Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsir Ibn Abbas
- Author died
- 817 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah
Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsir Ibn Abbas (Tanwir al-Miqbās min Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās, "Illumination of the Niche from the Exegesis of Ibn ʿAbbas") is a traditional commentary on the Quran compiled by al-Fayruzabadi (729–817 AH / 1329–1415 CE) and attributed to the Companion Abd Allah ibn Abbas.
Transmission and Structure
The work presents an verse-by-verse exegesis that consistently routes its traditions through a single primary transmission chain back to Ibn ʿAbbas. At the opening of its commentary on the basmalah, the text provides the isnad: ʿAbd Allah al-Thiqah ibn al-Maʾmun al-Harawi from his father from Abu ʿAbd Allah Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Razi from ʿAmmar ibn ʿAbd al-Majid al-Harawi from ʿAli ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi from Muhammad ibn Marwan from al-Kalbi from Abu Salih from Ibn ʿAbbas. At the commentary on the beginning of Surat al-Baqarah, the transmission is given through Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak from ʿAli ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi from Muhammad ibn Marwan from al-Kalbi from Abu Salih from Ibn ʿAbbas. Across the remainder of the work, the compiler introduces each surah with the formula "and by his chain of transmission from Ibn ʿAbbas" (wa bi-isnādihi ʿan Ibn ʿAbbās).
Scholarly Assessment and Authenticity
Hadith scholars and specialists in Quranic sciences have cast serious doubt on the attribution of the commentary to Ibn ʿAbbas because its material rests entirely on the line of Muhammad ibn Marwan al-Suddi al-Saghir from Muhammad ibn al-Saʾib al-Kalbi from Abu Salih. In al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti observed that the weakest of all transmission paths from Ibn ʿAbbas is that of al-Kalbi from Abu Salih, and that when combined with the narration of al-Suddi al-Saghir, it is deemed "the chain of falsehood" (silsilat al-kadhib).
Scholars of transmission noted earlier in legal compendia such as al-Miʿyar by al-Wansharisi that experts questioned the soundness of attributing this commentary to Ibn ʿAbbas. Modern scholar Muhammad Husayn al-Dhahabi noted that while the book retains general scholarly utility as an early interpretative compilation, its attribution to Ibn ʿAbbas is void of historical reliability.
Publication History
The work has been published repeatedly in Cairo and Bombay, including lithograph and print editions produced in Bombay (1280 AH), Bulaq (1290 AH), and the Azhariyya Press (1316 AH). In some editions, the title appears with a scribal corruption as Tanwir al-Miqyas (with a yaʾ instead of a baʾ). It was frequently printed alongside companion texts in its margins, notably al-Maqsad li-Talkhis Ma fi al-Waqf wa-al-Ibtidaʾ by Zakariyya al-Ansari, Asbab al-Nuzul by al-Suyuti, and al-Nasikh wa-al-Mansukh by Ibn Hazm.
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