Ghara'ib al-Qur'an wa Ragha'ib al-Furqan (; ) or, named in brief, Ghara'ib al-Qur'an (), better known as Tafsir al-Nisaburi (), is a classical (

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

) of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

, authored by the

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

scholar

Nizam al-Din al-Nisaburi Nizam al-Din Hasan al-Nisaburi, whose full name was Nizam al-Din Hasan ibn Mohammad ibn Hossein Qumi Nishapuri (d. 1328/29) () was a Persian Sunni Islamic Shafi'i, Ash'ari scholar, mathematician, astronomer, jurist, Qur'an exegete, and poet. Fam ...

(died ; , who closely follows al-Fakhr al-Razi's in many places. It was the first commentary of the Qur'an in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

written in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. A handwritten copy of this commentary is available in the Library of the tomb of Hadrat Peer Muhammad Shah Sahib in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. This commentary took him about five years to finish.

Background

Nizam al-Din al-Nisaburi relied on several earlier sources for his interpretation, including the following: * ''

Mafatih al-Ghayb ''Mafatih al-Ghayb'' (), usually known as ''al-Tafsir al-Kabir'' (), is a classical Islamic tafsir book, written by the twelfth-century Islamic theologian and philosopher Fakhruddin Razi (d.1210). The book is an exegesis and commentary on the Qur' ...

'' by

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī () or Fakhruddin Razi () (1149 or 1150 – 1209), often known by the sobriquet Sultan of the Theologians, was an influential Iranian and Muslim polymath, scientist and one of the pioneers of inductive logic. He wrote var ...

, died (). * '' Al-Kashshaf'' by

al-Zamakhshari Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari (; 1074 –1143) was a medieval Muslim scholar of Iranian descent. He travelled to Mecca and settled there for five years and has been known since then as 'Jar Allah' (God's Neighbor). He was a Mu'tazi ...

, died (1144CE). * '' Al-Wasīt fi Tafsir al-Qur'ān al-Majīd'' by

al-Wahidi 'Alī b. Aḥmad al-Wāḥidī al-Naysābūrī, who was better known as Al-Wāḥidī (), was a prominent grammarian and philologist of the Classical Arabic and a Quran scholar who wrote several classical exegetical works. He is considered one o ...

, died (1075–1076CE).

Reception

According to Muhammad Husayn al-Dhahabi, the tafsir was praised by ' (died ; ) in his book ''Rawdhat al-Jannat''.

About the author

He was a Persian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Faqīh A ''faqīh'' (: ''fuqahāʾ'', ; : ‏‎) is an Islamic jurist, an expert in ''fiqh'', or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic law. Definition Islamic jurisprudence or ''fiqh'' is the human understanding of Sharia, which is believed ...

(jurist), Qur'an exegete,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and was generally regarded as a sage, that is, one attuned to

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

. He was born in Nisapur and was known as Nizam al-A'raj. The origin of his family and his clan is the city of

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

. After completing his education he came to

, settling there, most likely in Daulatabad. He wrote several books on

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. He wrote another commentary of the Qur'an in one volume known as . The exact year of his death is not known, but it was after . It is variably reported in available records as occurring in years from to .

References

External links

Tafsir al-Nisaburi
- Altafsir.com
The Comprehensive Elucidation of the Interpretation of the Qurʼan
-

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

{{Authority control Nisaburi Sufi literature Quranic exegesis Nisaburi

Background

Reception

About the author

See also

References

Further reading

External links