Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī: Volume 3 – A Fourth/Tenth Century Shīʿī Commentary on the Qurʾan

Dr Sajjad Rizvi

Associate Professor of Islamic Intellectual History and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter

The three volumes are beautifully produced: the Arabic text is on the right and the English translation on the left, and adequate annotation is provided on sources. The indices are also quite an excellent tool. One can imagine using the text used profitably for research as well as for teaching – the very absence of serious translations of Shiʿi materials makes it rather difficult to teach students more broadly in religious studies. And in that sense this is also the first major translation of a classical Shiʿi exegesis. If we want to be read Shiʿi texts and incorporating them into a more holistic study of the early and classical period, such works are essential. From my perusal, the translations are quite excellent, rigorous and careful, and the Qurʾan itself has been rendered (as far as it fits the exegesis) from the existing translations of Abdel-Haleem and ʿAli-quli Qara’i.

Professor Etan Kohlberg

Associate Professor at the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The publication of the three-volume bilingual edition of the Tafsīr of Muḥammad b. Masʽūd al-ʽAyyāshī is a landmark in the study of early Shīʽism. This is notably the first complete English translation of a classical Shiʽi commentary on the Qurʾan. The Arabic text (originally published by the Islamic Studies department of the Biʽtha Foundation in Qom) is based on four manuscripts and is considerably better than earlier editions of this oeuvre. Also included is an appendix comprising fragments of the second, lost part of al-ʽAyyāshī’s commentary which were culled from later sources. The meticulous translation strikes just the right balance between literal accuracy and a freer rendering where appropriate, and the footnotes provide essential information on persons, places and events that are mentioned in the tafsīr. Having text and translation on facing pages ensures a user-friendly reading experience. The Introduction by Meir M. Bar-Asher provides biographical details on al-ʽAyyāshī, offers an analysis of his Tafsīr and places this work in the wider context of early Shīʽī doctrine and thought. Editor Wahid M. Amin, translator Nazmina Dhanji and the Al-Mahdi Institute are to be commended for making this valuable project available to the academic community.

Anonymous

Excellent translation of Tafsir Ayyashi, which is one of the oldest books of Shia Quranic exegesis, easy to read and would recommend.