al-Hurufat al-Muqaṭṭa`a

الم

("The Isolated Letters of the Qur'ān").

 

IN PROGRESS 2008-9

STEPHEN  N. LAMBDEN  (UC-MERCED)

In this and related webpages a chronologically arranged synopsis of major Sunni and Shi`i interpretations of select al-Ḥurūfāt al-Muqaṭṭa`a (Qur'anic `isolated letters') prefixed to 29 Suras of the Qur'an will be set down. Before 29 of the 114 (= 6x19) chapters (sūras) of the Qur'ān, `isolated', `detached' or `disconnected' (muqaṭṭa'a) letters are found; they are single letters of the Arabic alphabet set down in varying numbers. Either single letters or groups of between 2 and 5 letters are recorded at the outset or beginning of 29 chapters of the Qur'ān. Fourteen different Arabic letters are used in this way, e.g. "N" (sūra 68), "T.S" (sūra 27), "A.L.M" (sūras 10, 11, 12, 14, 15). In the following paragraphs the focus will largely be upon interpretations of the first 3 isolated letters الم  "A"-"L"-"M" (in Surat al-Baqara Q. 2:1a, etc) as variously expounded throughout Islamic history by such commentators as are chronologically listed below. It will be seen that is something of a unity of interpretation as well as a considerable diversity. Some respected or authoritative interpretations are repeated from commentator to commentator others are new or unique to a particular exegete. Only succinct annotated translations can  be included here... 

Continue...

 

 

 

 

Ibn `Abbās, `Abd-Allāh  (d. c. 68 / 687),

Tafsir attributed to the paternal fīrst cousin of the prophet Muhammad, the 'Father of Tafsir'...

Veccia Vaglieri, L. ``Abd Allāh b. al-'Abbās.' in EI2 1:40-1.;

On ascription and authenticity see Rippin cited above on al-Fīrūzābādī. 

  • Tafsīr Ibn `Abbās.. Şaḥīfa `Alī b. Abī Ṭalḥa `an Ibn `Abbās fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-Karīm. Beirut: Mu'assat al-Kutub al-Shaqāfīyya. 1411/1991. *

  • Tanwīr  al‑miqbās min tafsīr Ibn `Abbās. Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-`Ilmiyya, 1412/1992 (664pp.). *

  • Gharīb al-Qur'ān, ēd. Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahīm, Beirut 1993

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Ḥasan al-Baṣrī  (d.110/728).

 al-Ḥibarī,  `Abū `Abd-Allāh al-Kufī  al-Husayn ibn Hakam ibn Muslim (d. 686 /1287)
  • Tafsīr al-Ḥibarī, Ed. Sayyid Muhammad Rida' al-Ḥusaynī. al-Jalali. Beirut: Mu`assassah Āl al-Bayt li'l-Ihya' al-Turath, 1408/1987.*

Ja'far al-Ṣādiq (d.145/765) - the sixth (twelver) Shī`ī Imam.

An important though little studied major fountainhead of Imami Shī`ī hadith and Tafsīr traditions treasured by Sufī s and others.

"Editions of separate Qur’an commentaries are available for Ja`far al-Sādiq (Nwyia, 1968a), Nūrī (Nwyia, 1968b), Ibn`Atā’ (Nwyia, 1973, pp. 23–182) and Hallāj (Massignon, 1968, pp. 359–412). These four tafsīrs have been reproduced (with Nwyia’s original French introductions to his editions of the commentaries by Ja`far al-Sādiq and Ibn ‘Atā’ translated into Persian) in Pūrjavādī (1369, pp. 1–292)... " (Rostom, Mohammed in `Forms of Gnosis in Sulamī’s Sufi Exegesis of the Fātiha' in Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, Vol. 16, No. 4 (October 2005),  p. 336. fn.4.

  • al-Tafsīr al-Sūfī li'l-Qur'ān  `ind al-Ṣādiq... Beirut:  Dār al-Andalus, 1979.  272pp.*
  • Kāmil al-Tafsir al-Sufi al-`Irfani li'l-Qur'an. ed Dr. `Ali Za`ur. Paris: Dar al-Bouraq, 272 + iv pp. N.d.*
  • Kitab al-Taqsim fi Ta`bir al-Hulm (Tafsir al-nafsi al-jasadi wa'l-sufi al-akhlaqi lil-hulm wa'l-ramz wa'l-muqaddas. ed Dr. `Ali Za`ur. Paris: Dar al-Bouraq, 2004. 497pp. *

Muqātil  ibn Sulayman (d. Basra 150 /767).

= Abū’l-Ḥasan Muqātil  ibn Sulayman ibn Basir  al-Azdī al-Balkhī [al-Khurāsānī]

 Ibn al-Nadim, 179; Ta'rikh Baghdad XIII: 161,3; Sezgin GAS 1:36-7. Possibly a Zaydī (Shī`ī) commentator and theologian.

