Foreword

Alhamdulillāh on the 29th of Ramadān 1400 AH / 12th August 1980

Tadabbur-i Qur’ān reached its completion. This tafsīr was begun around
1958. This means that it took almost twenty three long years of hard toil
to complete. In this long journey, the phases through which I passed, the
trials I had to face and the manner in which my Lord helped me all along
made me learn many a lesson. However, I have no intention in using up
the time of my readers in recounting this story. I have kept it a secret
between myself and God and would like it to remain so. Nevertheless, I
am extremely grateful to Him that He blessed a person of humble
beginnings and resources like me to serve His Book in such a manner
that could only have been achieved through His special favour.
As I have just mentioned, I started writing this tafsīr in 1958. However, I
had started its academic preparation way back in 1925. It is this year in
which I was fortunate enough to enter into the tutelage of Mawlānā Hamīd
al-Dīn Farāhī, and for the next five years I remained his student. After that,
the Qur’ān became a constant subject of my reflection and deliberation.
Viewed thus, this tafsīr is the result of fifty five years of hard work.
However, it does not contain only my views; it also reflects the views of
my mentor. I have already mentioned in the foreword of this tafsīr that my
views are not independent of those of my mentor; they in fact are a
culmination and supplement of his views. I have clearly mentioned his
views which directly relate to the Qur’ān and if I have found some void in
them I have tried to fill it. As far as I know, my mentor began deliberating
on the Qur’ān during his stay in Aligarh and continued with it regularly till
his last breath. A rough estimate puts this period to thirty to thirty five
years. This, in other words, means that the six thousand pages of this tafsīr
brings before the readers the academic work of almost one century. This
work can be termed as a representative of the Farāhī school.
I have already explained the methodology adopted in this tafsīr in the
foreword: The direct method has been employed for reflection on the
Qur’ān and for solving difficulties encountered. In other words, the real
source of the tafsīr is the language of the Qur’ān, the context and
placement of its verses and parallels drawn from within its text. Merely
citing various opinions of the past has not been done, as is generally the
case in current times. The Arabic language has been resorted to directly
Foreword 2
for researching out the meanings of words and stylistic features and for
solving syntactical difficulties. Reliance has not been made merely on
the opinions of scholars. Similarly, while interpreting verses, full
importance has been given to the language of the Qur’ān, the context of
the discourse and parallels found in the text. An opinion has not been
adopted merely because it was proffered by an early authority.
Consequently, instead of mentioning copious quotations from past
works, each verse is distinctly interpreted on the basis of arguments.
Efforts have also been made to highlight the logic and wisdom of the
Qur’ān in this tafsīr. The purpose is to bring to the foreground its
intellectual arguments and reasoning in a forceful and appealing manner,
and in this way the difference between the obsolete style of reasoning of
the scholastics and the natural style of reasoning of the Qur’ān is also
highlighted.
Full guidance has been sought from earlier tafsīrs, ancient scriptures,
books of history and books which state the occasion of revelation of a
verse. However, this guidance has always remained subservient to the
import of the Qur’ān. These resources have never been given authority
over the Qur’ān, and have not been allowed to govern the interpretation
of the Qur’ān whether its words accept them or not.
The beauty and elegance of a higher discourse rests on its coherent
structure and on its arrangement, and the effectiveness of its reasoning is
also dependent on these factors. For this reason, utmost efforts have been
