Exegesis

The commentary of Muḥammad b. Masʿūd al-ʿAyyāshī al-Samarqandī is one of the oldest books of narrative Tafsir. Since Tafsir Ayyashi is one of the first books of narrative Shia interpretations, it has the highest narrative validity. There are two challenging issues: first, eliminating the documents of the book hadiths; then, absence of the second part of this interpretation and only the first part is available, which continues to the end of the Surah Al-Kahf. The narrative Al-Khabar al-Wāḥid with the valid document has authority. The Tafsir Ayyashi's hadiths are Mursal regarding the eliminations of its documents, or at least their authenticity has not been proven, and for this reason, they have no authority. With description, analysis, and critique method, the present study aimed to find solutions for dissolving two challenging problems about Tafsir Ayyashi authenticity, including author authentication, reliance on retrieving documents in recent sources, scholars' trust in the book, thematology, and comparison with the Qur'an.

The present study aimed to investigate the translation strategies used in the English renditions of the end-of-the-world saviourship verses of the Holy Qur’ān, from the perspective of the translators' religious backgrounds. For this purpose, the English translations by three translators, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish (namely, Saffarzadeh (2001), Arberry (1957), and Dawood (1956), respectively), on the topic of saviourship in the Holy Qur’ān were collected and examined. To identify the translation strategy or strategies and to support the analysis of the translations and the ideologies underlying them, Newmark’s (1988) translation strategies, as well as a revised model of Larson’s (1998) TQA proposed by Rahimi (2004) (including accuracy, clarity, and naturalness), were employed as theoretical frameworks. Additionally, two Qur’ānic exegeses by Gulam Malik Farid and Tafsir al-Mizan by Allameh Tabataba’I, alongside selected authentic traditions or Hadiths, were consulted to provide a deeper understanding of the Qur’ānic interpretations. The results of the study indicated that ideological factors played a significant role in the choice of translation procedures, the translator’s intentions, and the academic and exegetical references used in each translation. More specifically, the Muslim translator tended toward a more meaning-oriented approach, placing greater emphasis on conveying meaning than the Jewish and Christian translators. Saffarzadeh also made more deliberate efforts to avoid manipulation and distortion compared to the other two translators.

Verse 172 of Surah al-Aʻrāf , known as the Verse of Dharr , expresses a covenant between God and humanity. The wisdom behind this covenant is the completion of God's argument against His servants on the Resurrection, countering the excuses of heedlessness or of having had polytheistic forefathers. This verse has been a focus for Qur'anic commentators since the era of the Imams, and due to disagreements regarding the modality by which the covenant was taken; it has led to numerous viewpoints. Accordingly, the present study, using a descriptive-analytical method, aims to answer the fundamental question: ‘What is the evolutionary trajectory of the commentators' views regarding the Verse of Dharr ?’ The research findings indicate that throughout history, various views have been proposed concerning the "World of Dharr ," including: the view based on narrations, the view of the covenant being taken through the prophets, the view of innate potentials, the view of the spiritual covenant, the view of the realm of dominion and sovereignty, and the view of innate disposition. Each of these proposed views is incomplete. The view of acknowledgment emerges as the most complete perspective regarding the World of Dharr .