Jalalayn

Agus Subandi,Drs.MBA
Tafsīr al-Jalālayn
By:
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī
TRANSLATED BY
Feras Hamza
Edited and with an Introduction by
Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal
The Complete Text
© 2007 Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
Amman, Jordanii
General Editor’s Introduction and Foreword
Introduction to Tafsīr al-Jalālayn
The fifteenth-century Qur’anic commentary or Tafsīr of ‘the two Jalāls’ (al-Jalālayn) — the Egyptian
Shafi‘i-madhhab scholar Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Maḥallī (d. 864 AH / 1459 CE), and his (also
Egyptian) student the famous ‘ālim and polymath, Jalāl al-Dīn 'Abd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī (d. 911
AH / 1505 CE) — is one of the most popular Tafsīrs in the Islamic world, perhaps even the most popular
Tafsīr. Copies of it are available in almost every bookshop and library in the Arab and Islamic world, in
dozens of different editions, and it sits, well-loved and respected, in countless homes, schools and mosques
all over the world. Moreover, of the great Sunni Orthodox Classical Tafsīrs — what might be called the
‘unofficial Sunni Canon’ of Tafsīr — namely, the Tafsīrs of Ṭabarī, Rāzī, Qurṭubī, Bayḍāwī, Ibn Kathīr and
Jalālayn, it is by far the shortest and easiest to read and understand. Consequently, it is invariably read as
an introduction to Classical Tafsīrs — or even to Tafsīr as such — such that for millions of students and
adults who never go further into the subject, it is the only Tafsīr they ever come to know extensively. Finally,
because it is so accessible and ubiquitous, and because in Arabic it is always printed in a single volume, in
the margins of the Qur’an itself (where it fits quite easily and legibly), it is habitually used as an instant
reference work for words in the Qur’an whose meaning is not immediately clear to the modern reader, and
this arguably is its real forte. It is thus an immensely successful and influential work not just as the classic
introduction to Tafsīr, but also as the standard reference work for the language of the Qur’an.

The Method and Strategy of Tafsīr al-Jalālayn

The Tafsīr al-Jalālayn is usually categorized as a Tafsīr bil-Ma'thūr — that is, a ‘commentary based
upon transmitted knowledge’ (from the Ḥadīth, the first Tafsīrs and the early Islamic history books, usually)
— this being the primary category of perhaps six or seven traditional categories of Tafsīr.
[1]
This, however, is
deceptive. In fact, in addition to the material handed down from the time of the Prophet Muhammad
(p.b.u.h.), the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn uses a number of different approaches to explaining the Qur’anic text, not
all of which can be attributed only to transmitted Tradition or tafsīr bil-ma'thūr. These include precisely
‘linguistic commentary’, ‘legal or Shari‘ah commentary’ and tafsīr bil-tafsīr as mentioned below (as different
categories of commentaries). They also include, however, a few other elements, perhaps no less important.
Thus, in addition to: (1) giving transmitted explanations and quoting ḥadīths about Qur’anic verses, (2)
providing Arabic synonyms for difficult Qur’anic words, (3) elaborating on legal explanations of verses
according (mostly) to the Shafi‘i school of jurisprudence, and (4) putting into context, perspective and
mutual definition verses from the Qur’an using other verses about related matters (i.e. practicing tafsīr biltafsīr), the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn uses the following Commentary strategies:
(5) It gives the Asbāb al-Nuzūl (the ‘occasions for Revelation’, that is, what was happening to and
around the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) when a verse or verses were Revealed (ostensibly in answer to these
circumstances) for selected verses when they are known (this of course is a purely Ma'thūr element of
Commentary).
(6) It indicates which verses are abrogated (mansūkh) and which verses abrogate (nāsikh), (this
should be a purely ma'thūr element, but is arguably not always so).
(7) It notes the seven (or ten) different ‘readings’ (qirā’āt) of the Holy Qur’an and briefly discusses
their divergent emphases.
(8) It discusses the grammar of the Qur’an according to that of the Arabic language, and explains
the arcane grammatical forms occasionally to be found in the Qur’an.
(9) It clarifies many Arabic and Qur’anic linguistic tropes by filling in deliberate omissions and
ellipses strategically employed in the Qur’an, and by suggesting meanings for synecdoche, metonymy,
metaphor and allusion used in Arabic.
(10) Finally, it fills in, based largely on the Bible and its Rabbinical and Patristic Commentaries
gleaned mostly from early Christian and Jewish converts to Islam (and therefore containing some confused,
polemical and apocryphal material), the historical order, details and context of many of the stories in the iii
Qur’an concerning the Biblical Prophets and Jesus (p.b.u.h.) and his family and disciples. This element is
known in Arabic as Isrā’īliyyāt (‘Tales of the Children of Israel’) and is generally thought of as not only the
most controversial part of Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, but of Tafsīr in general, because of the tenuousness of some of
the material involved. However, it is extremely useful for understanding the background — and therefore
also the meaning (symbolic or otherwise) — of many of the tales of the Qur’an, such that few if any Classical
Commentaries have ever able been able to ignore it.
Reading the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, one immediately understands that, despite the number of elements
and strategies that its authors employ (as just listed), its primary and overriding goal — one might say its
‘categorical imperative’ — is only to clarify the immediate sense of the Qur’anic text, thereby facilitating the
reading of the Qur’an. There are no digressions, no distractions, no embellishments, nothing superfluous,
and nothing whose sole purpose is not to elucidate an ambiguity in the text of the Qur’an or to explain
something that is not self-evident.
[2]
Moreover, the commentary itself is made to fit in between the verses or
phrases or words of the Qur’an without interrupting its sense as read, thereby generally forming one
continuous, uninterrupted flow of holy text and commentary. It is thus as if the two Jalāls wanted to remove
any obstacles to understanding any word or sense in the holy text so that even the simplest reader might
recite the Qur’an and immediately understand at least its literal meaning. In this sense the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn
is what the word ‘Tafsīr’ literally means — an ‘explanation’ — and not what the word has come to mean by
extension (namely: ‘commentary’ or ‘interpretation’). This is doubtless what makes the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn
invaluable as an introductory classical tafsīr, and is the secret of its timeless popularity.

The Interpretation of the Holy Qur’an (Tafsīr) according to Personal Opinion (Ra'y)