made in this tafsīr to highlight this aspect of the Qur’ān so that those
who think that this Book does not require any coherence and sequence
are convinced to the contrary. By analyzing the contents of each sūrah,
the central theme and subject of each sūrah is ascertained. As a result,
each sūrah comes out to be a very effective and eloquent oration on a
specific subject. The analysis of the discourse has been conducted in a
manner so that the sequence of the verses is brought out of its own
accord and its relationship with the central theme is also unveiled.
Moreover, the real beauty of the underlying wisdom in the
arrangement of the sūrahs was hitherto concealed. I have for the first
time tried to explain this wisdom in this tafsīr. I have shown that these
sūrahs are divided into seven groups. In each group, the Makkan sūrahs
precede the Madīnan ones. Moreover, each sūrah has its counterpart and
the two form a pair. If at any place, this principle has not been followed,
it is because of some valid reason, which I have tried to explain. Just as
each sūrah has a central theme, each group also has a central theme
which dominates the whole group. In my opinion, this arrangement itself
is based on the Qur’ān, and I have tried to explain how this is so.
Foreword 3
When in the foreword I had mentioned these features of this tafsīr,
people only had the first volume in their hands. So, there was the
possibility that people could regard these features to be very strange.
Today, with the grace of God, the complete tafsīr from Sūrah Fātihah to
Sūrah Nās is before the readers. They can now judge whether this tafsīr
conforms to the principles stated in the foreword, and whether these
principles are very natural, based on reason and scientific for
deliberation on the Qur’ān. Readers should also reflect if without
adopting these principles the treasure of wisdom of the Qur’ān can be
accessed or not. It is deriving benefit from this very treasure of wisdom
for which this Book has been revealed by the Almighty.
It should be kept in mind that the Almighty has invested this Qur’ān
with the status of a barometer between good and evil and then handed it to
us. If this barometer does not remain with us or if we are not aware of the
method of using it, we will have no means to distinguish good from evil.
With great sorrow, I am compelled to submit that we Muslims find
ourselves in this situation. Though we have the Qur’ān with us, we do not
have its true knowledge. It is generally read to gain reward or to transfer
reward to a deceased or selling its copies. The more vehemently a person
takes its name, the farther away is he from its true comprehension. If we
want to keep this ummah alive in its capacity as the Muslim ummah, then
this will not be achieved by merely talking about achieving this unity or by
blindly reading the Qur’ān. The foremost thing which will help realizing
this goal is to highlight its true knowledge. Only those who have its true
knowledge will practice it in the right way and it is only through the
blessed hands of such people that this ummah can be reformed: ‫ﻻ ﻳﺼﻠﺢ ﺧﺮ‬
 ‫( ﻻ ﺑﻤﺎ ﺻﻠﺢ ﺑﻪ‬the reformation of the later members of this ummah will
take place through the way its earliest members were ummah reformed).1
It would also not be inappropriate to mention here that I have not
written this book merely to satisfy my passion for writing; in fact, I have
been compelled to write it to fulfill an obligation. In the foreword of one
of the previous volumes, I have mentioned that when I started this work,
I felt as if I have flung myself into a deep sea disregarding whether I will
be able to swim across it or drown in it. Before embarking on this
voyage I had fully assessed its hardships and hazards. I knew what I had
to write, the manner in which I had to write and the audience for whom I
should write and the extent of acknowledgement I would receive for this.
For this reason, though I found myself compelled to initiate this work, I
also had this latent desire that somehow I be relieved of the

