After writing such majour philosophical works as Usul-i...

After writing such majour philosophical works as Usul-i Falsafay-i Ri’alism in five volumes, he edited the Asfar al-Arba’a of Sadr-al-Din Shirazi with his own commentary and a selection of commentaries on other masters prior to Shirazi, in seven volumes.Later, at our request, he composed two masterly summaries of Islamic philosophy: the Badayi’ al-Hikam and the Nahayat al-Hikam .

Meanwhile, parallel with all this activity in the domain of traditional philosophy and gnosis (about which he wrote less in a direct manner but alluded to frequently in his philosophical works and certain shorter treatises), Allamah Tabataba’i continued to work indefatigably on his Qur’anic commentary, Tafsir al-Mizan , which he finally completed in his mid-seventies.

This monumental commentary, consisting of some twenty-seven volumes (written in Arabic, but also translated in Persian), is one of the most important Qur’anic commentaries of this century and is a binding witness to the remarkable mastery of its author in the domain of Qur’anic sciences.

This commentary, based on the principle of having one part of the Qur’an interpret other parts ( al-Qur’an yufassiru ba’dahu ba’dan ) is a summa of Islamic religious thoughts, in which the sciences of the Qur’an, theology, philosophy, gnosis, sacred history and the social teachings of Islam are all brought together. The present volume is in sense the synthesis of the venerable master’s life-long study of the Noble Qur’an.

Although the book is written in simple language and may appear to be introductory, it is a work of great depth and synthetic quality. It treats many questions concerning the sacred text which have rarely been discussed together in a single work. The book, although short, distils many volumes into its pages and is like the synopsis of a major commentary.

It brings out the significance of the Qur’an for the life of Muslims, the features of the sacred Text which seems enigmatic, the inner and outer levels of meaning of the Text and the sciences of the Qur’anic exegesis. It also treats in a clear and direct manner the Shi’ite understanding of the Qur’an and the role of the Imams in its interpretation.

It is a veritable prolegomenon to the study of the Sacred Book, and it is perhaps the most accessible introduction available in English to the study of the Qur’an as traditionally understood by the mainstream of Shi’ite thought, in fact Islamic exegetical thought in general.