Some of the partisans of Tafsīr bil-Ma'thūr (and today their ranks are swollen by the literalist
Fundamentalists) hold that any Tafsīr of the Qur’an based on personal opinion (ra'y), and not handed down
by tradition is forbidden. In this context, Ibn Kathir (who in this respect echoes the views of his teacher, Ibn
Taymiyyah), in the introduction to his Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-'Aẓīm, quotes this the following ḥadīth:
Whoever speaks of the Qur’an according to his own opinion or according to that of which he [or
she] has no knowledge, then let him assume his place in the Fire.
[3]
Other Islamic scholars, however, and amongst them Sunni scholars like Fakhr al-Din al-Rāzī and alGhazālī, argue that this hadith must be understood in the wider context of the Qur’an’s own injunctions
about its own interpretation as well the injunctions of other ḥadīth. The Holy Qur’an says:
He it is Who hath revealed unto thee [Muhammad] the Scripture wherein are verses which are clear
prescripts — they are the substance of the Book — and others [which are] allegorical. But those in
whose hearts is deviation follow that which is allegorical seeking [to cause] dissension and seeking
its interpretation. And none know its interpretation except God and those firmly grounded in
knowledge [who]
[4]
say: “We believe therein. It is all from our Lord”. And none remember except
those [people] of kernels. (Āl 'Imrān, 3:7)
And:
Will they not then meditate upon the Qur’an? If it had been from other than God they would have
found therein much discrepancy. / And if any tidings, whether of safety or fear, come unto them,
they proclaim it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and such of them as are in
authority, those among them who can interpret it among them would have known it. And were it
not for the bounty of God upon you and His Mercy, you would have surely followed Satan, save a
few [of you]. (Al-Nisā', 4: 82-83)
Thus there are, according to scholars, two types of verses in the Qur’an: (1) clear, legislative verses
(called ‘al-aḥkām’ by some scholars; see Hūd 11:1) that are not ‘open’ to interpretation, and (2) allegorical
verses (called ‘al-akhbār’ by some scholars; see Al-Zumar 39:23) that are ‘open’ to interpretation.
Following the first verses quoted above, Ghazālī maintains that the allegorical verses can licitly be
interpreted by individual readers based on their own opinions and understanding, but only upon the
following specific, strict conditions: (A) that the interpreter be completely familiar with all interpretations of
the Holy Qur’an attributed to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and his Companions, and that the individual iv
interpretation (ra’y) not contradict these; (B) that the individual interpretations (ra’y) not be used to
contradict any legislative verse (and presumably a fortiori anything that contradicts orthodox doctrine or
‘aqīdah); and (C) that the interpreter have mastered the Arabic language and not contradict the literal
meaning of any verse itself with his or her individual interpretation (ra'y). Ghazālī says:
It is false that hearing [from an authority] is a stipulation for Qur’anic interpretation. It is lawful for
everyone to elicit meaning from the Qur’an commensurate with his understanding and the limit of
the intelligence.
[5]
One who, without being prudent at outward exegesis, hastens to elicit deep meanings by mere
understanding of the Arabic language makes many mistakes and is included in the group of those
who explain the Qur’an by personal opinion (ra'y). Then transmission [from an authority] and
hearing [from him] are necessary for outward exegesis first, so that the exegete may, by them, be
safe in places where mistakes are likely to be made. After this, understanding will be wide and the
eliciting of deep meanings will be possible.
[6]
In this and similar [questions] only knowledge which has been transmitted and heard (al-naql walsamā‘) is of any use. The Qur’an, from its beginning to its end, is not lacking in [rhetorical figures
of] this kind, and, because it was revealed in the language of the Arabs, it includes such figures of
their speech such as conciseness (ījāz), prolixity (taṭwīl), ellipsis (iḍmār), omission (ḥadhf),
substitution (ibdāl), and preposition and postposition (taqdīm wa ta'khīr), all of which served to
dumbfound the Arabs and render them unable to imitate it. Anyone who is satisfied with an
understanding of the outward aspect alone of the Arabic language, and who then hastens to explain
the Qur’an without having recourse to that knowledge which has been transmitted and heard (alnaql wal-samā‘) in these matters, is to be counted among those who explains the Qur’an by their
personal opinions (ra'y). For example, a person may understand the term umma in its most widely
known meaning, and in his nature and opinion he may incline towards that meaning. However, if he
then encounters the term in another place, he may still incline in his opinion towards that widelyknown meaning which he has previously heard, and he will neglect to pursue what has been
transmitted with respect to that term’s many other meanings. It is possible that this is what is
prohibited [in the hadith that: Whoever speaks of the Qur’an according to his own opinion or
according to that of which he [or she] has no knowledge, then let him assume his place in the Fire]
and not the understanding of the secret meanings [of the Qur’an].
[7]
As evidence for the permissibility of individual interpretation, Al-Ghazālī points to the saying of the
Caliph ‘Alī explaining how he had an understanding of the Qur’an in addition to that which was related by
the Prophet (p.b.u.h.):
The Messenger of God (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) did not hide from me anything
which he concealed from people, except that God (Great and Mighty is He) bestows upon a man
understanding of His Book.
[8]

‘Understanding’ of the Qur’an is thus undeniable and perfectly legitimate, whereas ra'y (personal
opinion) is then reprehensible only when it is a deliberate wilful disobedience to the (aforementioned) rules
of Tafsīr.
Other scholars, Ibn ‘Arabi for instance, set ‘the bar’ even lower: they maintain that because God’s
knowledge in infinite and He foresaw all possible meanings of His text, all interpretations that are (A) literally
true according to the Arabic language and (B) do not contradict the Shari‘ah (in accordance with the
Qur’anic verse — 3:7 — as quoted earlier) are legitimate. Reprehensible ra’y is then only what contradicts
the literal Arabic text and the Shari‘ah:
Every sense (wajh) which is supported (iḥtimāl) by any verse in God’s Speech (kalām)—whether it is
the Qur’an, the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel or the Scripture—in the view of anyone who knows
that language (lisān) is intended (maqṣūd) by God in the case of that interpreter (muta’awwil). For
His knowledge encompasses all senses….
We say concerning the senses of a verse that all are intended by God. No one forces anything upon
God. On the contrary, it is an affair verified by God…. Hence when someone understands a sense
from the verse, that sense is intended by God in this verse in the case of the person who finds it. v
This situation is not found outside God’s Speech. Even though the words might support a sense, it
may be that it was not intended by the speaker; for we know that he is incapable of encompassing
all the senses of the words….
Hence, everyone who comments (tafsīr) on the Qur’an and does not go outside of what the words
support is a true commentator. However, “He who comments according to his opinion (ra’y)
becomes an unbeliever”—so it has been recorded in the hadith of Tirmidhī. But the commentary will
not be “according to his own opinion” until the speakers of that language do not recognize that
sense in that word.
[9]

* * *
This possibility of this kind of interpretation perhaps explains why the Qur’an calls for people (and
not merely qualified classical scholars) to reflect upon it for wisdom’s sake (and not for any social or
legislative reason) in verses such as:
Do they not reflect upon the Word, or has there come unto them anything that did come to their
fathers of old. (Al-Mu’minūn, 23:68)
[Here is] a Book which We have sent down unto thee, full of blessing, that they may reflect upon its
verses, and that those of cores may remember. (Ṣād, 38: 29)
Do they not meditate upon the Qur’an or do hearts have their locks upon them? (Muḥammad,
47:24)
Equally, this also perhaps explains why the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said:
Every verse [in the Qur’an] has an outer aspect and inner aspect and each [of these two aspects]
has a limit and a place of ascent.
[10]

For why would the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) provide us with these invaluable keys to interpretation if he
had meant for all interpretation apart from his own to be absolutely forbidden?
Finally, we note that God promised the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) the following in the Holy Qur’an:
Stir not thy tongue herewith to hasten it. / Lo! upon Us [resteth] the putting together thereof and
the reading thereof. / And when We read it, follow thou the reading; / Then lo! upon Us [resteth]
the explanation thereof. (Al-Qiyamah, 75:16-19)
Now Al-Ṭabarī quotes Ibn 'Abbās saying that ‘the putting together thereof’ of the Qur’an occurred in
the breast of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.). This meaning is affirmed in other Tafsirs including those of Fakhr al-Dīn
Al-Rāzī and Ibn Kathīr. However, whereas Al-Ṭabarī quotes a hadith relating the Divine Promise as regards
‘the explanation thereof’ of the Qur’an (after its ‘reading’) as being made to the Prophet himself, Fakhr AlDīn Al-Rāzī for one, does not limit the Divine Promise exclusively to the Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) (inspired)
explanation and ‘commentary’, especially since this commentary is not extant for the whole Qur’an and since
what is extant often requires correct understanding and elaboration. In other words, some authoritative and
orthodox commentators take the Divine Promise in the Qur’an to explain the Qur’an to be an ongoing
process (within of course certain parameters, such as the Prophet’s own commentary where it exists, the
limits of the Arabic language, the legislative verses, the ‘aqīdah and so on, as mentioned earlier). Wa Allāhu
A'lam: And God knows best.

