al-Taqyid al-Kabir lil-Basili
- Author died
- 830 AH
- Editions
- Kullīyat Uṣūl al-Dīn, Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd al-Islāmīyah
al-Taqyid al-Kabir (Arabic: التقييد الكبير في تفسير كتاب الله المجيد, fully titled al-Taqyid al-Kabir fi Tafsir Kitab Allah al-Majid) is an extensive Arabic commentary on the Quran compiled by the Tunisian Maliki scholar Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Busayli (d. 830 AH / 1427 CE; another report gives 848 AH) . It serves as one of the primary records of the Quranic exegesis taught by his master, Ibn Arafa (d. 803 AH / 1401 CE) .
Composition and Scope
The core material of the work originates from the exegetical gatherings (majalis) conducted by Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Arafa in Tunis, which al-Busayli attended between 783 AH and Ibn Arafa's death in 803 AH . Al-Busayli continued organizing and augmenting the material in subsequent years, with internal references extending up to 808 AH .
In his introduction, al-Busayli explained that his objective was to document what was retained and recorded from Ibn Arafa's teaching sessions—encompassing observations voiced by Ibn Arafa himself as well as contributions from adept students—while incorporating additional citations from classical exegetical works and his own analytical notes . The text adopts a rational and linguistic method that incorporates various disciplines to elucidate Quranic meanings, including jurisprudence, legal theory, hadith, Arabic grammar, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, Sufism, and history .
Transmission and Abridgment
After the compilation was completed, the Hafsid prince Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hafsi (known as al-Husayn, brother of Sultan Abu Faris) demanded the work from al-Busayli between 808 AH and 830 AH . When the prince's emissaries insisted on securing the manuscript, al-Busayli withheld the portion spanning Surah al-Ra'd to Surah al-Kahf and surrendered the rest of the text .
Al-Busayli later authored an abridged version of the work, known as al-Taqyid al-Saghir (or Nukat wa-Tanbihat fi Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Majid), which constitutes approximately one-sixth the length of the larger work . Because al-Busayli's abridgment broke off at Surah al-Saff, the Moroccan scholar Ibn Ghazi al-Miknasi (d. 919 AH / 1513 CE) composed a continuation (Takmilat al-Taqyid al-Saghir) by extracting key points directly from the unabridged text of al-Taqyid al-Kabir .
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of al-Taqyid al-Kabir are preserved primarily in two-volume sets across several repositories:
- The General Library in Rabat (multiple copies) .
- The Hasaniyya Royal Palace Library in Rabat .
- The Zawiya al-Hamziyya library in al-Rashidiyya (Tafilalt region), preserved in a large single volume .
- The National Library of Tunisia in Tunis .
- The Public Library in Algiers, where a copy collated against the author's exemplar is dated to Shawwal 1007 AH (May 1599 CE) .
The section covering Surah al-Baqarah and Surah Al 'Imran was edited by Abd Allah ibn Mutlaq al-Tuwalah and published in two volumes by the College of Usul al-Din at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh .
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