  • تفسير مقاتل بن سليمان

  • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān, 5 vols. ed. 'Abdullah Maḥmud Shiḥāta, 5 vols. Cairo, 1969 .*

  • Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulayman. Edited by 'Abdallah Mahmūd Shihāta. 5 vols. Cairo: al-Hay'ah al-Mişriyyah al-'Āmmah lil-Kitāb, 1979.
     Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulaymān. Ed. `Abd‑Allāh Maḥmūd Shiḥāta . 4+1 vols. Cairo: 1979‑1988.*

  • al-Tafsīr, ed. 'Abdallāh Maḥmūd Shihāta, 5 vols., Cairo 1980-7
  • Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulaymān. 5 vols. ed. 'Abdullah Maḥmud Shihāta. Beirut: Mu`assat al-Tārīkh al-`Arabī. 1423/2002.*  
  • Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulaymān. ed. `Abd-Allāh Maḥmūd Shiḥāta 5 vols. Beirut: Mu`assat al-Tārīkh al-`Arabī. 1423/2003. •
  • Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulaymān. ed. Ahmad Farid Mazidi 3 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya,  1423/2003 (1504pp.).
  • al-Ishāra wa'l-nazā'ir fī'l-qur'ān al-karīm li-Muqātil b. Sulaymān al-Balkhī. ed.  'Abdullah Maḥmud Shihāta. Beirut:  Dār al-Gharīb  2001.
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  • al-Ashbāh wa'l-nagaïr' fī’ l-Qur'ān al-karīm, ed. 'Abdallāh Maḥmūd Shihāta, Cairo: al-Hay`at al-Miṣriyyat al-`Amma li'l-Kitab, 1395/1975. 

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    al-`Askarī, al-Ḥasan ibn `Ali (d. c. 260/874).

    The 11th Imam of the twelver Shi`ites and the alleged father of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi.

    See Brockelmann, GAL 1:333; Goldziher, Richt., 278; Gacek, ALB 1996:201.

    تفسيرالإمام العسكري

    • Tafsīr al-`Askari. Mss. Brit. Mus. Or. 5582.  Check.

    • Tafsīr al-`Askari. Tehran Lithograph 1268/1851-2. ?

    • Tafsīr al-`Askari, in the Margins of Tafsir al-Qur'an of `Ali Ibn Ibrahim al-Qumi. Lithograph [Tabriz?] by Hasan ibn Muhammad Amin al-Karamrudi. al-Tabrizi. Karkhanah-i Ahmad Aqa and `Ali Aqa  Ramadan 1315/1898.  (pp.332+21). See Gacek ALB 1996: Nos.361 and 362.

    • Tafsīr al-`Askari. Lucknow:  ?.

    • Tafsīr al-`Askari [attributed to the 11th Imam Ḥasan] al-`Askarī. Qumm: ADD., 1409/ 1988-9.10410

    • URL = http://www.ahl-ul-bait.org/newlib/Quran/Al_Emam_Al_Askari/index1.htm

    al-Ḥallaj : al-Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr / Abū Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj  (executed. 309 /922)

    • حقائق التفسير او، خلق خلائق القرآن والاعتبار :
    Ḥaqāʼiq al-tafsīr  aw khalq khalāʼiq al-Qurʼān wa-al-iʻtibār. Cairo: Maktabat Madbūlī, 2006.
  • Tafsir in Massignon, 1968, pp. 359–412
  • ADD

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    al-Ṭabarī, Abū  Ja`far Muhammad b. Jarīr, (d. 310/923)

            A massive, early Sunni Tafsīr work that has been of foundational importance for many subsequent Qur'ān commentators.

    • Jāmi` al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān. On the margins: Al-Nīsâburī, Gharā'ib al-Qur'ān wa ragā'ib al-Furqān]. 30 vols. in 10 and an index vol. Ed. Muhammad al-Zahri al-Ghamrawï. Cairo: Matba`at al-Maymaniyya, 1321/1903. Includes in margin the commentary of Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Nishabūrī

    •
    • Jāmi’ al-bayān fî tafsīr al-Qur’ân. 30 vols. in 12  [Cairo] Bulaq: Amriyya, 1323-29/1905-1911. Includes in margin the commentary of Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Nishaburi.
    • Jami' al-bayan `an tajwĩl al-Qur'an. 30 vols, in 12. Edited by Muṣṭafa al-Saqqā. Cairo: Muṣṭafa al-Bābī al-Halabī, 1373-6/1954-7.
    • Jāmi' al-bayān fī  ta'wīl al-Qur'ān. 15 vols. Beirut:  Dār al-Fikr, 1408/1988.
      •  *

    •  Jāmi' al-bayān fī  ta'wīl al-Qur'ān. 12 vols. Beirut:  Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmīyah, 1992.

      •  *

    al-Tustari, Muhammad b. `Abdullah Sahl., (d. 283/986). Early Sufī  Tafsīr.
    • Tafsīr al-qur'ān al-aẓīm. Cairo: Dār al-kutub al-`Arabiyya al-kubrā, 1329/1911*
      •  
    • Tafsir al-Qur'an al-`Azim: Shaykh al-`Arifin al-Imam al-Tustari, al-mutawaffā 283 H. Beirut (?): al-Dar al-Thaqafiyah lil-Nashr; al-Tab`ah, 2002.  ISBN-10: 9773390578 + ISBN-13: 978-9773390570. (319pp.).

    Furāt al-Kūfī  (d. c. 310/922). Important largely Hadith generated Shi`i Tafsīr writer.

    See Sezgin GAS 1:539; Bar-Asher, 1999:29f; Modarressi,  Tradition and Survival., 2003: 82-86.No.6. ; Meir M. Bar Asher, Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imami Shiism (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 29-32:

    ADD HERE

     

    al-Ayyāshī = Abū'l-Nadr Muhammad ibn Mas`ūd ibn al-Ayyāsh al-Sulami al-Samarkandi (d. c. 320/932)

    Early Shi`i Tafsīr. See Brockelmann GAL ADD+ GAL-S ADD. EI2 1:794-5 art. B. Lewis;

    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān. ed. Hashim al-Rasul al-Maḥallātī. 2 vols. Qumm: Chapkhanah-yi `Ilmiyya. 1380-1/   Tehran 1380/1961. *

    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān. ed. Hashim al-Rasul al-Maḥallātī. 2 vols. Beirut: Mu`assat al-A`la. 1380-1/  1411/1991. *