* * *
There are, moreover, many interpretations of verses of the Qur’an going back to the Prophet himself
(p.b.u.h.) that indicate not only symbolical resonances
[11]
in the sacred verses of the Holy Qur’an, but also
distinct levels of both micro-macrocosmic
[12]
mirror-play and anagogical meanings in these verses (as
perhaps maybe indicated in the ḥadīth quoted above). For example, the Holy Qur’an says: vi
He sendeth down water from the sky, so that valleys are in flood with it, each according to its
capacity, and the flood beareth [on its surface] swelling foam—from that which they smelt into the
fire in order to make ornaments and tools riseth a foam like unto it—thus Allah coineth [the
similitude of] the Truth and falsehood. Then, as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the
banks, while as for that which profiteth mankind, it remaineth in the earth. Thus Allah coineth the
similitudes. (Al-Ra'd, 13:17)
Al-Ṭabarī reports
[13]
that according to Ibn 'Abbās (the Prophet’s—p.b.u.h.— cousin and student) the
valleys are a simile for people’s hearts (qulūb), the scum which passeth away is a simile for doubt (shakk),
and that which is of use to mankind and remaineth in the earth is a simile for certainty (yaqīn). This clearly
establishes a parallel between the earth or the world and human beings (and the worlds within them) and
between the sky and heaven. It also establishes (via the symbol of water) a parallel between the life of the
body and that of the heart and the soul. It thus implies micro-macrocosmic mirror-play and anagogical levels
of meaning in the Qur’an in general. In other words, it implies that the akhbar (or at least the similitudes or
amthāl within the akhbār) of the Holy Qur’an can be understood in a ‘inner’ sense in addition and parallel to
their literal outward meanings. Wa Allāhu A'lam: And God knows best.

* * *
One last point must be mentioned here on this subject: many mystics (such as Ibn 'Arabī and
Ruzbihān Baqlī) who wrote Commentaries on the Qur’an or on parts of it — and even a few ‘inspired
philosophers’, like Ibn Sīnā — claimed that their Commentaries, or parts of them, were not based on
‘individual opinion’ at all, but rather on ‘spiritual intuition’ or even ‘mystical inspiration’. Thus, they argued
that there was nothing individualistic or subjective about what they wrote because it did not come through
ordinary, rational thought. In other words, they claimed the censure against rational or subjective
speculation did not apply to them, since they wrote only what they ‘received’ passively from the uncreated
Intellect, ultimately through Divine inspiration. In this they claimed to be like the mysterious figure (known
as al-Khiḍr in the Commentaries) in the Sūrat al-Kahf, who was not a prophet as such and yet whom God
had given him mercy from [that which is] with Us and taught him knowledge from Our Presence (18:65)
such that he told Moses (p.b.u.h.), with reference to certain acts that he been inspired to commit: I will
announce to thee the interpretation of that which that couldst not bear with patience …. I did it not upon my
own command. Such is the interpretation of that wherewith thou couldst not bear (18:78-82). This they
claimed was precisely what was meant by the Caliph 'Alī’s (k.w.) saying that (as quoted earlier
[14]
): ‘God
(Great and Mighty is He) bestows upon a man understanding of His Book’. Now evidently, claiming this state
is a major claim for anyone to make, but the Commentators who made them (or some of them at least)
were precisely not just ‘anyone’, and what cannot be denied is that the Holy Qur’an itself seems to allow for
the possibility of exactly such a claim. Wa Allāhu A'lam: And God knows best.

* * *

Strategies and Methods not employed in the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, but used in other Commentaries
In order to better understand and situate the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn — and, indeed, tafsīr in general —
mention must be now made of all the Commentary strategies and methods the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn does not
use. These are:
(1) There is no Tafsīr bil-Ra’y of the kind just mentioned: the two authors never give their personal
opinions, never speculate, never give their thoughts and reactions, never cite poetry, adages or popular
sayings to illustrate a point, and always stick to what they understand of transmitted tradition.
(2) There are no mystical inspirations or spiritual insights about passages in the Qur’an of the kind
also just mentioned (notwithstanding a vision by Maḥallī’s brother, related at the end of the Sūrat al-Isrā',
wherein the two authors discuss their work after Maḥallī’s death). vii
(3) There are no theological discussions of God’s Names, Qualities, Attributes, Words or Sunan (such
as those great discussions to be found in Rāzī’s Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb), and in fact there is no Theology as such
at all to be found in the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn.
(4) There are no philosophical discussions based on the laws of logic, on syllogisms, induction,
deduction, and dialectic; equally there are no didactic and rhetorical questions and answers sessions of the
kind even Ṭabarī uses.
(5) There are no discussions of symbolism in the Qur’an of the kind described above: neither
microcosmic, nor anagogical nor even allegorical or moral. In fact, the very issue of symbolism is not even
broached, despite the ḥadīth and the Qur’anic verses mentioned earlier.
(6) There are no semantic investigations of Arabic words, and no citations of Jāhiliyya poetry as
semantic references and guarantees of the connotations, implications and nuances of the words in the
Qur’an.
(7) There is no etymological study of the roots of Arabic words and letters and their basic meanings:
every Arabic word can be traced to a tri-letteral or quadri-letteral root, and these roots have a basic meaning
which is usually connected to some natural (and hence desert) phenomenon; from these ‘root words’ dozens
of forms and hundreds of derivatives are produced, such that once the root word is known the form and the
meaning of any derivative word can be deduced. Thus etymology in Arabic, more than in modern languages,
is extremely useful in understanding the exact meaning and behaviour of any indigenous word. The Tafsīr
al-Jalālayn, however, does not delve into this.
(8) Anterior to even the meaning of root words in Arabic is the archetypal meaning of the 28 Arabic
letters themselves which make up every word in the Arabic language (and ultimately their root meanings),
and each one of which has a form, a sound, a behaviour, and even a corresponding number that exactly
reflects its archetypal meaning. These archetypal meanings in turn translate into universal principles and
thus into lunar house (there are 28 or 29 traditional lunar houses), so that all existent things can ultimately
be associated with one of them. This idea — the idea that there is a perfect symbolism and exact meaning
to every aspect of the Arabic letters — is evidently a difficult and esoteric idea, but it is precisely the
foundation of a number of arcane but sacred sciences in Islam. Moreover, more importantly for Tafsīr, 29 of
the Qur’an’s 114 Sūras or Chapters start with Arabic letters enunciated on their own without forming words
(e.g. Alif, Lām, Mīm; Nūn; Qāf; Ṣād, and so on). The Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, however, completely ignores this
issue, and when it comes to these letters at the beginning of Sūras merely remarks: “God knows better what
is meant by this”.
(9) The Tafsīr al-Jalālayn does not explore the traditional Gharā'ib al-Qur’ān (‘the wondrous-strange
features of the Qur’an’), and does not address or explain the more complex linguistic tropes to be found in
it: it does not explain possible meanings clothed by rhetoric, hyperbole and tautology; it does not delve into
puzzling juxtapositions and zeugmas; and does not resolve apparent antinomies and dialectics. It passes
over these mines of secret wisdom with very little gloss.
(10) More unusually for a tafsīr bil-ma'thūr, the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn gives no isnāds (chains of
transmission) for any of the hadiths it quotes, and mentions earlier Tafsīrs to which it is heavily indebted
(primarily Ṭabarī) only rarely. This is evidently, as mentioned earlier, in order to keep the Tafsīr as simple as
possible, since in Suyūṭī’s al-Durr al-Manthūr, all isnāds are given.
(11) With the occasional exception (e.g. the last verses of Sūrat al-Isrā' and Sūrat al-Sajda) the
Tafsīr al-Jalālayn — and this too is unusual for a tafsīr bil-ma'thūr — does not relate the Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān: in
many of the traditional collections of hadith there are specific sections devoted to what Prophet (p.b.u.h.)
related about the merits of certain verses of the Qur’an and about effects of reciting them at certain times.
These are known as ‘Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān’ — literally, ‘the bounties or excellences of the Qur’an’ — and
constitute the basis of Islamic supererogatory prayer litanies. They are thus extremely important to
practising Muslims, and thus constitute perhaps the strangest omission in the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, since they
are relatively brief and few, and would have been easy to relate.
(12) There is, in the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, no calling attention to the ‘inner architecture’ of the Qur’an,
showing exactly why certain words and near-synonyms are used in given contexts and not others, in the
fashion made so famous by the late popular Azharī Sheikh and Commentator Muḥammad Mitwallī AlSha'rāwī (but which has existed since the first centuries of Islam — witness for example al-Ḥākim alTirmidhī’s third-century AH Bayān al-Farq bayn al-Ṣadr wal-Qalb wal-Fu'ād wal-Lubb
[15]
). viii
(13-14) There are obviously no modern political musings on Qur’anic verses, of the kind to be found
in Seyyed Quṭb’s Fī Ẓilāl al-Qur'ān. Nor are there any modern scientific interpretations of Qur’anic verses
about cosmological, biological or even historical principles or facts — in order to show that the Qur’an
miraculously anticipated/agrees with modern science and research despite being over 1,000 years older than
them — of the kind to be found for example in the writings of the late Maurice Bucaille, Dr Zaghlul Najjar, or
in the Tafsīr of Tanṭāwī Jawharī.
(15) Finally, the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn usually (that is, over 95% of the time) only gives one meaning for
the Qur’anic text (and at most, three alternate meanings) unlike, for example, Al-Ṭabarī who so often gives
many possible different meanings and then sometimes gives preponderance to one or two of these. This it
does despite the existence of different hadiths and reports from the Companions confirming more than one
meaning of many verses, and despite (as discussed earlier) verses of the Qur’an enjoining meditation upon
the Qur’an, and hadiths indicating many possible meanings of at least the Qur’an’s ‘allegorical’ verses. This is
the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn greatest weakness, but perhaps also its greatest strength for it is precisely what makes
the work so accessible.
In summary then, it can be said that despite the great erudition and wide range of Commentary
strategies employed in the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, there are even more strategies which the Tafsīr has in general
deliberately not employed. Living as they did, more or less after the end of the Classical Tradition of
Commentary, its two authors had the advantage of having easy access to the great works of Classical Tafsīrs
and to their methods, but they deliberately summarized, streamlined or simplified these in order to stay
focused on their one overriding aim: to make the literal meaning of the Holy Qur’an completely intelligible in
the simplest possible way!

