Guide for the Reader [of Scripture]

This Arabic treatise explains how to read (i.e., chant with proper pronunciation and cantillation) the text of the Hebrew Bible according to the Tiberian Masoretic tradition. An addendum to Abū ’l-Faraj Hārūn’s grammatical writings, this treatise was written during the height of Karaite interest in biblical exegesis. Guide for the Reader [of Scripture] (Hidāyat al-qāri’) was popular throughout the medieval period. It was later condensed, and both longer and shorter versions were translated into Hebrew and transmitted in Yemen, northern France and Germany, and Italy.