1. al-Muttaqī Ibn Hassām al-Dīn, Kanz al-‘Ummāl fī Sunan al-Aqwāl wa al-

Af‘āl. 1st ed., vol. 5 (Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-‘ilmiyyah, 1998), 271.
Foreword 4
responsibility of this work. Thus when I fell severely ill in 1971-72, and
my doctors stopped me from doing mental work because they thought
that I had over-taxed my brains, I never felt any sadness that my work
would remain incomplete. In fact, I was fully satisfied that my work
could be completed to the extent my Lord had willed. If it is not his will
that it should go on, then there must be some wisdom in it and I should
be happy with this decision. I used to tell my friends that even if I get the
opportunity to complete this tafsīr till Sūrah Tawbah, I will think that my
mission has been accomplished. This was because this amount of tafsīr
would be sufficient to demonstrate the veracity and value of the
principles of tafsīr enunciated by my late mentor.
Later, when I recovered from my illness, my circumstances compelled
me to migrate from Lahore and settle in Rahmānābād, a suburban village
of Sheikhupura. In this village, neither did I have a proper house to live
in neither was there any electricity and some other amenities in the first
four years. So this initial period was very trying. In these circumstances,
it was very difficult to incline myself even to some very ordinary
academic work what to speak of writing a tafsīr. However, I had made
up my mind that if ever I would write something, it would be the tafsīr
Tadabbur-i Qur’ān. Writing anything else would amount to showing
ingratitude to the Almighty Who had once again blessed me with the
power and strength to write. Consequently, this is a fact that I wrote the
tafsīrs of many sūrahs under a shīsham or sirsā tree. Typically I would
face an onslaught from birds and hornets from above while a swarm of
flies would engulf me from below, the manuscript would be sweat-
ridden and I would be so engrossed in solving a difficult verse that I
would be oblivious of what was going on around me.
It would also not be inopportune to mention that the Almighty has
gifted me with some talent for writing, yet I have no sense to publish and
print my writings. I also have no regrets on this deficiency. I am satisfied
that my duty was to write and write I did. My task was not to print and
sell it. As far as my livelihood is concerned, I have neither done anything
for it nor can I do anything for it now. I have been jokingly saying to my
friends and today I am writing it quite seriously that against both
religious and worldly customs my maintenance and financial
responsibility has remained with my wife. She had inherited some lands
from her father. I have been looking after them. It is through this earning
that we have been financially managing ourselves, and since pomp and
status have never been a part of our lives, this earning was quite enough
for us. I have full conviction that the Lord who nourished me in
childhood and provided for me in my youth will not leave me a pauper in
old age. It is this conviction which is my real asset.
Foreword 5
I have mentioned earlier that I was not very hopeful about the future of
this book. I have known that if this world has failed to give recognition to
a researcher as prodigious as Imām Farāhī how can it recognize [an
ordinary person like] me. However, I had to carry out an obligation, and so
without any hope of reward and admiration I began this work. Now after
twenty three years my assessment is totally different than it was earlier.
On the basis of some very clear and trustworthy information, I am of the
opinion that the thought presented in this tafsīr is spreading so fast among
learned people that soon it will win over the intelligentsia. I have had the
chance of meeting scholars of all schools of thought as well as modern
educated people. I have found all of them acknowledging it and expressing
admiration for it. They have assured me that this tafsīr presents the right
methodology in understanding and teaching the Qur’ān. They have been
praying that this tafsīr comes before them in its finished form so that they
are able to benefit from it in their lectures and teaching. There are many
mosques and religious seminaries in Pakistan and India in which Qur’ānic
lectures are delivered in the light of this tafsīr. People living in Europe,
America, Arabia, Africa and Burma who have been able to read a part of
this tafsīr are anxious to read the whole of it. They have expressed their
opinion that this tafsīr presents the scientific way of deliberating on the
Qur’ān. No other way can appeal to the people of these times. These
people are also insisting of having it translated into Arabic and English.
They say that the educated non-Muslims who have been able to read a part
of it have become its fans. Some universities in Egypt and some other
countries have already given doctoral degrees to students who have done
research on the Farāhī school. In some research institutes of Pakistan also,
research is being conducted on the Farāhī approach.
People do not complain that this tafsīr is difficult and beyond
comprehension. They say that it contains what a tafsīr should befittingly
contain. It is equally beneficial for people of all walks of life whether a
person is a scholar or a commoner. I have a vast record of such opinions
lying with me. However, I want that people should judge this tafsīr in the
light of its features and asses it themselves; they should not form an
opinion while being influenced by others. For this reason, I have not
published these letters.
I never found my mentor worried about the publication of his works.
So much so, he never ever said a word to me about this. However, he
would repeatedly advise us to write or speak about something after
complete research and a lot of deliberation. What is strongly reasoned
out always takes roots. What stands on weak reasoning may pass for
some time but it will soon be ousted. This motto of my mentor is
alhamdulillāh now proving fully true to me.
Foreword 6
Although I have spent my whole youth and later age in the preparation
and writing of this tafsīr, I am not presenting it before my readers with the
claim that I have successfully made them understand the Qur’ān or that I
have compiled the complete knowledge of the Qur’ān in this tafsīr. The
Qur’ān is an unfathomable sea of knowledge and wisdom. No one except
its author can encompass all its knowledge. However, I do have the feeling
that through this tafsīr, I have paved the way to deliberating on the Book
of God. If readers take the principles mentioned in this tafsīr as their guide
and then reflect on the Qur’ān, I have full faith that they will be able to
access the treasures of wisdom which are found in it. I claim nothing
beyond this, and this is no ordinary an achievement. If readers are able to
understand the Qur’ān on the basis of these principles, they will find it to
be a barometer for the truth through which they can distinguish right views
from wrong ones and sift out what is correct from the incorrect. It will
become very easy for them to judge the veracity of various issues of fiqh,
scholasticism, ahādith, philosophy and tasawwuf. This approach will
break the shackles of blind following which has divided this ummah into
various sects, and who knows it might pave the way for a revolution which
makes a dispersed ummah into a united force to reckon with. Nevertheless
I have only paved the way to understanding the Qur’ān. A lot of work still
remains, and has to be done by those who will come after me:

