Al-Ṭabarī and the Dynamics of tafsīr: Theological Dimensions of a Legacy.

The Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl ayy al-Qurʾān is fittingly recognised as representing an important milestone in the history of the discipline of tafsīr: within the work, al-Ṭabarī accomplished a uniquely comprehensive exegetical synthesis of literary, grammatical, legal and theological elements, bringing a broader sense of definition and purpose to the discipline of tafsīr. Among the characteristic features of the scholarship of al-Ṭabarī are the objectivity and consistency he brought to his work and such qualities resonate in his gauging of theological issues and topics. While it has been customary to view al-Ṭabarī’s theology as being strictly informed by a rigidly traditionalist methodology, a circumspect review of theological discussions in the tafsīr reveals not only the author’s accomplished marshalling of the attendant arguments and theses, but also the spirit of autonomy and resourcefulness with which he assesses points of doctrine and dogma. In this article an attempt is made to analyse aspects of the intertwined theological discourses of the tafsīr and related treatises, bridging them with materials articulated in the biographical sources. The aim is to explore the relationship between his approach to scholarship along with the standpoints to which he adhered and their impact upon attitudes towards his remarkable work and legacy. Key words: Tafsīr; Islamic theology; al-Ṭabarī; istiwāʾ; ism and musammā; Arabic grammarians; classical Arabic biograph

Mishcàt-ul-maʹsʹabìʹh; or, A collection of the most authentic traditions regarding the actions and sayings of Muʹhammed, exhibiting the origin of the manners and customs, the civil, religious and military policy of the Muslemàns;

Includes bibliographical references and index.BLCMode of access: Internet

Minaḥ al-Ghaffār sharḥ Tanwīr al-abṣār, [ca. 1757?].

Fine copy of the first volume of Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Timirtāshī's own commentary upon his compendium of Ḥanafī law, Tanwīr al-abṣār wa-jāmiʻ al-biḥār.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 1028Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; hand, paper, etc. would certainly suggest 18th century and dated watermark may suggest ca. 1757.Accompanying materials: Small scrap torn from a printed Arabic page (between pp.106-107).Former shelfmark: Mich. Isl. Ms. temp. no. 177Binding: Pasteboards faced in block-printed paper (now gray on yellow) with red leather over spine and edges / turn-ins (decorative paper faced, leather edged, framed binding) ; possibly once Type II binding (with flap, though now lost [?]), likely two-piece binding (seam of overlapping flanges visible at spine) ; board linings in block-printed paper (silver on dark blue) ; sewn in cream thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pink and light blue, damaged with some thread losses and cores exposed ; overall in poor condition with upper cover and first few gatherings fully detached, moisture damage, staining, abrasion, etc. ; housed in box for protection.Support: European laid paper of a few different types ; opening type with 10 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 24-26 mm. apart (horizontal), and watermarks of horn / bugle in arms / shield with crown above (see p.4, 46, 55, 190-191, etc.) and of "... P ACHARD EN DAUPHINE 17[5?]7" (see p.10, 36, 50-51, 116, etc.), sturdy and well-burnished, dark cream in color ; another type with 10 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 26-27 mm. apart (vertical), and watermark of grapes with stem under crown (see p.82, 90-91, 118, 178, 310, etc.), well-burnished, beige in color ; final quires on a type with 8 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 25 mm. apart (horizontal), and three crescents watermark (about 120 mm. long, perpendicular to chains, see p.414, 440, etc.), sturdy, fairly thick and cream in color.Decoration: Section headings, notabilia and some keywords rubricated, others overlined in red ; textual dividers in the form of red hāʼ ; written area of incipit page surrounded by red double rule-border ; text being commented upon overlined in red.Script: Naskh ; two main hands ; opening hand through p.407 a compact, neat naskh in a thin line, partially but irregularly seriffed with right-sloping tear-drop head-serif on occasional free-standing alif, lām, etc., curvilinear descenders, slight effect of tilt to the left, pointing in strokes rather than distinct dots, final yāʼ unpointed ; from p.408 to close a compact, crowded naskh in a thin line, partially but irregularly seriffed with effect of tilt to the left, quite rounded with curvlinear descenders, pointing in distinct or conjoined dots, bar of kāf (shaqq) sweeping dramatically, point of final nūn set deep in bowl.Layout: Written in 23 and 26-31 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: 20 V(200), II+1 (205), 5 V(255), III (261) ; almost exclusively quinions ; middle of the quire marks in the form of double stroke looking like "٧" in upper outer corner of left-hand leaf ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (drops ten pages by following p.455 with p.446).Explicit: "يوصل الى قبر عثمان ابن عفان ويزوره ويدعو الله ويسأل حاجته بحرمته ويستغفر الله العظيم من جميع زلاته ونقصانه ويدعو لوالديه واخوانه وجميع المؤمنين والحمد لله اولا واخرا وظاهرا وباطنا وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى اله واصحابه وازواجه وذرياته وعلى جميع اخوانه من النبيين والصديقين والشهداء والصالحين والحمد لله رب العالمين"Incipit: "قال مولانا وسيدنا الامام العلامة ... محمد بن عبد الله بن احمد بن محمد بن ابراهيم التمرتاشي الغزي ان اجدر الخ رب يسر وتمم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ... ان اجدر ما افتتحت به الكتب والدفاتر ... حمد الله الذي رفع معالم الدين واعلا مناره ... اما بعد فيقول العبد الغريق في بحار الخطاء ... محمد بن عبد الله ... ان اعز ما ... الذليل في تحصيله ويرام ... علم الفقه الذي يقوم به العباد المصالح ... فالفت مختصرا جامعا لجملة من المتون المشهورة ... وسميته بتنوير الابصار وجامع البحار ثم لما افرغته في قالب التحرير والتمام ... سنح لي ان اكتب عليه شرحا لطيفا يحل مشكلاته ... عازما على ان اسميه بعد تمامه بمنح الغفار شرح تنويف الابصار ..."Title from opening matter on p.3.Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of the first volume of Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Timirtāshī's own commentary upon his compendium of Ḥanafī law, Tanwīr al-abṣār wa-jāmiʻ al-biḥār.Mode of access: Internet.Purchased in Egypt by Mr. Sulaiman ;UM Library inscription on leaf obscuring original 'title page' (p.1) "Spec. Coll. Lib. 690713-156 Sulaiman 1968" ; several notes and former owners' marks (including statements, oval seal impression, etc.) on 'title page' now obscured by bifolium affixed to it and upper board lining ; notabilia (side-heads) many rubricated

