Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur'an Commentary Ascribed by the Sufis to Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (d. 148/765)

by Ja'far al-Sadiq, Farhana Mayer (Translator)

Overview

The Arabic follows the text of Paul Nwyia's edition, including the lack of markings on the Arabic text of the Qur'an, per the request of the translator. Paul Nwyia came from a generation of scholars who subscribed to the notion that all the text in a manuscript, including Qur'anic passages, should match the manuscript text exactly. The majority of modern scholars in the field, however, no longer hold this view; rather, they believe that tafsir scholars would not have objected to the later addition of diacritical marks to the Qur'anic text as necessary, and in fact, would have expected this to be done. This is because they did not consider the Qur'anic passages as part of their own work; these passages could then be altered according to the received text of the Qur'an. The evidence for this view can be found in a number of texts on manuscript editing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781891785306
Publisher:	Fons Vitae of Kentucky, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/01/2011
Series:	The Fons Vitae Qur'anic Commentary Series
Edition description:	A Bilingual Arabic-English Edition
Pages:	189
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ja‘far al-Sadiq is believed to be the sixth infallible Imam, or spiritual leader, and successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is the founder of Shia fiqh, known as Ja'fari jurisprudence. He was an astronomer, an alchemist, an Islamic scholar and theologian, a writer, a philosopher, a physician, and a physicist. Farhana Mayer studied Arabic and Islamic studies, specialising in Qur’anic hermeneutics, at the University of Oxford, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In addition to her independent research on interpretations of the Qur’an, she has worked for the Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, and is currently with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, where she is a researcher and editor in the Qur’anic Studies Unit. She is co-volume editor of volume one of the IIS/OUP Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries series: On the Nature of God (2008).

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgements xi

Translator's Introduction xiii

Spiritual Gems from Ja'far al-Sadiq 1

1 al-Fatihah (The Opening) 3

2 al-Baqarah (The Cow) 10

3 Al-'Imran (The Family of Tmran) 17

4 al-Nisa' (Women) 28

5 al-Ma'idah (The Table-Spread) 31

6 al-An'am (Cattle) 33

7 al-A'raf (The Heights) 36

8 al-Anfal (Spoils of War) 43

9 al-Tawbah (Repentance) 46

10 Yunws (Jonah) 51

11 Hud 53

12 Yusuf (Joseph) 54

13 al-Ra'd (Thunder) 61

14 Ibrahim (Abraham) 65

15 al-Hijr (The Rocky Tract) 68

16 al-Nahl (The Bee) 71

17 al-Isra' (The Night Journey) 74

18 al-Kahf (The Cave) 78

19 Maryam (Mary) 83

20 Ta' Ha' 86

21 al-Anbiya' (The Prophets) 91

22 al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) 93

24 al-Nur (The Light) 96

25 al-Furqan (The Criterion) 101

26 al-Shu'ara' (The Poets) 105

27 al-Naml (The Ants) 108

28 al-Qasas (The Story) 111

29 al-Arikabut (The Spider) 114

30 al-Rum (The Byzantines) 116

32 al-Sajdah (Prostration) 118

33 al-Ahzab (The Confederates) 119

34 Saba' (Sheba) 120

35 al-Fatir (The Originator) 121

36 Ya Sin 123

37 al-Saffat (Those Ranged in Ranks) 124

38 Sad 125

39 al-Zumar (The Groups) 127

40 Ghafir (Forgiving) 130

41 Fussilat (Detailed Signs) 132

42 al-Shura (Counsel) 134

43 al-Zukhruf (Ornaments of Gold) 135

46 al-Ahqaf (The Winding Sand-Tracts) 137

47 Muhammad 139

48 al-Fath (Victory) 140

49 al-Hujurat (The Private Rooms) 142

50 Qaf 143

51 al-Dhariyat (The Scattering Winds) 144

52 al-Tur (The Mount) 148

53 al-Najm (The Unfolding Star) 150

54 al-Qamar (The Moon) 156

55 al-Rahman (The Gracious) 157

56 al-Waqi'ah (The Inevitable Event) 158

57 al-Hadid (Iron) 161

59 al-Hashr (The Gathering) 164

61 al-Saff (The Ranks) 165

64 al-Taghabun (Mutual Disillusion) 166

66 al-Tahrim (Prohibition) 167

67 al-Mulk (Sovereignty) 169

68 al-Qalam (The Pen) 170

69 al-Haqqah (The Revealing Reality) 172

71 Nuh (Noah) 173

73 al-Muzzamil (The Enwrapped One) 174

76 al-Insan (Mankind) 175

78 al-Naba' (The Tidings) 177

80 'Abasa (He Frowned) 178

82 al-Infitar (The Cleaving) 179

83 al-Mutaffijtn (The Defrauders) 180

85 al-Buruj (The Great Constellations) 182

90 al-Balad (The Land) 183

93 al-Duha (The Bright Morning Hours) 185

94 al-Sharh (The Opening Up) 187

95 al-Tin (The Fig) 188

98 al-Bayyinah (The Clear Proof) 189

104 al-Humazah (The Slanderer) 190

108 al-Kawthar (Abundance) 191

112 al-lkhlas (Faithfulness) 192

Glossary 197

Select Bibliography 205

Index of Qur'anic Verses 209

General Index 214

Arabic Text (beginning on) 276