al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir - Abu Hafs al-Nasafi
- Author died
- 537 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Lubāb lil-Dirāsāt wa-Taḥqīq al-Turāth
al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir (Facilitation in Exegesis) is an expansive Quranic commentary by the Hanafi jurist, theologian, and hadith scholar Abu Hafs al-Nasafi (461–537 AH / 1069–1142 CE) .
Author and Background
The author, Najm al-Din Abu Hafs 'Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi, was born in Nasaf and resided and died in Samarkand . al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir is one of his primary exegetical works . Within the text of al-Taysir, al-Nasafi frequently cross-references an earlier, more exhaustive commentary that he terms "our first and longer exegesis" (tafsirina al-awwal al-atwal), which he also names Bahr 'Ulum al-Tafsir 'ala Nahw Rusum al-Tadhkir (and which bibliographers record as al-Akmal al-Atwal fi Tafsir al-Qur'an) . The Hanafi biographer Ibn Qutlubugha highlighted this feature, noting that al-Taysir contains cross-references to a larger tafsir .
Structure and Method
According to the bibliographer Haji Khalifa, the work begins with praise of God for sending down the Quran as a healing, after which al-Nasafi enumerates one hundred names of the Quran in his prologue (khutbah) . He then provides definitions for the terms tafsir (exegesis) and ta'wil (interpretation) before proceeding to the line-by-line commentary on the text, elaborating upon the meanings in full detail .
In his treatment of individual chapters, al-Nasafi systematically prefaces each surah by identifying whether it was revealed in Mecca or Medina, stating its total verse count along with noted variants in verse division, and calculating its total number of words and letters . He also records traditions concerning the virtues of reading specific surahs, such as narrations attributed to Ubayy ibn Ka'b .
The commentary integrates linguistic analysis, grammar (i'rab), legal and theological deductions, and narrations transmitted through his own chains of authorities, including his teacher Isma'il ibn Muhammad al-Nuhi . It also incorporates moral exhortations, spiritual reflections (raqa'iq), rhetorical subtleties (nikat), and quotations from early ascetics and scholars .
Reception and Transmission
Later biographers evaluated the work highly; Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Adanawi described it as al-Nasafi's greatest composition and noted that it comprised four volumes, while Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi similarly counted it among his most prestigious writings .
Subsequent scholars quoted directly from al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir. Among the earliest to cite it was Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari in his legal commentary Kashf al-Asrar, where he cited al-Nasafi's explanations on various verses, explicitly attributing the passages to "Imam Najm al-Din in al-Taysir" . Manuscript copies of the work were preserved in various collections, including libraries in Istanbul, Cairo, Berlin, Dublin, Cambridge, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Princeton, Riyadh, and Medina .
Modern Publication
The work was edited from three manuscript copies and published in fifteen volumes by Dar al-Lubab in Istanbul and Beirut in 1440 AH / 2019 CE, prepared by a team of editors including Maher Adib Habboush, Fadi al-Maghribi, Jamal 'Abd al-Rahim al-Faris, and Sariya Fayiz 'Ajluni .
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