The Science and Art of Translation
Translation — and a fortiori translation of sacred texts which are all-important for man — should,
above all, convey ‘the meaning, the whole meaning and nothing but the meaning’ of the original text. This
means that in general the translation should be as literal as possible. It should try to keep the word order as
close to that of the Arabic as possible and, more important perhaps, try to consistently use the same
translation for the same word in different places in order to convey something of the system of inner
architecture and allusions of the Arabic text. However, when the literal meaning in the translated language
does not convey the exact sense of the original, it should depart from the literal words and give as precise a
translation of the meaning as possible. Indeed, this is perhaps the most common mistake of translation, as
most people do not realize that the meaning of words, when used in idiom, is often slightly different from
their literal meaning, and conversely that an idiom may be used to translate something whose literal
meaning does not suggest it. Obviously, however, literal translations should also beware of not quite making
sense in the language into which the text is translated, and of being grammatically incorrect. On the other
hand, even worse are translations which, in the attempt to use ‘good English’ (or whatever the translated
language is) or ‘poetic language’ take license with the literal text or its meaning. Thus translation must, as it
were, steer a ‘middle course’ between meaning and language — between, in a sense, ‘science’ and ‘art’—
but leaning always on the side of meaning when the two diverge.
This requires three major qualities in a translator: that (1) he or she knows the language of the
original text perfectly; that (2) he or she knows the language into which the text is being translated
perfectly, and (3) that he or she fully understands at least the literal meaning of the text they are
translating.
With the Holy Qur’an, which is the Word of God who is Omniscient, fully understanding the sacred
text — and consequently understanding all its meanings — is humanly impossible. Translation is thus with
the Holy Qur’an itself always only a question of interpretation of the Qur’an’s immediate, ‘surface’ meaning
with little if any of its linguistic beauty, mystery, holiness, miraculous nature, depth, symbolic resonances
and layers of meaning. Nevertheless this interpretation is a vital endeavour since the majority of Muslims in
the world do not know Arabic. Moreover, Tafsīr itself — having human authors who are not omniscient and
who therefore mean a finite amount of things with their words — is much easier to translate (when it is not
actually quoting the Holy Qur’an) than the sacred text itself and therefore can be accurately if not rendered
into another language. ix

The Present Translation

The present text was translated by the Iraqi-English scholar Dr Feras Hamza and edited by Dr Reza
Shah-Kazemi, Dr Yousef Meri and myself. I believe it to be particularly commendable for its commitment to
the meaning of the original, and even, where possible, to its word order. It will easily stand-up to academic
scrutiny, and at the same time it is accessible to the simplest of readers, for whom in fact it was meant. It is
also bound in shā' Allāh to attract academic attention for the simple reason that it is the first classical Tafsīr
to appear in toto in English ever!
[16]
Its publication should thus be an event of some significance not only for
Islamic studies in English, but for English-speaking Muslims interested in further study of the Holy Qur’an.

The Aal al-Bayt Institute’s Great Tafsīr Project
This translation and publication of Jalālayn’s Tafsīr was commissioned by the Aal al-Bayt Institute for
Islamic Thought, for its Great Tafsīr Project (see: www.altafsir.com). The Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic
Thought is an international Islamic charitable institute based in Jordan whose mission is to ‘preserve, protect
and propagate traditional Islamic thought, spirituality, culture, heritage and unity’. It is unique in the modern
world because its charter specifically the seven madhhabs (the four Sunni madhhabs — Shafi‘i, Hanafi,
Maliki, Hanbali — the Shi‘i Ja‘fari and Zaydi madhhabs, and the Ibadi madhhab), and Islamic Theology,
Philosophy and Mysticism. It consists of a centre in Amman, Jordan that undertakes charitable intellectual
projects for the Islamic Nation or Umma, and an international fellowship comprising up to one hundred
senior fellows and fifty fellows selected from the top scholars, sheikhs, imams, jurists, qadis, religious affairs
ministers, philanthropists and religious activists of the entire Islamic world from over forty countries, who
meet every other year in Jordan to explore and discuss a given theme, and publish the result of their
symposium.
One of the many projects underta ken by the Aa l al-Bayt Ins ti tut e’s cent re in Jordan i s the
aforement ioned Great Tafsīr Projec t. Thi s project consist s ma inl y of a un ique f ree webs it e
( cur rent l y v is ited by an average of over a mil lion v is i tors a year but bui lt to hand le 100x that
numbe r) of over a hundred of Islam’ s greates t Tafsīrs ( f rom al l madhhabs, and from every epoch
and country, some of which have never been properly edited or published in book form) and
es sent ia l resource s fo r the s tudy of the Hol y Qur ’an and Tafsīr (s uch as a word- for-word
concordance et c.), in addi t ion to around twent y t rans lat ions of the Qur’an in to the wor ld’s majo r
languages ; to a number of spec ia lly comm iss ioned t rans lations of var ious Class i cal Tafsīrs into
English and to on-line t i lāwa and tajwīd (ora l reci tat ion) of the Qu r ’an in al l di f ferent readings
(qi rā’āt) and tones (maqāmāt). The whole project thus consists of around a million pages,
(hundreds of vo lumes , wor th thousands of do l lars in book- form) t yped-in (and not s canned — this
is unique, but necessary in order to have search engines within the Tafsīrs themselves) to the
altafs i r. com websi te. Es sent ia l ly , it is an ef fo rt to make the Word of God and the sum total of what
men have understood and written about it throughout history available, for free, to the whole of
humani t y , at the c l i ck of a bu t ton.
[ 1 7 ]