Tanwīr al-abṣār wa-jāmiʻ al-biḥār, [1203, i.e. 1789].

Fine copy of the compendium of Ḥanafī law by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Timirtāshī.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 94Origin: As appears in colophon on p.377, copied by Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar ibn al-Isbarī [?]. Transcription finished ("tamma tanmīq Tanwīr al-abṣār...") 20 Jumādá II 1203 [ca. 18 March 1789].Accompanying materials: Slip with notes (paginated pp.107-108).Former shelfmark: British Museum, London "No. 3. Tanwir al-absar."Binding: Pasteboards covered in deep red leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings in yellow laid paper, interior of fore-edge flap in red leather ; upper and lower covers carry blind-stamped mandorla (with floral vegetal composition, compare Déroche class. OAi 4), pendants and roll-border in a series of s-shaped stamps framed by tooled fillets ; envelope flap carries blind-stamped pendant ; sewn in white thread, two stations ; worked endbands in pink and green, fair condition ; overall in poor condition with significant abrasion, staining, lifting and losses of leather (particularly fore-edge flap at lower cover), delamination of boards, spine slant (slightly cocked) etc.Support: European laid paper of several types ; one type well-burnished with many inclusions visible, 9 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 26 mm. apart (horizontal), crown with beaded chain [?] watermark ; another type smoother, with fewer inclusions visible, 12 laid lines per cm. (vertical) and chain lines spaced 25 mm. apart (horizontal), and a type of coat of arms watermark ; yet another type with fewer inclusions, not as well-burnished, 9 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 28-30 mm. apart (horizontal), and what appears to be fleur des lis with grapes watermark ; much staining, some leather burn.Decoration: Illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān) at opening on p.10, consisting of rectangular piece surmounted by scalloped semi-circular piece (dome) set in a well of orange-red and gold with black accents ; rectangular piece carries empty gold panel surrounded by border in yellow with black accents ; semi-circular piece (dome) carries crude floral vegetal design in red, white, and yellow on a field of gold ; written area of incipit and facing page surrounded by gold frame, elsewhere written area surrounded by red rule-border ; keywords, section headings, some notabilia, and abbreviation symbols rubricated throughout ; some overlining and textual dividers in the form of discs in red.Script: Naskh ; bold Turkish hand ; mainly serifless though right-sloping head serif occasionally appears ; effect of tilt to left ; fairly rounded ; mainly closed counters.Layout: Written in 19 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, I+1 (3), 18 V(183), III (189) ; chiefly quinions ; catchwords present ; foliation in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes front flyleaf and insert, mistakenly repeats pp.236-237).Colophon: "Scribal," triangular, reads: "تم تنميق كتاب تنوير الابصار بعون الله الملك اللطيف المختار على يد افقر الكتاب واحقر الطلاب محمد بن عمر بن الاسبري عفى عنهما العفو العلي في اليوم العشرين من جمادى الاخرة لسنة ثلث ومائتين والف من الهجرة النبوية عليه افضل الصلاة واكمل التحية اللهم يسر لي العمل بما يحويه كما يسرت كتابته مع قراءته بحرمة حبيبك المصطفى ورسولك المجبتى وبحرمة جملة القرش والامين على وحي السماء امين تم"Explicit: "ومن صالح من الورثة والغرماء على شيء منها طرح ثم قسم الباقي على سهام من بقي منهم والله سبحانه اعلم بالصواب"Incipit: "الحمد لله الذي أحكم أحكام الشرع الشريف وأعلى مناره وأعز من قام باعبائه وأغلى مقادره ... وبعد فيقول الواثق بمولاه محمد ابن عبد الله لما رأيت الهمم مائلة الى المختصرات المضبوطة راغبة عن الكتب المبسوطة اردت ان اكتب متنا مشتملا على كثير من مسائل المتون المعتمدة محيطا بفرائد نفيسة عنها اكثر المختصرات ... وسميته بتنوير الابصار وجامع البحار ..."Title from inscription following table of contents (p.7) and in opening (p.10).Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of the compendium of Ḥanafī law by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Timirtāshī.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase along with Abdul Hamid Collection (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Bookplate of British Museum, London on upper cover,"British Museum, London.No. 3. Tanwir al-absar." ; circular seal impression with figure of goat/gazelle in purple ink as well as inscription "178" in Western numerals on front flyleaf (p.1) ; on blue-tinted paper pasted on ’title page’ (p.9), a detailed waqf statement in the name of al-Sayyid ʻAbd Allāh Adīb (Abdullah Edip), known as Jannatʹzādah (Cennet-zade), qāḍī of Erzurum, accompanied by his seal, reads: "وقفت وقفا صحيحا شرعيا على ان لا يخرج من بيت الكتب الملتصق بداري الا لعلماء سكنوا بارضروم بكفيل مرعى اورهن قوي وانا الفقير السيد عبد الله اديب الشهير بجنت زاده القاضي بمدينة ارضروم في سنة اثنى وستين ومائتين والف" ; glosses and occasional marginal corrections and notabilia (side-heads)

