Saudi Arabia, the Levant, Egypt and Asia, with the 15-line Madinah mushaf; Qaloun Quran ('an Nafi'), from the same teacher as Warsh, is the reading of Tunisia and Libya. For the full range, see Quran in Arabic.

Shipping and pre-dispatch checks

Every mushaf leaves shrink-wrapped and packed in a rigid box. Quantities shown are shelf stock. Dispatched within 24 to 48 working hours, shipped to Europe, North Africa and worldwide. For a gift or a Quran-school order we can verify the riwaya, the script and the line count of the copies that will ship.