This trans lation of Jalālayn is the f ir s t to be comp leted of the ser ies of trans lat ions of Tafsīr
commis s ioned espec iall y for the Aa l al -Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought’s Great Tafsīr Project (the
others, to date, include Ibn 'Abbās, Wāḥidī, Tusṭarī, Bayḍāwī, Kāshānī, Qushayrī, Ṭabarī, Nasafī,
Suyūṭ ī’s I tqān, and in sha Allah Fa khr Al-Din Al-Rāzī) . In addit ion me re l y pos t ing i t on the in ternet ,
i t is a great honour and bles s ing fo r us to be able to publi sh in book fo rm. We pray that God fo rgive
us any mistakes and inadequacies in it. x
HRH Pr ince Dr . Ghaz i b in Muhammad b i n Ta lal
Profes sor of I s lamic Philosophy , Jordan Un i ver s i t y ;
Founder and Di rector of the Great Ta f s ir Projec t;
Chai rman of the Board of T rus tee s ,
Aal al -Bay t In s t i tute for I s lami c Though t
Amman, Jordan
2007 CE/1428 AH

xi
Translator’s Introduction
The Tafsīr al-Jalālayn (‘The Commentary of the Two Jalāls’) is one of the most well-known and
popular commentaries that have come down to us from the medieval Islamic period. It is the work of a
teacher, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Maḥallī (d. 864/1459), and his student, Jalāl al-Dīn 'Abd alRaḥmān al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505). Al-Suyūṭī himself informs us (see his comments at the end of Q. 17) that
his teacher, al-Maḥallī, had composed a commentary (on the Fātiḥa, and from sūrat al-Kahf, Q. 18, to sūrat
al-Nās, Q. 114), which he then completed with a commentary on the remainder (the more substantial
section from sūrat al-Baqara, Q. 2 to the end of sūrat al-Isrā', Q. 17). In its formal structure, this Sunni
commentary is of the type known as musalsal (‘chained’) commentary, a step-by-step explanation of key
aspects of the Qur'ānic narrative, allowing for quicker reference and digestion of the text.
[18]
The method of
exegesis used is known as tafsīr bi’l-ma'thūr (‘exegesis according to reports’), which means that it draws
principally upon the ḥadīth narrations that go back to the Prophet, the Companions (ṣaḥāba) and prominent
figures from among the Successor (tābi'ūn) generation.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī was an Egyptian Shāfi'ī scholar and jurist who wrote treatises on law and legal
theory. He wrote a number of ‘commentaries’ (sharḥ) on works of other authors, the most prominent of
which are a sharḥ on Jam' al-jawāmi' (‘The Collected collections’) of Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 771/1370),
entitled al-Badr al-ṭāli' fī ḥall jam' al-jawāhir (‘The Rising Full Moon Concerning the Resolution of the
Collection of Jewels’), another on the Minhāj al-ṭālibīn (‘The Path of the Knowledge-seekers’) by al-Nawawī
(d. 675/1277), which is actually mentioned by al-Suyūṭī in this commentary at the point where he takes over
from al-Maḥallī,
[19]
and one on al-Juwaynī’s (d. 478/1085) al-Waraqāt fī uṣūl al-dīn (‘Notes Concerning
Jurisprudence’).
Of the ‘two Jalāls’, however, by far the more prolific and better known is al-Suyūṭī, who also lived
most of his life in Cairo. At a very young age, he was already teaching Shāfi'ī law, even giving some fatwas,
and, as the famous Ibn Ḥajar al-'Asqalānī had once done, al-Suyūṭī dictated ḥadīth in the mosque of Ibn
Ṭulūn, where al-Suyūṭī’s father had been a preacher. Al-Suyūṭī had a prodigious memory (as he himself was
sometimes wont to note), and it is said that he knew by heart all the ḥadīths that had come to his
knowledge (some 200,000). His rapid development and rise to fame earned him the envy of fellow scholars,
something to which his numerous ‘response’ works (al-radd 'alā) attest; the most famous of his rivals was
Muḥammad al-Sakhāwī (d. 902/1497). Such rivalry was further fuelled by al-Suyūṭī’s claims, sometime
before the end of the 9
th
Muslim century, to have reached the rank of mujtahid in Shāfi'ī law and to be the
‘renewer’ of Islam (mujaddid) for that era. Al-Suyūṭī, however, gradually became disenchanted by public life,
particulary, by what he saw as the corrupt and ignorant scholarly milieu of his time.
As well as being a legal expert, al-Suyūṭī wrote on history: his best-known works in this field are the
Ta'rīkh al-khulafā' (‘History of the Caliphs’), and his Egyptian history, Ḥusn al-muḥāḍara (‘The Excellent
Lecture’). He was also interested in the sciences related to the Arabic language, as can be seen in the
Jalālayn commentary. Other well-known works are al-Durr al-manthūr fī'l-tafsīr bi'l-ma'thūr (‘The Scattered
Pearls Of Traditional Exegesis’), focusing exclusively on ḥadīth, and his Lubāb al-nuqūl fī asbāb al-nuzūl
(‘The Prime Entries Concerning the Occasions of Revelation’), dealing with the circumstances of Qur'ānic
verse revelation, which one frequently finds appended in the margins of modern editions of the Tafsīr alJalālayn;
[20]
in addition to these one might also mention his al-Itqān fī 'ulūm al-Qur'ān (‘Mastery of the
Sciences of the Qur'ān’). On a personal level, al-Suyūṭī was a devoted Sufi and in a number of works he
sought to explain the harmony that must exist between commitment to the Sufi ṭarīqa and the individual’s
obligation to the Divine sharī'a.
[21]
xii
Glossary of Grammatical Terms
There is no hard and fast way to translate the technical terms used in Arabic grammar. Of course,
there are some which may be rendered by obvious English equivalents; but for the most part it is difficult to
reflect, in translation, the malleability of the grammatical terminology when used in Arabic. Indeed, one
might ask whether it serves any purpose translating the grammatical discussions at all. But as these
discussions may be of value to those interested in grammar, and particularly, in the grammar employed in
the text of the Qur’ān, it has been decided to assist the non-Arabic reader by translating as much of these
discussions as is possible. The list below summarises the way, not ideal by any means, in which the
ubiquitous grammatical terminology, has been translated. The reader should note that the translations given
below relate to how they seem to be used by the authors of al-Jalālayn; certain terms may be translated
differently in the context of other authors or works.

