(e.g., attention to the convergent lines of transmission of a
text) also suggest this as the earliest verifiable period. The
emergent literature itself can be analyzed into various catego-
ries which not only display the distinctive literary qualities
and differences of the texts but also suggest an overall relative
historical ordering of them. The five sequential categories
suggested by John Wansbrough in his Quranic Studies:
Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (Oxford,
1977) are narrative (aggadic), legal (halakhic), textual (maso-
retic), rhetorical, and allegorical. While the historical se-
quence itself may be open to some debate, the categorization
itself is, in true scientific fashion, functional, unified, and re-
vealing.
Narrative tafs ̄ır. Narrative tafs ̄ır is exemplified in the
text by Muqa ̄til ibn Sulayma ̄n, which has subsequently been
given the title Tafs ̄ır al-QurDa ̄n (Interpretation of the
QurDa ̄n), although that is unlikely to have been the original
name, and is also embodied in various sections of the work
by Ibn Ish:a ̄q (d. 768), S ̄ırat Rasu ̄l Alla ̄h (The life of the mes-
senger of God). The creation of an edifying narrative, gener-
ally enhanced by folklore from the entire Near Eastern world
(including the heritages of Byzantium, Persia, and Egypt, but
most especially that of the Judeo-Christian milieu) is the
main feature of such commentaries. Adding detail to other-
wise sketchy scripture and answering the rather mundane
questions which the curious mind will raise when confronted
by a contextless scriptural passage are the central concerns of
this genre. In fact, the actual narrative seems to be of prime
importance; the text of scripture remains underneath the
story itself, often subordinated in order to construct a
smoothly flowing narrative.
For the first part of su ̄rah 2:189 (“They are asking you
about the new moons. Say: ‘They are appointed times for the
people and the pilgrimage’”), Muqatil tries to provide the an-
swers for the curious reader. Just who is asking? Why did
they ask? Precisely what did they ask? This type of approach
is the essence of aggadic tafs ̄ır. Muqatil provides the follow-
ing comment on the verse:
MuEa ̄dh ibn Jabl and ThaElabah ibn Ghanamah said:
“O Messenger! Why is it that the new moon is just visi-
ble, then it appears small like a needle, then brightens
until it is strong, then levels off and becomes a circle,
only to start to decrease and get smaller, until it returns
just as it was? Why does it not remain at a single level?”
So God revealed the verse about the new moons.The identification of the participants and the precise ques-
tion being asked (provided in a marvelously naive and there-
fore entertaining manner) are specified. The overall interpre-
tation of the verse becomes clear through this supplying of
contextual material.
Legal tafs ̄ır. Muqa ̄til ibn Sulayma ̄n once again is a focal
point in the development of legal interpretation. Here, the
arrangement of the material becomes the prime indicator of
the genre; whereas in narrative interpretation the order of
scripture for the most part serves as the basic framework, for
the legal material a topical arrangement is the definitive crite-
rion. The fact that the actual content of Muqa ̄til’s legal tafs ̄ır,
entitled Tafs ̄ır khams m ̄ı’ah a ̄yah min al-QurDa ̄n (The Inter-
pretation of Five Hundred Verses of the QurDa ̄n), is probably
derived from his narrative tafs ̄ır reveals that the prime criteri-
on is indeed the form of the work.
Muqa ̄til’s text covers the following topics: faith, prayer,
charity, fasting, pilgrimage, retaliation, inheritance, usury,
wine, marriage, divorce, adultery, theft, debts, contracts, and
holy war. This range of topics gives a fair indication of the
nature of much of the material in the QurDa ̄n which was
found to be of legal value.
Textual tafs ̄ır. Activities centered on explanations of
the lexicon of scripture, along with its grammar and variant
readings, are the focus of textual commentaries. One of the
earliest texts devoted to this type of analysis is that of the phi-
lologist al-Farra ̄D (d. 822) entitled MaEa ̄n ̄ı al-QurDa ̄n (The
meanings of the QurDa ̄n), a fairly technical work which pri-
marily explains the difficult points of grammar and textual
variants. The work of Abu ̄ EUbayd (d. 838), Fad:a ̄Dil
al-QurDa ̄n (The merits of the QurDa ̄n), is similar, although
it is divided by topic rather than following the QurDanic
order, as does the work of al-Farra ̄D. Earlier simple texts also
exist, including that by Muqa ̄til ibn Sulayma ̄n, Kita ̄b
al-wuju ̄h wa-al-naz:a ̄Dir (The book of [word] senses and par-
allels), and al-Kisa ̄D ̄ı (d. 804), Mushtabiha ̄t al-QurDa ̄n (The
resemblances of the QurDa ̄n), both of which are devoted to
semantic analysis of the text. Muqa ̄til’s text compiles lists of
word usages according to the number of senses of meaning
(wuju ̄h) of a given word; al-Kisa ̄D ̄ı’s work is similar but deals
with phrases rather than individual words.
Rhetorical tafs ̄ır. Concern for the literary excellencies
of scripture is the focal point of works such as that by Abu ̄
EUbaydah (d. 824), Maja ̄z al-QurDa ̄n (The literary expression
of the QurDa ̄n), although the origin of this type of analysis
may well be in textual exegesis (with a grammatical focus)
rather than in a purely literary type. The impetus for its de-
velopment as a separate genre, however, was the nascent no-
tion of the miraculous character of the QurDa ̄n and the liter-
ary evidence for it. While this became a full doctrine only
in the fourth century AH, its exegetical roots are to be found
here. The work TaDw ̄ıl mushkil al-QurDa ̄n (The interpreta-
tion of the difficulties in the QurDa ̄n), by Ibn Qutaybah
(d. 889), proves to be an important transition point between
this earliest rhetorical analysis based upon grammatical and
exegetical niceties and that of the later doctrine of the mirac-
ulous character or inimitability of the QurDa ̄n (iEja ̄z). In these
texts attention is paid to the literary qualities of the QurDa ̄n
which place it outside the norm of Arabic prose and poetry;
various poetical figures are isolated, for example, are subject-
ed to analysis for meaning, and, in many cases, are then com-
pared with older Arabic poetry.
Allegorical tafs ̄ır. Support for dissident opinion in
Islam was generally found ex post facto through the expedien-
cy of allegorical interpretation. Supported through a termi-8952 TAFS ̄IR