Al-Baydawi's interpretation

Author's name: Al-Baydawi

Imam Al-Baydawi

Fadi Al-Maghribi

Lights of Revelation and Secrets of Interpretation

Investigator's Introduction

In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

Investigator's Introduction

Praise be to Allah, who sent down the Book to His servant and made therein no crookedness. And may blessings and peace be upon our chosen Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.

And then:

Indeed, the Book of Allah is the eternal constitution, the correct method, and the straight path. Allah, the Exalted, revealed it to be a guide, a method, a leader, and a guide for mankind. He commanded His servants to ponder His verses, act according to His rulings, and be guided by His guidance, “This is a Book which I have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], as a proof [for your faith], that they may reflect upon His verses.” [Surah Sad: 29] Allah, the Exalted, made adherence to it a source of guidance and mercy, and holding fast to His rope a source of safety and protection. Allah, the Exalted, said, “And You have certainly provided them with a Book which You have preferred over knowledge, as guidance and mercy for a people who believe.” [Surah Al-A’raf: 52]

Allah the Almighty revealed it (the Qur’an) to the best of His creation and the Seal of His Prophets, Muhammad, upon him be the best of prayers and the purest of peace, in a clear Arabic tongue (Ash-Shu’ara’: 195) to make clear to the people what was sent down to them, so that they might reflect. He undertook to protect it from distortion and alteration, saying: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.” (Al-Hijr: 9). Thus, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) conveyed the trust, fulfilled the message, and conveyed the Book of their Lord to the nation, showing them the straight path that is free from crookedness. His Companions inherited the Qur’an and its explanation from him, so they memorized it, cared for it, took care to understand its meanings, and conveyed it to those after them. The scholars of the Qur’an are still studying, understanding and deducing the Qur’an, and they have written many books on its interpretation, explaining the meanings of its words, extracting the pearls of its meanings and the wonders of its rulings.

Among these works is the interpretation of Imam al-Baydawi, may God have mercy on him, which he called: “The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation.” In it, he abbreviated Imam al-Zamakhshari’s book “al-Kashshaf,” and left out what was in it of Mu’tazilites for the most part, even though he followed what he said in a few places. His book became famous in scholarly circles and became the focus of attention of students and scholars, so they devoted themselves to studying and annotating it. Some of them wrote a commentary on a surah of it, some of them even wrote a complete annotation, and some of them wrote on some places of it (2).

Al-Imam al-Suyuti said: “The master of the summaries of al-Kashaf is the book ‘Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta’wil’ by Judge Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi. He summarized it and excelled, and brought forth every good thing, and removed from it the places of Mu’tazila, and presented and removed the places of intrigue, and clarified the important matters and added the completions, so it emerged as if it were a pure ingot, and it became famous like the sun in the middle of the day, and the devotees devoted themselves to it, and the describers were keen to mention its merits, and the knowers tasted the flavor of its subtleties, so the scholars and virtuous devoted themselves to it, teaching and reading, and they hastened to accept it, desiring it and hastening to receive it, and they passed on that, layer after layer, and they proceeded with it from the time of its author to the time of our sheikhs, in a consistent manner.”