Tabaqat al-Mufassirin li al-Suyuti
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Wahbah
Tabaqat al-Mufassirin (The Generations of Quranic Exegetes) is a biographical dictionary of Quranic commentators by the Egyptian scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE) .
Scope and Classification
The work was conceived specifically to compile biographies of Quranic commentators (mufassirun), rather than mixing them alongside jurists, traditionists, or grammarians as general biographical compilations typically did . Although al-Suyuti planned a comprehensive treatment, the work was not completed to its intended exhaustiveness, containing entries for a total of 136 exegetes .
Al-Suyuti organized the biographical entries into four distinct categories:
- Exegetes among the Companions, the Successors (Tabi'un), and their followers (Atba' al-Tabi'in) .
- Exegetes among the traditionists (muhaddithun) .
- The remaining exegetes among Sunni scholars .
- Exegetes who authored commentaries from among non-Sunni theological sects, including the Mu'tazilis and the Shi'a .
Reception and Subsequent Works
Despite its limited coverage, the book became widely known and served as a key reference for subsequent biographical writers . Al-Suyuti's student Shams al-Din al-Dawudi (d. 945 AH / 1538 CE) later authored a separate, expanded biographical dictionary under the same title, Tabaqat al-Mufassirin, which was arranged alphabetically . In the eleventh century AH, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Adirnawi composed another work of the same name arranged chronologically by century .
Publication History
The work was edited by Albert Meursinge and published in Leiden in 1839 CE with Latin notes and a biographical sketch of al-Suyuti . Modern editions include one edited by Ali Muhammad Umar and published in Cairo (1396 AH / 1975–1976 CE), as well as editions printed in Beirut and Iran .
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