    • Tafsīr al-Ayyāshī, 2 vols. Beirut: ADD., XXXX/200X

     

    al-Qummī,  Abū  al-Ḥasan `Ali ibn Ibrahim (d. c. 307/919 or 329/941)
    • Tafsir al-Qur'an of `Ali Ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi. Lithograph [Tabriz?] by Hasan ibn Muhammad Amin al-Karamrudi. al-Tabrizi. Karkhanah-i Ahmad Aqa and `Ali Aqa  Ramadan 1315/1898.  (pp.332+21). Has the Tafsir of the 11th Imam Ḥasan al-`Askarī in the margin. See Gacek ALB 1998: Nos. 361 and 362.
    • Tafsīr al-Qummi, ed. al-Sayyid Tayyib al-Musawi al Jaza 'iri, 2 vols. Najaf: Matba'at al-Najaf, 1386/1966..
    • Tafsīr, ed. Tayyib al-Mūsāwī al-Jazā'irī, 2 vols., Najaf : Maktabat al-Huda, 1387/1967  
    • Tafsīr al-Qummi, ed. Tayyib al-Mūsāwī al-Jazā'irī, 2 vols., Beirut: XXX., 1968.
    • Tafsīr al-Qummi. Edited by al-Sayyid Ţayyib al-Jazā'irī. 2 vols. Qumm: Mu'assasah  Dār al-Kitāb lil-Tibā'ah wa al-Nashr, 1404/1984.
    • Tafsīr al-Qummi, 2 vols. Qumm: Dal al-Hujjat,  2005. 883pp.  ISBN: 9649658823. 

    al-Sulamī,  Abū  `Abd al-Rahman Muhammad ibn  al-Ḥusayn (d. 1021 CE).

    Sufi from Nishapur.

    • Majmu`ah-yi  Athar-i Abi  `Abd al-Rahman Sulami...ed. Nasr Allah Purjavadi.  Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Danishgahi, 1368/1989.  

    • www.al-ilmiyah.com
      •    info@al-ilmiyah.com.
    • Majmū`a-yi āthār Abū `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, vol. 1, ed. Naṣr Allāh Pūrjavādī . Tehran: Markaz-i Nāsher-i Dāneshgāhī).
    • The Minor Qur’ān Commentary of Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān Muhammad b. al-Ḥusayn as-Sulamī, ed. G. Böwering . Beirut: Dār el-Machreq 1995.
    • Tafsīr al-Sulaymī wa huwa haqā'iq al-tafsīr. 2 vols. ed. Sayyid `Imran. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya, 1321/2001. ISBN 2-7451-3164-8.  This edition is apparently "based on late and corrupted" mss. (Rostum 2005: 336 fn.3).

     

    al-Ghazālī Abū al-Ḥamīd, Muhammad (d. 505/1111).

    Ashari theologian and Sufī  mystic.
    • Jawahir al-Qur’ān. Dar al-Kutub al-`ilmiyya. ADD/ADD.
    • Nahwa Tafsir mawḍu`i li-suwar al-Qur'an al-karīm. Cairo: Dar al-Shurūq, XXXX/1992 (155pp.).
    • Nahwa Tafsir mawḍu`i li-suwar al-Qur'an al-karīm. Cairo: Dar al-Shurūq, 4th ed. XXXX/2000 (552pp.).
  • K. Arba`īn = Kitāb al-arba`īn fī uṣūl al-dīn. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl. 1408/1988.
  • Ihyḥa ‘ulūm al-dīn (“The Revival of Religious Sciences”) ADD
  • al-Maqṣad al-Asnā, fi Sharḥ ma`ānī asmā' Allāh al-ḥusnā. Cairo: Taqaddum Press, 1322/1904.
  • al-Maqṣad al-Asnā, fi Sharḥ asmā' Allāh al-ḥusnā. ed + introd. Fadlou Shehadi, Beirut: Dar el-Machreq, 1983 (liv+208 pp.)
  • al-Ghazalī on the Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God, trans. David B. Burrell and Nazih Daher, Islamic Text Society , 1993 / 0946621314

  • Mishkat al-anwār.

    • Mishkat al-anwār. (ed.) Abū `Alā `Afífī) Cairo: Dār al-Qaymíya li'l-abā`a wa'l-Nashara, 1383/1964.
    • Mishkat al-anwār ("The Niche for Lights"). trans. W.H.T Gairdner. Rep. Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf. 1952 

    Iḥyā' 'ulūm al-dīn (The Revival of Religious Sciences).*

    • Iḥyā' 'ulūm al-dīn , Cairo, 1312/1894.
    • Iḥyā' 'ulūm al-dīn . Cairo: Lajnat Nashr al-Thaqāfiyya  al-Islamiyya, Cairo, 1356/1937.
    • Iḥya' 'ulūm al-dīn. 5 vols (1+4). Beirut: Dār al-Ma`rifa,  1402/1982. *
    • Iḥya' 'ulūm al-dīn. 5 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya,  ADD/ADD. Vol. 5 includes Commentory in the form of al-Mughni 'an Haml al-asfar fi takhrikh al-Ihya)..
    • Iḥya' 'ulūm al-dīn. 5 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Arqam,  200?/ADD.
    • Iḥya' 'ulūm al-dīn. 2 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Ma`rifa,  200?/ADD. Includes the Kitab Awarif al-Marif by al-Suhrawardi.
      Iḥya' 'ulūm al-dīn. 5 vols. ed. Muhammad Sulayman, Osamah Amurah. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr al-Mu'asir:    5 vols. set 
    Maybudī,  Rashīd al-Dīn Abu al-Fadl (d. after 520/1126)
    . Persian Tafsir writer. 
    رشيدالدين ميبدى

    This ten volume commentary explains the Qur'ānic verses in terms of (1) literal meaning, (2) historical and doctrinal background, and (3) spiritual signifī-  cance often exposing Sufī  teachings as derived from `Abd-Allāh al-Anṣārī of Herat (396-481 AH = 1006-1089 CE), author of the Ṭabaqāt al-ṣūfiyya;  Sad Maydan and Manā`zil al-sā'irin.