'ā'id, referential pronoun.
'alamiyya, proper noun.
amr, imperative or command.
'āmil (fī), operator of.
aṣl, original form (of conjugated verb).
'aṭf, supplement (to); 'aṭf bayān, explicative supplement.
badal, substitution, substitutes for (yubaddal minhu etc.); badal ishtimāl, an inclusive substitution; badal
bayān, explication; li’l-bayān, explicative.
binā' li’l-fā'il, active (voice of the) verb.
binā' li’l-maf'ūl, passive (voice of the) verb.
ḍamīr, pronoun, person of the verb; ḍ. al-sha'n, pronoun of the matter; ḍ. munfaṣil, free pronoun; ḍ.
muttaṣil, suffixed pronoun; ḍ li’l-faṣl, separating pronoun.
du'ā', invocation (vocative).
fā'il, subject of the verb.
fāṣila, fawāṣil, end-rhyme of Qur'ānic verses (in a particular sequence).
bi’l-fawqāniyya, to read a verbal form in the 2
nd
person (with an initial tā').
ghāya, ghā'iyya, to denote a purpose or an end.
ḥadhf, omission (maḥdhūf, omitted).
ḥāl, a circumstantial qualifier.
hamzat al-waṣl, conjunctive hamza.
hamzat al-istifhām, interrogative hamza.
ḥaqīqī, literal.
ibtidā', equational (sentence); li’l-ibtidā', for inceptiveness.
iḍāfa, (genitive) annexation; muḍāf, the element annexed (kitābu, in kitābu’Llāhi, ‘the Book of God’); muḍāf
ilayhi, the object of the annexation (Allāh, in kitābu’Llāhi).
idghām, assimilation of a letter that appears in the original (conjugated) form of verb.
iḍrāb, (used mostly with words like bal, ‘nay’) to turn away from, in refutation (of a previous statement etc.).
iltifāt, shift in (grammatical) person ('an al-ghayba, from the third to the second person; 'an al-khiṭāb, from
the second to the third person).
inkār, for denial, rejection, rebuttal.
intiqāl, to effect a transition (to a new topic or clause; cf. iḍrāb), in effect, metastasis. xiii
i'rāb, syntax.
ishbā', lengthening the vowel, or writing it out in full.
ishāra, demonstrative noun.
ism fā'il, active participle.
ism fi'l, noun of action.
ism inna, the subject of inna.
ism maf'ūl, passive noun.
istifhām, interrogative; istifhām inkārī, or li’l-istinkār, [rhetorical] interrogative meant as disavowal; istifhām
li’l-tawbīkh, [rhetorical] interrogative meant as a rebuke.
isti'nāf, musta'nafa, new (independent) sentence.
istithnā', exception: munqaṭi', discontinuous (exception), muttaṣil, continuous (exception).
li’l-ittisā', (in iḍāfa constructions), to allow for a range [of alternatives] or scope.
jār, preposition or particle rendering following noun in genitive case; majrūr, noun in genitive case because
of preceding jār.
jawāb, response (to conditional, oath etc.).
jazm, apocopation; majzūm, apocopated; jāzim, apocopating (particle).
jins (ism al-jins), generic (collective) noun.
('alā) al-jiwār, (on account of) adjacency.
khabar, predicate.
khabariyya (of particles), relating to, or functioning as, the predicate.
khafḍ, placing noun in the genitive case (by preceding particle or preposition, al-khāfiḍ).
lafẓ, (morphological) form.
mabnī, invariable (indeclinable).
maf'ūl lahu, (direct) object denoting reason (for the verbal action).
maf'ūl ma'ahu, object of ‘accompaniment’.
maḥall, status, locus, functions as.
majāz, figurative or metaphorical (also kināya).
ma'nā, import or sense.
ma'rifa, definite noun.
maṣdar, a verbal noun.
maṣdariyya (of particles), relating to the verbal action.
ma'mūl, ma'mūla (li-), operated by.
manṣūb, or nuṣiba, 'alā al-madḥ, is in the accusative because it is a laudative.
mubtada', subject (of a nominal sentence).
muhmala, undotted ('ayn).
mu'jama, a dotted letter.
muta'alliq, (semantically) connected to (also, ta'allaq bi-).
muthallatha, three-dot letter (thā').
muwaḥḥada, single dot letter (nūn or bā').
nafī, negation.
nakira, indefinite noun. xiv
na't, description.
naz', omission (usually of jār preposition or particle).
nidā', vocative.
nūn al-raf', the nūn of independence (marker of the indicative mood).
rad', prevention, rebuttal, thwarting.
sababiyya, causative (expressing cause).
ṣarf, declinable; muni'a li’l-ṣarf, indeclinable.
sharṭ, conditional clause; ṣharṭiyya, conditional (particle).
ṣifa, adjectival qualification (waṣf).
ṣīgha, form.
ṣila, relative clause; mawṣūl (-a), relative noun or pronoun.
li’l-tab'īḍ, partitive.
tabkīt, rebuke, reproof.
tafsīr, explanation; yufassiruhu, explained by (sc. governed by).
taghlīb, predominance (of one element over others, all subsumed by the same expression or noun).
bi’l-taḥtāniyya, to read a verb form in the 3
rd
person (with an initial yā').
taḥqīq, full pronounciation (of a hamza).
ta'jīb, to provoke amazement; ta'ajjub (istifhām), meant to indicate amazement.
takhfīf, softened form, without shadda (opposite of tashdīd).
ta'kīd, emphasis.
ta'līl, to justify or provide reason for.
ta'allaqa bi, (semantically) connected to (usually to a preceding verb).
tamannī, optative (‘wish’) particle or clause.
tanbīh, (of vocative particles, yā) for exclamation or calling attention to.
tankīr, to make noun indefinite.
taqdīr, understand a word or clause as implied or implicit (muqaddar, quddir, yuqaddar).
taqrīr, affirmation; istifhām li'l-taqrīr, interrogative meant as affirmative.
taṣghīr, diminutive (muṣaghghar).
tashdīd, doubling (usually of second consonant of root).
tashīl, non pronounciation (of hamza).
tathlīth, to read the second consonant of the verbal root with all three inflections (ḍamma, fatḥa and kasra).
tawbīkh, rebuke.
thaqīla, (usually of particles) doubled, with shadda.
waḍ' (or iqāmat) al-ẓāhir mawḍi' (or maqām) al-muḍmar, to replace a pronominalisation with an overt noun
(and vice versa).

