al-Lubab fi Ulum al-Kitab
- Author died
- 775 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah
al-Lubab fi Ulum al-Kitab (The Kernel in the Sciences of the Book) is an extensive work of Quranic exegesis (tafsir) authored by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Adil (d. 775 AH / 1373–1374 CE or after 880 AH / 1475 CE), compiling diverse classical disciplines related to the Quran into an encyclopedic commentary .
Authorship and Dating
The work was written by Abu Hafs Siraj al-Din 'Umar ibn 'Ali ibn 'Adil al-Hanbali al-Dimashqi al-Nu'mani . Biographical and bibliographical sources record divergent dates regarding his life and the completion of the commentary: while modern title editions frequently record his death date as 775 AH , other biographical records list his death as occurring after 880 AH . Manuscript notes similarly report that the author completed drafting parts of the book in 879 AH or on 15 Ramadan 880 AH at the conclusion of Surah Ta-Ha .
Content and Method
In his brief prologue, the author defines his purpose, stating that he compiled the work from the sayings and analyses of scholars across the sciences of the Quran . The commentary follows the traditional order of the Quranic text, opening with discussions on the seeking of refuge (isti'adha) and the basmala, followed by Surah al-Fatiha, and proceeding through the entire Quran .
The work is characterized by its wide-ranging synthesis of Quranic sciences. It incorporates Arabic linguistic analysis, syntax (i'rab), morphology, rhetoric, legal rulings, theology, and the differences among commentators . In classical biographical literature, such as Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Adirnawi's Tabaqat al-Mufassirin, the commentary is described as one of the finest exegeses, noted for being richly packed with the rules of Arabic grammar and the sciences customary to tafsir .
Structure and Editions
Bibliographical sources describe the size of the commentary variously according to manuscript copies:
- Katip Celebi (Kashf al-Zunun) notes the work under both al-Lubab fi Ulum al-Kitab and al-Lubab fi Ilm al-Kitab as a famous exegesis spanning six volumes .
- Al-Adirnawi describes it as spanning approximately ten volumes .
- A printed edition edited by 'Adil Ahmad 'Abd al-Mawjud and 'Ali Muhammad Mu'awwad was published in twenty volumes by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya in Beirut (1419 AH / 1998 CE) .
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