    •  تفسير كشف الاسرار

  • Kashf al-asrār wa`uddat al-abrār [The Unveiling of he Mysteries and the Preparation of the Pious], 10. vols ed. `Alī Asghar Ḥikmat.  Tehran: Intishārāt Dānishgāhī, 1952-1960.*

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    al-Rāzī = Shaykh Abū ’l-Futūḥ al-Rāzi (fl. between 480- 525 AH = 1087-1131 CE).

    Teacher of the Shi`i thinkers Ibn Shahrashūb and Ibn Babuya. Early Qur'ān commentator in Persian, possibly a contemporary of Zamakshari (d.538/1144) whose Mu`tazilite orientation may have influenced him. See  Storey sec. I no.6; art. H. Masse, EI2 Vol.1:120...

    • Rawḥ al-jinān wa-rūḥ al-janān fī  Tafsīr al-Qur'ān, 20 vols., ed. Dr. Muhammad Jafar Yahaqqi + Dr. Muhammad Mihdi Nassih. Mashhad : Intisharat-i Astan-i quds-i Razawi. 1371-5/1992-6. *

    al-Shahrastānī, Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm (b. c. 469 [479]-542 = c. 1086-1153).

    • Mafatīḥ al-Asrār wa Maṣābīḥ al-Abrār [Persian Facsimile editon in 2 vols. covering Sūrat al-Fatiha and Baqara Q.  Surahs 1-2]. Tehran: Markaz-i Intishār-i Nushakh-i Khaṭṭī  ( = Centre for the Publication of Manuscripts). Facsimile edition of the Unique Manuscript at the Library of the Islamic Consultative Assembly  or Bunyād-i Farhang-i Irān. Introduction by `Abd al-Husayn Ha'iri and Indices by Parviz Akhka'i,  1989 CE/1409 AH/1368Sh.  (Vol. 1 = 26pp +1-240 pp. + vol.2 = pp. 241-434 + Index = pp. 869-913).
    *  Hugely important partially extant Persian Tafsir dating to 540/1145.
  • Tafsīr al-Shahrastānī, Mafatīḥ al-Asrār wa Maṣābīḥ al-Abrār, [Keys to the Mysteries and Lamps for the Pious] ed. Muhammad `Alī Ādharshab. Tehran: Iḥyā-i Kitāb, Daftar-i Nashr-i Miras-i Maktub, 1997.
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    al-Ṭabrisī [Tabarsī] =  Abū `Alī al-Faḍl ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭabrisī  (d. 548 /1154).

    An Imami Shi`i commentator and a Mu`tazalite in matters of theology. His Majma` al-Bayan was completed in  in June 1142 (see EI2 art Kohlberg).

    •  Majma' al-bayān fī tafīr al-Qur'ān.  6 vols. Mat`ba`at  Saydā' [Sidon, Lebanon]: Maṭba`at al-`Irfān,  1333-56/1914-37.

    • R

      • ep. 1914>  4 Vols. Qumm : al-Maktabat Shihab al-Din al-Husayni, Ayat-Allah al-Mar`ashi al-Najafī   *

    • Majma' al-bayān fī tafīr al-Qur'ān, intr. Muḥsin al-Amīn al-Ḥusaynī al-'Āmilī, 30 vols, in 6, Beirut 1380/1961

    • Majma' al-bayān fī  tafsīr al-qur'ān, 6 vols. Beirut:  Dār Maktabat al-Ḥayat, 1380. *

    al-Kāshānī = Fayḍ al-Kashānī = Mullā Muḥsin Fayḍ al-Kashānī,  (d.1091/1680).

    • تفسير الصافي
  • al-Ṣāfī Tafsīr kalām Allāh al-wāfī  Lithograph calligraphed by  Muhamnad Riḍā ibn Amīr ibn `Abd-Allāh  al-Ṭayyib al-Khwānsārī , 1282/1865-6. Printed  in Persia by Muhammad Baqir al-Khwānsārī al-Tihrani in 1286/1869  (495pp.) . See Brockelmann GAL Supp. II:584; Tehrani, al-Dhari`a 15 (19); Gacek ALB [1996] No. 307 p.166.
  • al-Ṣāfī fī Tafsīr kalām Allāh al-wāfī  Lithograph 1283/1866. (folio, 494pp.) As above?
  • Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī  ed. Husayn al-A`lami, Beirut: Mu`assasat al-A`lami, 1379/1959.

  • al-Ṣafī fī tafsīr kalām Allāh al-wafī, ed. Husayn al-A'lamī, 5 vols., Beirut: ADD., 1399/1979.

