Introduction to the Tafsir of Tabari. Translation from Arabic and Commentary. Part 2

Abstract

This publication presents the second part of the commented translation into Russian of the Introduction (muqaddima) to the tafasir “Jami‘ al-bayan fī ta’wil al-Qur’an” [The Comprehensive Exposition of the interpretation of the Qur’an] by Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari (839–923). It contains sections dedicated to tafsir. The fi rst of them enumerates three aspects (wujūh) of the interpretation of the Qur’an — (1) the part, which only God knowns — eschatological ayats; (2) the part, whose interpretation is possible only with the support of prophetic traditions — ayats of the Law; and (3) the part, which might be understood by everyone who knows the language of the Qur’an. In the two following sections, groups of traditions about the admissibility and inadmissibility of exegesis are compared. On bases of their analysis, the theologian approves the legitimacy of tafsir. The last section lists the “praiseworthy” and “reprehensible” early commentators on the Holy Scriptures of Islam.