Astronomical treatise : manuscript, [1886].

Title unidentified, in 20 bābs and a khātimah; copy defective: text begins at end of bāb 2.Watermarks: Britannia (?); initials CIS in sans serif caps.Contains tables of zodiacal signs and latitudes and longitudes of cities in many different countries.Text rubricated; two copyists: pp. 7-17 (anonymous) and pp. 18-27 (named above).ʻudhran li-annahu jalla man la yasʾhū lā siyyamā fī hādhihi al-azmān allatī kādat al-ʻulūm an tandarasa wa-kathara fīhā al-jahl wa-maʻ iʻtirāfī bi-annī lastu min ahl hādhā al-shaʾn wa-lākin al-ṭamaʻ fī al-ajr ajraʾanī ʻalayhi wa-al-rijāʾ fī thawābihi awdamanī ilayhi wa-bi-Allāh al-iʻtimād wa-bihi thiqatī tamma....Date and author/copyist's name in colophon: wa-aqūl wa-anā al-faqīr ... Aḥmad al-Khaṭīb ibn ʻAbd al-Laṭīf al-Khaṭīb ... qad tamma tabyīḍ hādhihi al-waraqāt fī yawm al-ithnayn yawm al-thāmin wa-al-ʻishrūn min Dhī al-Ḥijjah min sanat 1303 min hijrat al-nabī ... fa-al-marjūw miman aṭlaʻa ʻalá zallah aw ʻathar fīhā ʻalá hafwah an yuṣalliḥahā baʻd imʻān al-naẓr fīhi idh qīlakum muzayyiq ṣaḥīḥan li-ajl kawn fahmuhu qabiḥan fa-idhā taḥaqqaqa al-khaṭaʾ iltamas lī fīhāPp. 7-27. Bound with: [2] Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Sibṭ al-Māridīnī, Risālah fī al-ʻamal bi-al-rubʻ al-mujayyab, pp. [28-33]; [3] Astronomical tables, 1 leaf.Title unidentified, in 20 bābs and a khātimah; copy defective: text begins at end of bāb 2.Mode of access: Internet.McGregor FundPurchased in Cairo, 1933/34. Owner's mark: on inserted leaf, manuscript notes in handwriting of Max Meyerhof

Tanwīr al-abṣār wa-jāmiʻ al-biḥār, [1084, i.e. 1673].