    • *

  • Tafsīr al-ṣāfī.  5 Vols., ed. Shaykh Ḥusayn al-A`lam. Mashhad: Sa`āda.  n.d.*
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    al-Rāzī, Muhammad ibn `Umar, Abū  al-Su`ud Muhammad ibn, Muhammad Fakhr al-Dīn (d. 606/1209 )

    G. C. Anawati, 'Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī' EI2 vol. 2:751-5

      تفسير مفاتيح الغيب ، التفسير الكبير  

    • Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb al-mushtahir bi'l-Tafsīr al-kabīr,  ?  vols. Cairo, 1286/1869.
    • al-Tafsīr al-kabīr... 8 vols. Bulaq: xxxxx., 1279-1289/ 1862-1872.
    • al-Tafsīr al-kabir (The Extensive Commentary), (3rd printing) Beirut:  Dār al-Ihya al-Turath al-`Arabi, 32 vols in 16. n.d. *
    • Tafsīr-i kabir-i Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, Persian trans.  `Ali  Asghar Ḥalabi,  Tehran : Intishārāt-i Aṣāṭīr , 1371/XXX. / vol. 4 1378/ 1999. only*
  • أحكام البسملة وما يتعلق بها من الأحكام والمعاني وإختلاف العلماء
  • Aḥkām al-basmalah wa-mā yataʻallaqu bi-hā min al-aḥkām wa-al-maʻānī wa-ikhtilāf al-ʻulamāʼ
    • . Būlāq, Cairo : Maktabat al-Qurʼān, 1988.
  • Sharh asma' Allah al-husná lil-Razi : wa-huwa al-kitab al-musammá lawami al-bayyinat sharh asma' Allah Ta`alá wa'al-sifat. ed. Sa`d, Taha `Abd al-Ra`uf, Cairo: Maktabat al-Kulliyyat al-Azhariyya, 1396/ ADD. 396pp.
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    • Traité sur les Noms Divins, trans and commentary M. Gloton, 2 vols. Paris: Devy,  1986.

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  • Lawāmi` al-bayinnāt fī asmā' Allāh wa'l-ṣifāt (The Perspicuous Brilliances regarding the Names of God and the Attributes"). This work contains a section on the ism Allāh al-a`ẓam

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  • Sirr al-maktum fī mukhaṭabāt al-nujum ("The Sealed Mystery about the addressers of the Stars"), a work about Talismans and astral magic including reference to the 7 sigla constituting the al-ism al-a`zam or Mightiest Name of God.

    • Traité sur les Noms Divins, trans and commentary M. Gloton, 2 vols. Paris: Devy,  1986.

    *

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  • Sāḥirat al-ṭarf fī al-istiʻādhah wa'l-basmalah wa'l-ism wa'l-ḥarf   ed. Muḥammad Muḥammad Fahmī ʻUmar.  al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah : Maktabat Dār al-Zamān, 2006.

    • Muḥyi al-Dīn ibn al-ʿArabī (b. Murcia 560/1165- d. Damascus 638/1240).

    The "Great Shaykh" (al-Shaykh al-Akbar), the Sunnī central figure in Islamic mysticism. He had a tremendous, foundational influence upon the Sufī  and Shi`i mystical and exegetical worlds.  There is a great deal of Tafsīr in the numerous works of Ibn al`Arabī especially his massive magnum opus the al-Futuḥāt al-Makkiyya ("Meccan Disclosures") and his well-known Fusūs al-Ḥikam ("Bezels of Wisdom").

    • al-Futūḥāt al-makkiyya, Cairo, 1329/1911,/ Beirut: Dar Sadir ADD vol.
    • al-Fuṭūḥāt al-Makkiyya. Ed. O. Yaḥyā. Cairo:al-Hay`a al-Miṣriyya al-`Amma li’l-kitāb. 1972 (ongoing 14+ vols.),1405/1985.
    • Les Illuminations de La Mecque. The Meccan Illuminations. al-Fuṭḥhât al-Makkiyya. Textes choisis / Selected Texts présentés et traduits de l'arabe en français ou en anglais sous la direction de Michel Chodkiewicz, avec la collabo- ration de William C. Chittick, Cyrille Chodkiewicz, Denis Gril et James W. Morris. Ouvrage publié avec le concours de The Rothko Chapel. Paris: Sindbad, 1988.
    • The Tafsīr commonly printed under Ibn al`Arabi's name is actually the work of his disciple `Abd al‑Razzāq al‑Kashānī (d. 1330?). e.g. -- as also below on al-Kashani
    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-karīm. 2 Vols . Edited by Mustafa Ghalib. Beirut:  Dār al-Andalus, 1399/1978 . *
    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-karīm [ Tafsīr Ibn `Arabi on cover ], 2 vols. Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1422/2001.*
    • Insha Kitāb Inshā’ al-dawā’ir. `Ālam al-Fikr. n.d.
    •  `Ajā'ib al-`Irfān fī Tafsīr ījāz al-bayān fī tarjamah `an al-Qur'ān ("The exegesis of Surat al-Baqara"), ed. `Āṣim Ibrahim al-Kayālī, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya, 1428/2007. 304pp.

     

    In his `Ajā'ib al-`irfān fī tafsīr ījāz al-bayān fī tarjamah `an al-Qur'ān ("The Wonders of Gnosis in Exegesis of the Inimitability of the Exposition in Clarification of the Qur'an") the the Great Shaykh writes on Q. 2:1 : "A-L-M. This is the Book..." :

    "These [initial] three [isolated] Letters [A-L-M] allude unto  al-wujūd ("Existence"). They all indicate  that the [letter] "A" (alif) alludes unto the [Divine] Dhāt (Essence) which is the Genesis of Existence (awwāl al-wujūd) through what transpires (`ala mā marr). The [letter] "L" (lām) alludes unto the  Active Intellect (al-`aql al-fa``āl) which is named Jibrīl (Gabriel). He is the pivotal centre of Existence (awsaṭ al-wujūd) who hath ever diffused grace (X f-d-l) from the  Beginning (al-mabdā')  and will ever confer grace unto the End [Eschaton] (al-muntahā).  The [letter] "M" (mim) alludes unto [the Prophet] Muhammad who is the Acme [Ultimate, Terminus] of Existence (ākhir al-wujūd) through whom the Cycle of Existence (dā'irat al-wujūd) is completed and united to its Genesis [Origin, Beginning] (awwāl). Wherefore is it sealed [completed] (khatama)! This he saith, "Time (al-zamān) hath indeed circled around like unto its [primordial] situation (hai'a) on the Day that He created the Heavens and the Earth"

        Certain of the predecessors have it that the [letter] "L" (lām) is expressive of  twin [letter] "A"s (al-alfayn).... to be continued... (ed. p.31). trans. Lambden, 2009).