Conventions
The honorific for the Prophet ṣallā Llāhu 'alayhi wa-sallam (‘may God bless him and grant him peace’) is
given as ṣ in parentheses (ṣ), for the sake of brevity. The term ḥanīf has not been translated, but it should
generally be understood to describe those who had, prior to the advent of Islam, a monotheistic tendency,
thought by Muslim tradition to be the remaining followers of the faith of Abraham. The term tawḥīd appears xv
in almost every other verse; it is difficult to translate succinctly in English, since it denotes the concept of
‘God being One’, the affirmation of God’s Oneness as well as belief in, or profession of, the statement, ‘there
is no god but God’. The term īmān is generally translated ‘belief’, occasionally, ‘faith’, depending on which of
the two nuances the Arabic favours in a given context. The term islām has been translated as ‘submission’.
The reader should also note that kufr (kuffār, kafarū, yakfurūn) has different nuances according to context,
and they are: to ‘deny’ or to ‘disbelieve in’, to ‘be an disbeliever’ (a kāfir) or to ‘be ungrateful’ (for God’s
blessings).
Biblical names that should be familiar are given in their standard form (Noah, Jonah, Zachariah,
John etc.); less well-known ones and non-Biblical names are transliterated. The biographical appendix at the
end of the commentary identifies and gives a brief biography of the principal traditionists and compilers that
are mentioned repeatedly in the commentary. As regards the sundry figures that appear in verses bearing
on the Prophet’s immediate experiences, the best reference would be the Sīra itself, to which the reader is
directed.
A distinctive aspect of the Jalālayn commentary, more so perhaps than any other popular
commentary, is the density of the grammatical material interfused with the narrative elements of the
commentary. While this is reasonably easy to digest in Arabic, the same concision cannot be reproduced in
English without losing the reader totally. Therefore, in order to distinguish between the grammatical
discussions and the paraphrased commentary to the verse, I use parentheses (…). The Qur'ānic text is
indicated in bold and italics; but only in italics when it is a reference to some other verse in the Qur'ān not
forming the basis of the commentary at that given point. Brackets […] constitute my own insertions or
repetitions, and these are used to maintain the flow of the original commentary and to clarify the nature of
the paraphrased comments of the authors.
The commentary is full of variant readings, most of which can be found in the well-known ‘seven
readings’ text of Ibn Mujāhid (see bibliography below). The authors of the commentary, naturally, guide the
reader to these variants by commenting on which single letter is changed or inflected differently. Where
such instances appear, together with variant inflections of a particular clause, I always write these out in
transliteration, sometimes giving the original in brackets, in order that the reader might see how the
changes relate to one another (for example I write out the active and the passive of variants, as opposed to
merely translating the terms mabnī li’l-fā'il wa’l-maf'ūl). Needless to say, reproducing the Arabic verbatim in
such instances would be impractical, if not impossible.
Given the idiosyncracies of every language, on occasion the reader not consulting the Arabic original
will be unaware of instances where the authors use the root of a particular word to explain its derivative,
thus creating a play on words of sorts, not for the purposes of humour, but because the Arabic allows for it
as an effective way of providing a quick explanation (see Q. 36:2 and Q. 52:27 for examples of this). I
indicate such instances of paronomasia by providing the original term as well as its explanation in
parentheses so that the reader will see the affinity between the two, where in the English there will be two
unrelated roots. Where the gloss makes a difference only in Arabic, the gloss is ignored, as it will be
reflected in the English translation of the Qur'ān itself (so for instance, alīm is frequently glossed as mu'lim;
a'dadnā for a'tadnā [Q. 17:10] is another example). Somewhat similarly, there are numerous cases where
the only way to translate the commentary is to incorporate its rendition into the Qur'ānic text (for example
ẓillin min yaḥmūm, of Q. 56:43 et passim).
For the English translation of the Qur'ān, I have drawn principally on, M. M. Pickthall’s The Meaning
of the Glorious Koran (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1930) and the recently published, commendable translation
by 'Alī Qulī Qarā'ī, The Qur'ān: with a phrase-by-phrase English translation (London: ICAS Press, 2004).
Occasionally I have consulted Y. 'Alī, The Holy Qur’an, and less frequently, A. J. Arberry’s, The Koran
Interpreted (Oxford: OUP, 1955). There are numerous editions of the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn. This work is based
on a recent and good edition by 'Abd al-Qādir al-Arnā'ūṭ and Aḥmad Khālid Shukrī (Damascus and Beirut:
Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1998), which I collate with the much older Cairo version (Būlāq, 1280/1863).xvi
Acknowledgements
It was by a propitious twist of fate that I came to be associated with the Great Tafsīr Project
undertaken by the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan. I am honoured to have been
invited to participate in such a ground-breaking undertaking, and for this I should like to thank HRH Prince
Ghazi bin Muhammad. I hope that his earnest enthusiasm for and deep appreciation of the subject of Muslim
tafsīr will have been, even if in some small measure, vindicated by the translation offered here.
Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi deserves special mention, not least for his unfailing support throughout the
duration of this work. His comments and suggestions on an earlier draft spotted certain infelicities and
greatly enhanced the overall form of the translation. I should also like to thank my colleague Dr Yousef Meri,
whose meticulous reading of the final draft and professionalism ensured that the final version was that much
better. It goes without saying, however, that the responsibility for any shortcomings in the work is entirely
mine.
Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife, Rula, for assisting me in very practical, but ultimately
crucial, ways from the start, and for her encouragement and devoted patience throughout this project, all of
which kindnesses were offered with characteristic generosity. xvii
[1]
The other categories of Tafsīr can be thought of as follows: (b) tafsīr bil-ra'y — ‘Commentary based upon personal
opinion (e.g. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s great Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb); (c) tafsīr lughawī — ‘Linguistic Commentary’ (e.g.
Zamakhsharī’s Kashshāf or Bayḍāwī’s Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Ta'wīl); (d) tafsīr fiqhī — ‘commentary focusing on
Shari‘ah law’ (e.g. Qurṭubī’s al-Jāmi' li-Aḥkām al-Qur'ān); (e) tafsīr bil-tafsīr — ‘Commentary wherein Qur’anic verses are
juxtaposed and used to explain each other’; (f) tafsīr ishārī or tafsīr ṣūfī or ta'wīl — ‘esoteric’ or ‘mystic commentary’;
and (g) (in modern times only) tafsīr 'ilmī— ‘scientific commentary’, i.e. wherein the author uses modern science to
explain verses in the Qur’an (especially the ones relating cosmological and biological themes) and vice versa (e.g. the
Tafsīr of Tanṭāwī Jawharī).
[2]
Jalāl al-Dīn Suyūṭī’s later Tafsīr, the voluminous al-Durr al-Manthūr fil-Tafsīr al-Ma'thūr, proves not only that he
intended precisely to write a short, ‘introductory’ Tafsīr, but also that he was quite capable of writing a longer, more
complex one.
[3]
This Ḥadīth is found in Sunan al-Tirmidhī (# 2950 and 2951), Musnad Ibn Ḥanbal (I; 233; 269; 327) and many other
collections of Ḥadīth (including the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd) and is traced to Abū Sufyān al-Thawrī. It is even found in
Ṭabarī’s seminal Jāmi' al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur'ān.
[4]
The meaning of this part of the verse is ambiguous in Arabic: depending on where the reading pauses, ‘those firmly
grounded in knowledge’ may or may not be included in the exception to ‘none knows its interpretation’. We have thus
added the word ‘who’ in brackets to convey this sense. However, the issue is resolved definitively (in favour of ‘those
firmly grounded in knowledge’ knowing interpretation) by the next verses quoted above, according to the universally
agreed upon cardinal principle attributed to Imām 'Alī (Nahj al-Balāgha, discourse #133) that ‘the parts of the Qur’an
explain each other’ (Inna al-Qur’ān yufassir ba'ḍuhu ba'ḍan) and quoted by Ibn Kathīr in his Tafsīr (of Sūrat al-Mu'minūn
23:50).
[5]
Muḥammad Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, Iḥyā' 'Ulūm al-Dīn, Volume 8, Kitāb Adab Tilāwat al-Qur'ān; Part IV (trans.
Muhammad Abul Quasem as The Recitation and Interpretation of the Qur’an: Al-Ghazālī’s Theory, London: Kegan Paul
International, 1984, p.92).
[6]
Ibid. p.94.
[7]
Ibid. p.101.
[8]