Fine copy of the compendium of Ḥanafī law by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Timirtāshī (d.1595). Followed by legal question posed to Abū al-Saʻūd (p.192). Volume likely once contained additional material though now lacking several quires from close.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, Isl. Ms. 565Origin: As appears in colophon on p.191, copied by Muḥammad al-Jabalāwī ibn Muḥammad al-Miṣrī while residing in al-Lādhiqīyah (Latakia) with transcription completed 2 Muḥarram 1084 [ca. 19 April 1673].Accompanying materials: Acquisitions slip from Yahuda.Former shelfmark: From interior of upper cover and spine label "IL 61" (likely supplied by Yahuda see acquisitions slip).Binding: Pasteboards covered in brown leather with dark red leather over spine ; Type II binding (once with flap, now lost) ; board linings (doublures) in comb marbled paper (in blue, red, white, etc.) ; upper and lower covers carry blind-stamped mandorla (filled with simply assymetric vegetal composition, compare Déroche class. OAi) and pendants, as well as tooled border ; sewn in dull yellow thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in dull yellow and lime green, in poor condition with significant losses to headband ; overall in quite poor condition with loss of flap, significant abrasion, staining, delamination of boards (lower board almost fully delaminated several sheets in, only edge repair holds two sections together), pest damage, lifting and losses of leather, etc. ; repairs in dark red-brown leather (particularly to edges of lower board) ; housed in box for protection.Support: European laid paper with 10-11 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced roughly 23 and 34 mm. apart (as though grouped in twos, horizontal) and coat of arms watermark with cross surmounted by crown and flanked by lions above two circles, "M B" in upper circle, nothing visible in lower (roughly 85 mm. tall, see pp.44-45, 64-65, etc. somewhat similar to Heawood 741) ; well-burnished, thin and crisp though sturdy, fairly translucent, dark cream in color ; staining and tide lines.Decoration: Keywords and section headings rubricated.Script: Naskh ; small, compact 'Syrian' hand in a narrow line ; partially though irregularly serriffed (mainly on lām of definite article) with effect of tilt to the left and slight effect of words descending to basline, curvilinear descenders, pointing mainly in distinct dots, many closed counters, kāf mashqūqah preferred (even final kāf).Layout: Written in 25 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: V-2 (8), 9 V(98) ; chiefly quinions ; catchwords present ; foliation in brown ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (skips two leaves each between pp.5-6 and pp.67-68).Colophon: "Scribal," triangular, reads "وقد وقع الفراغ من هذه النسخة الشريفة ضحوة يوم الجمعة ثاني شهر الله المحرم الحرام من شهور سنة اربع وثمانين والف من الهجرة النبوية على يد اضعف عباد الله ... محمد الجبلاوي نزيل ثغر اللاذقية بن المرحوم ... الشيخ محمد المصري ...[؟] غفر الله له ولوالديه تم"Explicit: "ثم قسم الباقي على سهام من بقي منهم والله سبحانه وتعالى اعلم بالصواب والحمد لله فقد تم الكتاب ... وصلى على سيدنا محمد واله وصحبه"Incipit: " حمد لمن احكم احكام الشرع الشريف وأعلى مناره وأعز من قام باعبائه وأغلى مقادره ... وبعد فيقول الشيخ الامام ... شمس الدين محمد بن المرحوم شيخ الاسلام ... عبد الله ابن المرحوم شيخ الاسلام ... شهاب الدين احمد ابن تمرتاش الحنفي ... لما رأيت الهمم مائلة الى المختصرات المضبوطة راغبة عن الكتب المبسوطة اردت ان اكتب كتابا مشتملا على كثير من مسائل المتون المعتمدة محيطا بفوائد نفيسة عنها اكثر المختصرات ... وسميته بتنوير الابصار وجامع البحار ..."Title from inscription on 'title page' (p.1) and opening on p.2.Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of the compendium of Ḥanafī law by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Timirtāshī (d.1595). Followed by legal question posed to Abū al-Saʻūd (p.192). Volume likely once contained additional material though now lacking several quires from close.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired in 1926 from the bookseller Isaac Benjamin S.E. Yahuda via purchase transacted on his behalf by his younger brother, the famous Orientalist and manuscript collector Abraham Shalom Yahuda (1877-1951).Partially effaced ownership statement in brown ink on 'title page' repair (p.1) ; waqf statement on 'title page' (p.1) dated Ṣafar 1219 [May-June 1804] endowed by Ṣāliḥ al-Ṭawīl from the estate of his grandfather [?] al-Shaykh al-Ṣāliḥ Aḥmad al-ʻAwfī [?] reads "اوقفه صالح الطويل عفي الله عنه على طلبة العلم بالوكالة عن ورثة جده لامه الشيخ صالح احمد العوفي [؟] رحمه الله في صفر سنة ۱۲۱۹ لا يباع ولا يوهب ولا يرهن ولا يعطى الا برهن وتقبل الله ذلك آمين" ; collation statement at close on p.191 dated 1085 [1674 or 5] reads "بلغ مقابلة بحسب الطاقة على نسخة [؟] صحيحة ان شاء الله سنة خمس وثمانين والف" ; many marginal glosses and collation marks ; occasional interlinear and marginal corrections ; notablia (side-heads), some rubricated