     

    al-Qurṭubī, Abū  'Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Anṣarī, (d. 671/1273)
    • al-Jāmi` li-ahkām al-Quran, 20 parts in 10, Cairo, 1369/1950.
    • al-Jāmi' li-aḥkām al-Qur'ān, 20 vols.  Cairo:  Dār al-Kātib al-'Arabi, 1387/1967..
    • al-Jāmi' li-aḥkām al-Qur'ān,  21 vols. in  11, Beirut:  Dār al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya, n.d. (c. 1408/1988.)

    Aisha Bewley; Abdalhaqq Bewley (ed.) trans.

    • Tafsir Al Qurtubi: Classical Commentary of the Holy Qur'an (vol. 1) Surah al-Fatiha and Surat al-Baqara, 2004.

    • trans.ISBN: 1870582225 ; Sohail Nakhooda (cover design) Publisher: Dar al-Taqwa (2003) Pages: 787 Binding: Hardback
    • Add

     

    al-Bayḍāwī = Qaḍī  ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Bayḍāwī (d. c. 700/1300). Sunnī commentator.

    Brockelmann, GAL Supp. 1: no. 27 pp. 738-732; Riddell, `al-Baydawi' in Leaman, Q-Enc.116-118.

    • انوار التنزيل واسرار التأويل

    • Anwār al-tanzīl wa-asrār al-ta`wīl  ("The Lights of the Revelation and the Mysteries of the Exegesis [of the Qur'an]")

    • Anwar al-tanzīl wa-asrār al-ta'wīl.. Tafsir al-Bayḍāwī. Beirut: Dar al-Jīl, 1329/1911. (25+815+i pp.).*

      •

    Beeston, A. F. L. 

    • Bayḍāwī’s commentary of Sûrah 12 of the Qur’ân. Text, accompanied by an interpretative rendering and notes by A. F. L. Beeston. Oxford 1963. ( viii+ 98 pp. + 24pp. Arabic text)

    • Baiḍāwī's commentary on sūrah 12 of the Qur'ān. Text, accompanied by an interpretative rendering and notes by A. F. L. Beeston. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963  + Beirut 1988

    •   

     

     

    al-Kāshānī [al-Qāshānī], `Abd al-Razzāq  (d. 730/1330)

    An important Persian fīgure in the school of  Ibn al-`Arabi (see above) and the author of around forty fīve Arabic and Persian works including several Arabic writings centered on the allegorical-mystical exegesis of the Qur'ān or portions thereof. He wrote a treatise on the inner meaning of the basmala.

    His Tafsīr is commonly printed under Ibn al`Arabi's name. Thus:

    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-karīm, 2 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Yaqzah al-'Arabiyya, 1387/1967.  
    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-Karīm. 2 Vols . Edited by Mustafa Ghalib. Beirut:  Dār al-Andalus, 1399/1978 . *

    • Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-karīm lil-Shaykh al-akbar... al-`Allāmah Muḥyi al-Dīn Ibn al-`Arabī, ed. Mustafa  Ghālib, 2 vols., 3rd printing, Beirut, 1401/1981. 

    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-karīm [Tafsīr Ibn `Arabī on cover ], 2 vols. Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1422/2001.*

    Ibn Kathīr = 'Imād al-Dīn Abū 'l-fīḍā' Ismā'il ibn 'Urnar ibn Kathīr (701-774 AH =  1302-1373 CE).

    ابن كثير، إسماعيل بن عمر
    • Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Azīm. 7 Vols. Beirut:  Dār al-Fīkr, 1389/1970.
    • Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-'azīm, ed. 'Abd al-'Azīz Ghunaym et al, 8 vols., Cairo 1390/1971  4 vols., Cairo n.d.; repr. Beirut 1980
    • Tafsīr al-qur'ān al-'azim, 7 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Fīkr. 1389/1970.* - Vol. 7 of this edition has as an appendix Ibn Kathir's Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān.
    • Tafsīr al-qur'ān al-'azim, ed. `Ali Muhammad al-Bijawi 2 (?) vols. Cairo: Dār Ihya al-Kutub al-`Arabiyya,. 1398/1978.
    • Tafsīr al-qur'ān al-'azīm, 1 vol. ed. Beirut : Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1420 / 2000.*
    • Tafsīr al-qur'ān al-'azīm, ed. Riyād : Dār al-Salām, 1420/2000. (1536pp.)

    Ibn Taymiyyah = Taqi al-Din, `Abū 'l-`Abbās Aḥmad ibn `Abd-Allāh al-Halim  (d.728/1328).

    • Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr.  Riyadh 1382/1962 + Beirut 1392/1972;
    • Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr. ed. `Adnan Zarzur,  Kuwait:  Dār al-Qur'ān al-Karim 1391/1972.
    • Muqaddima  fī  usul al-Tafsīr [Treatise on the Principles of Tafsīr].  trans. McAuliffe, Jane, D. in J. Renard ed. 1998
    • Int. Tafsīr `Introductory Treatise on the Principles of Tafsīr’, trans. McAuliffe, Jane, D. in J. Renard ed. 1998
    • Tafsīr al-Kabīr, ed. `Abd al-Rahman `Amira, 6 vols.  Dār al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya, n. d. [1990s?]. *
    • Tafsīr Sūrat al-Nur, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya,  1404/1983 (188pp.)*
    • Tafsīr Sūrat al-Nur, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Arabi,  1413/1993 (140pp.) *

     

    al-'Āmulī, Sayyid Ḥaydar ibn `Alī ibn Ḥaydar al-`Alawī al-Ḥusayni al-'Āmulī (d. 787/1385).

