Tafsir al-Qurtubi Vol. 9: Sūrah Hūd, Sūrah Yūsuf, Sūrat ar-Ra'd, Sūrah Ibrāhīm, and Sūrat al-Ḥijr - Paperback

by Abu 'abdullah Muhammad Al-Qurtubi (Author), Aisha Bewley (Translator), Abdalhaqq Bewley (Editor)

The tafsīr of al-Qurṭubī is perhaps one of the most compendious of them all and is certainly among the most famous. As its title, al-Jāmi' li Aḥkām al-Qur'ān - The General Judgments of the Qur'an, suggests, its main focus is on the rulings and judgments to be found in the Qur'ān. However, in the course of doing that, al-Qurṭubī examines all the relevant sciences necessary, such as the ḥadīth pertaining to the āyahs, events in the sīrah, what the Companions, their Followers and other noted people of knowledge said about the āyahs, essential aspects of Arabic etymology, syntax and usage, copiously illustrated by examples, and much more.

This volume includes the tafsīr on Sūrahs Hūd, Yūsuf, ar-Ra'd, Ibrāhīm, and al-Ḥijr. Hūd is famously majestic, the Sūrah which turned some of the hair of the Prophet  grey, whereas conversely Sūrah Yūsuf tells 'the best of stories' or 'the most beautiful of narratives' about the original 'sons of Isrā'īl - Banī Isrā'īl' whose descendants' histories would be so archetypal and, as the Muslims of their time, cause for reflection for the Muslims of this time. It is thus invaluable to see the story of this Prophetic family set against the background of the early Pharaonic state, which would also contribute a great deal to subsequent ages and our own in the realm of state-formation.