Tafsir al-Naysaburi = Gharaib al-Quran wa Raghaib al-Furqan
- Author died
- 850 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah
Gharaib al-Quran wa Raghaib al-Furqan (Arabic: غرائب القرآن ورغائب الفرقان, lit. 'The Wonders of the Quran and the Desirable Realities of the Criterion'), commonly known as Tafsir al-Naysaburi, is a comprehensive Quranic commentary composed by the scholar, exegete, and Quran reciter Nizam al-Din al-Qummi al-Naysaburi (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE; other accounts date the completion of his commentary to around after 850 AH / 1446 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Al-Naysaburi undertook the composition of the commentary in response to requests from colleagues and students who sought a work that gathered essential interpretations while elucidating the linguistic, rhetorical, and deeper meanings of the Quran . He drew primarily upon early authoritative traditions from the Companions and Successors, as well as subsequent generations of investigative scholars .
Sources and Relationship to Earlier Works
The commentary functions largely as a refined synthesis and critical abridgment of Mafatih al-Ghayb (also known as al-Tafsir al-Kabir) by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi . Al-Naysaburi aimed to condense al-Razi's extensive theological and intellectual discussions, removing extraneous details while preserving core points and rectifying perceived shortcomings .
In addition to al-Razi's work, al-Naysaburi incorporated grammatical, rhetorical, and stylistic insights from al-Kashshaf by al-Zamakhshari, as well as material from other classic commentaries . In adopting material from al-Kashshaf, al-Naysaburi deliberately excluded convoluted poetic proof-texts, stating that the Quran is a decisive proof over all else, rather than external poetry serving as a proof over the Quran .
Structure and Introduction
Al-Naysaburi prefaced the commentary with eleven introductory treatises (muqaddimat), covering:
- The virtues of reading the Quran and of the reciter
- Seeking refuge with God (isti'adhah)
- Essential preliminary questions
- The historical compilation of the Quran
- The meanings and usages of the terms Mus-haf and Quran
- The seven long surahs (al-sab' al-tiwal)
- Orthographic variations in Quranic letters and script
- The classifications and rules of pause (waqf)
- Foundational divisions in logic and rhetoric (al-mantiq wa-al-ma'ani)
- The theological assertion of the eternity of God's Speech
- Methodologies for deriving legal and theological rulings (istinbat al-masa'il)
Exegetical Method
Throughout the work, al-Naysaburi follows a distinct systematic structure for each verse or group of verses:
- Variant Readings (Qira'at): He begins by detailing the variant canonical readings, explicitly attributing each variant to its respective authority among the recognized ten reciters .
- Pauses (Wuquf): He specifies the pause locations within each passage, providing grammatical and conceptual justifications for each pause .
- Textual Harmony (Munasabat): He links preceding passages with subsequent ones to explain the coherence and sequential arrangement of verses .
- Literal Exegesis and Jurisprudence: He examines linguistic nuances, grammatical elisions, explicit and implied pronouns, metaphors, allegorical verses (mutashabihat), and details the differing legal positions of the jurisprudence schools alongside their textual deductions . He also incorporates cosmological commentary and addresses theological disputes .
- Spiritual Interpretations (Ta'wilat): At the conclusion of textual units, he frequently adds Sufi and spiritual interpretations (al-isharat and al-ta'wilat), drawing on esoteric insights while grounding the core commentary in traditional Sunni theology .
Creedal Stance
Although some biographical authors noted reports attributing Shi'i tendencies to him—often due to his familial roots in Qum or his expressions of reverence for Ali ibn Abi Talib—al-Naysaburi explicitely affirmed his adherence to the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-al-Jama'ah in the conclusion of his work . In the body of the commentary, such as in his discussion of Surah al-Ma'idah (5:54–55), he refutes Shi'i exegetical claims regarding the designation of Ali's political succession .
Publication History
The commentary was widely disseminated across historical libraries and manuscripts . In print, it was historically published in the margins of al-Tabari's Jami' al-Bayan in Cairo (including the Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and Dar al-Rayyan editions) , and has also been published as an independent multivolume work, including an edition edited by Zakariya Umayrat and published in Beirut by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah .
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