     Shi`i philosopher and mystic... exponent of Ibn al-`Arabi... See Brockelmann, GAL II:213; Supp. II:209.

    • Tafsīr al-muḥīṭ al-a`ẓam wa'l-baḥr al-khidamm fi ta`wīl kitāb Allāh al-`azīz al-muḥkam.  2 vols. 2nd ed./printing. Tehran: Mu`assasat al-Tiba`ah wa'l-Nashr Wizarat al-Thaqafah wa'l-Irshad al-Islami,  1995.

    •  

    انوار الحقيقة و اطوار الطريقة و اسرار الشريعة = Anwar al-Haqiqah wa Atwar al-Tariqah wa Asrar al-Shariah. Qum: Nur `ala Nur, 2004.

  •  تفسير المحيط الاعظم و البحر الخضم في تاويل كتاب الله العزيز المحكم  =  Tafsir al-Muhit al-a`zam wa al-bahr al-Khiḍrim fi Ta`wil Kitab Allāh al-`Aziz al-Muhkam. 7 vols.  Qum: Nur `ala Nur  2007 . 2974pp. ISBN: 9789648016031

    •  

    al-Jili [Gilani], `Abd al-Karim ibn Ibrahim (d  c. 831/1428).

    See Brockelmann GAL., II 254-5

     

    • al‑Insān al‑kāmil fī ma`rifat al‑awākhir wa'l‑awā'il.  2 vols in 1. Cairo: Mustāfa al‑Bābī al‑ḥalabī, 1375/1956.  *

    • al-Kahf wa'l-Raqīm fī Sharḥ Bismillah al-Raḥman al-Raḥim. Rep. al-Maktabat al-Maḥmūdiyya al-Tijariyya. Cairo: al-Jami` al-Azhar, [n.d.] 32pp.*

    al-Suyūṭī =  Jalāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī (d. c. 849-911 AH =1445-1505 CE). 

    • الإتقان في علوم القرآن =
    • Al-Itqān fī `ulūm al-Qur’ān
    • al-Itqān fī `ulūm al-Qur'ān, Cairo: Azhariyya Press, 2 vols. 1318/ 1900.*
    • al-Itqān fī `ulūm al-Qur'ān. al- Maktaba al-Assrya, 2006.
    • Al-Durr al-manthūr fī tafsīr al-ma'thūr

        + Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad ibn Aḥmad al-Maḥallī (d. 864/1459):

    • تفسير الجلالين
    • Tafsīr al-Jalālayn by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Maḥallī + Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī.

    • Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, ed. Ṣabrī Muhammad Mūsā + Muhammad Fā’iz Kāmil,  Damascus / Lebanon: Dār al-Khayr,  2003.

    • Trans.
    • al-Durr al-Manthūr fī 'l-Tafsīr al-Mānthūr. 6 vols. in 3. Qum: al-Maktabat Shihab al-Din al-Husayni, Ayat-Allah al-Mar`ashi al-Najafī , n.d. c. 1377/1957 (+1404/1983).

     

    al-Kāshānī = Mullā Muḥsin Fayḍ al-Kashānī,  (d.1091/1680).

    • تفسير الصافي
  • al-Ṣāfī Tafsīr kalām Allāh al-wāfī  Lithograph calligraphed by  Muhamnad Riḍā ibn Amīr ibn `Abd-Allāh  al-Ṭayyib al-Khwānsārī , 1282/1865-6. Printed  in Persia by Muhammad Baqir al-Khwānsārī al-Tihrani in 1286/1869  (495pp.) . See Brockelmann GAL Supp. II:584; Tehrani, al-Dhari`a 15 (19); Gacek ALB [1996] No. 307 p.166.
  • al-Ṣāfī fī Tafsīr kalām Allāh al-wāfī  Lithograph 1283/1866. (folio, 494pp.) As above?
  • Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī  ed. Husayn al-A`lami, Beirut: Mu`assasat al-A`lami, 1379/1959.

  • al-Ṣafī fī tafsīr kalām Allāh al-wafī, ed. Husayn al-A'lamī, 5 vols., Beirut: ADD., 1399/1979. *

  • Tafsīr al-ṣāfī.  5 Vols., ed. Shaykh Ḥusayn al-A`lam. Mashhad: Sa`āda.  n.d.*

    • Baḥrānī, Sayyid Hāshim b. Sulaymān al-Baḥrānī (d. 1107/1695-96),

    Safavid period Shi`i exegete.

    • Kitāb al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-qur’ān. Completed 1097/1686 dedicated to Shah Sulayman, 4 vols. Qumm 1394/1974.
    • 2nd ed. Ed. Mashmud ibn Ja`far al-Musawi al-Zarandi, + Naji-Allah ibn Karim-Allah al-Tafrishi al-Bazarjani + Muhammad ibn Mirza  `Ali Akabr, Tehran: Chapkhanah Aftab, + 3rd edition.
    • al-Burhan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, 5 vols. Qum: Mu`asesah-yi Matbu`at-i Isma'iliyyan, n.d. Repr. Beirut 1403/1983
    • Kitāb al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān, ed. Mahmud b. Ja'far Mūsawī al-Zarandī et al., 4 vols., Tehran 1375/1995.
    • Kitāb al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān,ed. Introduction by Muhammad Mahdi al-Āṣifī, 10 vols.. Beirut: Mu'asasat al-Bi'thah,  1419-1421/1999-2000.*