Muḥammad Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, Iḥyā' 'Ulūm al-Dīn, Volume 8, Kitāb Adab Tilāwat al-Qur'ān; Part III (trans.
Muhammad Abul Quasem as The Recitation and Interpretation of the Qur’an: Al-Ghazālī’s Theory, p.60). The ḥadīth
itself is to be found in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, al-Diyāt, 24,31; Musnad Ibn Ḥanbal, I, 79; and Sunan al-Nasā'ī, Qasama, 13.
[9]
From Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-'Arabī’s al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya (quoted from William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of
Knowledge, Albany, State University of New York Press, 1989, p. 244).
[10]
Baghawī, Sharḥ al-Sunna, Kitāb al-‘Ilm, Bāb al-Khuṣūma fil-Qur’ān; also to be found in: Saḥiḥ Abū Ḥayyān, # 74;
Musnad Abū Ya'lā, # 5403; Ṭahāwī, Sharḥ Mushkil al-Athar, 172:4; Bazzār, Kashf al-Astār, 90:3; Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī,
Majma' al-Zawā'id, 152:7, et al. A different reading of this Hadith with a slightly different interpretation is given by the
Caliph 'Alī (k.w.): Every verse in the Qur’an has four senses: an outer, an inner, a limit, and a place of ascent. So the
outer is the recitation, the inner is understanding, the limit is the injunctions of what is permitted and proscribed, and
the place of ascent is what God desires from his servant by means of that verse.
[11]
Symbolism seems to us to be quite specially adapted to the needs of human nature, which is not exclusively
intellectual but which needs a sensory basis from which to rise to higher levels.… Fundamentally, every expression,
every formulation, whatever it may be, is a symbol of the thought which it expresses outwardly. In this sense, language
itself is nothing other than symbolism. (René Guénon, Fundamental Symbols: The Universal Language of Sacred Science,
trans. Alvin Moore, (Cambridge: Quinta Essentia, 1995), p. 13.
Thus the Holy Qur’an says:
Seest thou not how God coineth a similitude: A goodly word, [is] as a goodly tree, its roots set firm, its
branches reaching into heaven, / Giving its fruit at every season by permission of its Lord? God coineth the
similitudes for mankind in order that they may reflect. (The Holy Qur’an, Ibrāhīm, 14:24-25)
[12]
Man was created from God’s Spirit and in His image:
Then He fashioned him [man] and breathed into him of His spirit; and appointed for you hearing and sight and
hearts. Small thanks give ye! (The Holy Qur’an, al-Sajda, 32:9)
Verily God created Adam in His own image. (Musnad Ibn Ḥanbal, 2: 244, 251, 315. 323 etc.; Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,
Kitab al-Isti'dhān, 1; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Birr, 115, et al.)
Likewise, the world was also created in God’s image:
And of His portents is this: The heavens and the earth stand fast by His command…. / Unto Him belongeth
whosoever is in the heavens and the earth…. / He it is who produceth creation, then reproduceth it…. His is the
Sublime Exemplar in the heavens and in the earth. He is the Mighty, the Wise. (The Holy Qur’an, al-Rūm,
30:25-27)xviii
Thus it necessarily follows that man and the world being both made in the image of God, are also images of each
other (a ‘microcosm’ and ‘macrocosm’, in the image of the ‘Metacosm’):
We shall show them Our Portents on the horizons and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that
it is the Truth. (The Holy Qur’an, Fuṣṣilat, 41:53)
The Holy Qur’an too, being the Word of God, necessarily reflects not only the Truth, but the Whole Truth:
With truth We have revealed it and with truth it hath descended.… (The Holy Qur’an, al-Isrā', 17:105)
…. We have neglected nothing in the Book …. (The Holy Qur’an, al-An‘ām, 6:38)
And verily We have coined for mankind in this Qur’an of every kind of similitude, that perhaps they may reflect.
(The Holy Qur’an, al-Zumar, 39:27)
Thus stories in the Qur’an about events occurring in the world can be taken in an inward or ‘microcosmic’ sense,
because they inherently reflect humans in themselves:
[T]he content [of the Holy Qur’an] concerns ourselves in a concrete and direct way, since the disbelievers (the
kāfirūn), and the associaters of false divinities with God (the mushrikūn) and the hypocrites (the munāfiqūn)
are within ourselves; likewise that the Prophets represent our Intellect and our consciousness, that all the tales
in the Qur’an are enacted almost daily in our souls, that Mecca is the Heart and that the tithe, the fast, the
pilgrimage and the holy war are so many contemplative attitudes. (F. Schuon, Understanding Islam,
Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1994, p.51.)
[13]
Abū Ja'far Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmi' al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur'ān, (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1992)
Volume VII, Tafsīr on Sūrat al-Ra‘d, v.17, p. 370, # 20310.
[14]
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, al-Diyāt, 24,31; Musnad Ibn Ḥanbal, I, 79; and Sunan Al-Nasā'ī, Qasama, 13.
[15]
This treatise has in fact been translated into English under the title Three Early Sufi Texts (Louisville: Fons Vitae,
2003).
[16]
The modern Tafsīrs of the likes of Mawdūdī, Syed Quṭb and Muḥammad Ghazālī have appeared in English; Abu
Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s Classical Commentary of the (single) Verse of Light Mishkāt al-Anwār has appeared in several English
translations; the late Yahya Cooper started an excellent translation of Ṭabarī’s Jāmi' al-Bayān before his untimely death;
in 2003 the first volume (up to the end of Sūrat al-Baqara) of Qurṭubī’s al-Jāmi' li-Aḥkām al-Qur'ān, translated by Aisha
Bewley was published; two abridged translations of Ibn Kathīr’s Tafsīr (one by Saifur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri [2000],
the other by Muḥammad Naṣīb Ar-Rifā'ī [1996] (the first complete, and the second, only one-third complete to date)
have been published with the excellent feature of containing the Arabic text Holy Qur’an for comparison; and there have
been many excellent selections or amalgamations of Tafsīr with or without translations of the Qur’an itself — some
completed, some still incomplete — produced in English in various parts of the Islamic world (mainly in the Indian
Subcontinent and in the various parts of Arabia, e.g. As'ad Homid’s Aysar al-Tafāsīr) and in the West (e.g. Mahmoud
Ayoub’s The Qur’an and its Interpreters; The Nawawi Foundation’s The Majestic Qur’an; Muhammad Asad’s The Message
of the Qur’an; Yūsuf ‘Alī’s Translation and Commentary on The Holy Qur’an, and so on). However, to date (2007) no
complete translation of a Classical Tafsīr has ever been published in the English language.
[17]
This project obviously required a very large sum of money to realize; the money was all provided by a single nonJordanian, Muslim patron, who requested in return two things: that he remain anonymous, and that the text of the
Tafsīrs be presented as they are with no editing or interference on our behalf. We have kept the second condition with
pleasure and the first with regret, but ask readers to pray that God reward this generous benefactor.
[18]
Cf. The Commentary on the Qur'ān by Abū Ja'far Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī: being an abridged translation of Jāmi'
al-Bayān 'an ta'wīl āy al-Qur'ān, with intro. and notes by J. Cooper, general editors W. F. Madelung and A. Jones
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), xxv-xxvii.
[19]
See end of section Q. 17:111 below, where al-Suyūṭī concludes his section of the commentary; on Maḥallī in general,
see Charles Pellat, ‘al-Maḥallī’, EI2, V, 1223.
[20]
Hundreds of works are attributed by biographers to al-Suyūṭī; the principal ones may be gleaned from the following
list: Ḥusn al-Muḥāḍara, Cairo: Būlāq, 1299 AH, I, 252; Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī, al-Kawākib al-sā'ira fī a'yān al-mi'a al-
'āshira, Beirut: American University of Beirut Press, 1949, I, 226; Ibn Iyās, Badā'i' al-Zuhūr, Cairo: Būlāq, 1896, IV, 83.
Cf. Eric Geoffroy, ‘al-Suyūṭī’, EI2, IX, 913-16; E. M. Sartain, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, Cambridge: CUP, 1975; M. 'A. Sharaf,
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī: manhajuhu wa-ārā'uhu al-kalāmiyya, Beirut: Dār al-Nahḍa al-'Arabiyya, 1981.
[21]
The standard reference work to al-Suyūṭī is E. M. Sartain, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī: Biography and Background,
Cambridge: University of Cambridge Oriental Publications no. 23, 1975; see also M. J. Saleh, “Al-Suyūṭī and His works:
Their Place in Islamic Scholarship from Mamluk Times to the Present”, Mamlūk Studies Review V (2001), 73-89;
specifically on the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, see Sulaiman Musa, “The Influence of Tafsīr al-Jalālayn on Some Notable Nigerian
Mufassirūn in Twentieth-Century Nigeria”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs XX.ii (2000), 323-328; Hartmut Bobzin,
“Notes on the Importance of Variant Readings and Grammar in the Tafsīr al-Ğalālayn”, Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik
XV (1985), 33-44; “Ignaz Goldziher on al-Suyūṭī: a translation of his article of 1871, with additional notes”, trans. M.
Barry, The Muslim World LXVII.ii (1978), 7