gumān mabur keh ba pāyān rasīd kār-i mughān

hazār bādah-i nakhurdah dar rag-i tāk ast

If one is able to have a true comprehension of the Qur’ān, it is like being

blessed with light on all sides. Neither can a classical interpretation or
discipline lead one astray nor a modern one. Being equipped with this
ability is the real key to knowledge. If a person is not able to take hold of
this key or if he is given this key yet is unable to value it, then he will
never be able to get out from the darkness which today engulfs him. I
beseech the youth and the adults of this age that if they hold dear their own
future and that of this ummah, they should not see who has expressed a
particular opinion; they should only see what has been expressed. The
truth is a common asset for all; no one has monopoly over it. Moreover,
the loss of not valuing and recognizing a truth is that of the person who
adopts this attitude; the one who presents it never loses anything.
When on the 29th of Ramadān 1400 AH I wrote the last lines of this
tafsīr, I felt that not only have I completed this book I have also ended
the last chapter of my life. No doubt, I was naturally elated to be relieved
of a heavy burden I had been carrying for twenty three years; however, I
also felt depleted and exhausted to do anything else and felt that there
Foreword 7
would be nothing else from which I could derive the pleasure of life.
After writing these last lines, I prostrated myself before the Almighty.
My sole prayer in this state was: “Lord! If you have given me the honour
to be of service to Your noble book, please accept my effort, and make it
a means of my salvation. I have no other desire.” Whoever reads these
lines is also requested to say amen to this prayer.
I trudged through a major part of this journey by myself; however, at
times, I did find some mates in this journey. Still fresh in my memory is
the time spent in their company as much as they were able to take out and
these cherished moments shall forever remain with me. I have already
mentioned some of these friends in the forewords of previous volumes and
would not repeat them here; however, it is essential that I express my
gratitude to some others who have not yet been mentioned in this book.
They have been very helpful to me in the affairs of this book and I feel
extremely indebted to them for their selfless co-operation. My dear
Ghulām Samdānī, who is currently residing in the States, remained of
service to me even more than my own sons. He used to copy the
manuscripts of the book with great devotion and adeptness. My friend
‘Abdullāh Ghulām Ahmad, in spite of being an employee WAPDA, also
had a great share in this copying out and I also benefited a great deal from
his intelligence in solving the problems encountered in this tafsīr. My
friend Khalīd Masūd has already remained a great help in finding various
references for citation; however, young Javed Ahmad has also helped me
in locating certain other references for which I am very grateful to him.
Majid Khāwar’s name is now a part of this book’s history. When I
expressed my dissatisfaction on the previous system of publishing this book,
he came forward and assured me that he himself will take up this task
according to a program. I was very happy to see him take this initiative.
Although in the beginning I was not satisfied with the extent of experience
he had in these matters, God blessed his efforts. He was able to carry out the
task as per the promised schedule and succeeded in a grand manner.
I am grateful to all these friends and pray that the Almighty take some
service from them which becomes instrumental in their success not only
in this world but also in the next.

wassalam

Amīn Ahsan Islāhī

Lahore
9th November 1980 AD
30th Dhū al-Hajj 1400 AH.
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