    al-Huwayzī =  `Abd `Alī ibn Jum`ah al-`Arūsī al-Ḥuwayzī (d. 1112/1700), Shī`ī Tafsīr
    • [Tafsīr ] Nūr al-thaqalayn  ("Commentary expressive of the Light of the Twin Weights")
    • Kitab Tafsīr Nūr al-thaqalayn.  5 vols. ed. Hashim  al-Rasuli al-Maḥalatti.  Qum: al-Matba`ah al-`Ilmiyya, 1383-5/1963-5
    • Kitab Tafsīr Nūr al-thaqalayn.  5 vols. ed. Hashim  al-Rasuli al-Maḥalatti.  Qum: al-Matba`ah al-`Ilmiyya, 1383-5/1963-5
    •  Kitāb Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, 8 vols. ed. `Ali `Ashūr. Beirut: Mu`assasat al-Tarīkh al-`Arabī,  2001. *

     

     

    al Aḥsā’ī =  Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī  (b. Ḥasa [Aḥsa] 11XX/17XX - d. Medina 1241/1826).

    Early Qajar period Arab born Shi`i philosopher and mystic who lived for many years in Persia-Iran and whose followers were known as al-Shaykhiyya (Shaykhis) or Kashfiyya ("Disclosers") and Balasaris (Ritually, "Facing the Head")... Many of his numerous writings and treatises are expository of the Qur'ān and related Hadith texts.

    • Tafsīr Sūrat al-tawhīd wa āyat al-nūr . This was written in reply to Sayyid Muhammad Bakā'  and printed within vol.1 of the Jawāmi` al-kalim,
    •  Tafsīr Sūrat al-tawhīd 2nd ed. in Majmū`a al-rasā'il al-ḥikma'  (2nd ed.) Kirmān: Maṭba`at al-Sa`āda, 1379/ 1960. pp.1-16. *
    • trans. Stephen Lambden (forthcoming) URL: http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SHAYKHISM/AL-AHSA'I.htm
    • Jawāmi` al kalim. (= JK. ) 2 vols. Tabrīz: Muhammad Tāqī Nakhjavānī, 1273/1856-7 .  Vol.1 / i, ii and iii and 1276 /1859-60 = vol. 2/i and ii. *

    Rashtī, Sayyid Kāzim  (d. Karbala, 1259/1843).

    = Sayyid Kazim Ibn Sayyid Qāsim Muhammad Kāẓim al-Hāshimi.. al-Ḥusaynī...

    The Persian born second head of al-Shaykhiyya (Shaykhism) after Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'ī (see above). Qajar period Persian mystical philosopher and exegete.

     

    al-`Ālūsī =  Abū al-Thanā' Shihāb al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn `Abd-Allāh Baghdādī  al-`Ālūsī (d.1270/1854). 

    An important`Alid Sunni scholar and commentator of  19th century Baghdad. 

    • Ruh = Rūḥ al-ma` ānī fī Tafsīr al- Qur'ān al- 'azīm wa al-sab' al-mathānī, ("The Spirit of the Meaning in the Commentary upon the Mighty Qur'ān") 30 vols, in 15, Cairo 1345/1926.

    • Rūḥ al-ma`ānī fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-`azāīm wa-sab` al-mathānī, Cairo, 1353; reprint 30 vols. in 15, Beirut, 1405/1985.

    • Rūḥ al-ma` ānī fī Tafsīr al- Qur'ān al- 'azīm wa al-sab' al-mathānī, 30 vols, in 15 + Index vol. 16.  Dār al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyyah, 1415/ 1994.*

     

     

     

    SELECT 19TH-21ST CENT. MODERN ISLAMIC

    AND WESTERN ACADEMIC ARTICLES ON THE  ISOLATED LETTERS OF THE QUR'AN.

     

     

     

    al-Ṭabāṭabā'ī =  Sayyid Muhammad Ḥusayn al-Ṭabāṭabā'ī  (d. 1981). Iranian Shi`i philosopher and exegete.

    • al-Mizan fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān. Tehran: ADD 1366/1947.
    • al-Mīzān fl tafsīr al-Qur'ān. 20 vols. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-A'lamī lil-Maţbu'at, 1394/1974.
    • al-Mizan fī  tafsīr al-Qur'ān, 20 vols. Beirut: Mu 'assat al-A'lami li al-Matbu'at, 1394/1974. *
    • al-Mizan : fī  Tafsīr al-Qur'ān The al-Mizan Website, 1999 : http://www.almizan.org/
    • http://www.almizan.org/
    • Rizvi, Sayyid Saeed Akhtar, trans. al-Mizan: An Exegesis of the Qur'ān. 5 vols. Teheran: WOfī s, 1983- .
       

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Appendix :

    Select 19th-20th century Post-Islamic Babi-Baha'i interpretations of the isolated letters

     

    Sayyid `Ali Muhamamd Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850 CE).

    • Tafsīr [Ḥurūf al-] Basmala (= Bismillāh al-Raḥman al-Raḥīm). TBA Ms. 6014C fols. 301-370..
    • ADD
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    Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri, Baha-Allah (1917-1850 CE)

    • Tafsir Basmala. On the basmalah and its component letters, etc.
    • Tafsir on Q. 68:1a including the letters of the basmala, the isolated letter ن nūn) and verse 1a , "By the Pen!"
    • ADD
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    `Abbas Effendi, `Abd al-Baha' (1844-1921CE).

    • Tafsir Basmala/ Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Makatib-i Hadrat-i `Abdu'l-Baha' Vol.
    • ADD
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    BAHA'I WRITERS

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