List of English tafsir works

Tafsir is a body of commentary and explication, aimed at explaining the meanings of the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. Tafsir can broadly be categorized by its affiliated Islamic schools and branches and the era it was published, classic or modern. The following is a list of tafsir works.[1]

Early tafsir

Translation

• Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas: Great Commentaries of the Holy Qur'an translated by Mokrane Guezzou. Fons Vitae, Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought

Sunni tafsir

Original

• The Majestic Quran: An English Rendition of Its Meanings translation and commentary by Nureddin Uzunoglu, Ali Ozek, Tevfik Rüştü Topuzoğlu, and Mehmet Maksutoğlu

Translations

• Tafsir Ibn Kathir by Ibn Kathir is available as:

1. Tafsir ibn Kathir: The Exegesis of the Grand Holy Qur'an translated by Muhammad Mahdi Al-Sharif. Daral-Kutub 'Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon 2006.

2. Tafsir Ibn Kathir translated by Safiur-Rahman Al Mubarakpuri and team, Darussalam Publications.

3. Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) translated by Muhammad Anis Gad Khalil, Dar al-Manarah

• Qur’an Made Easy by Shabir Ahmad Usmani, Afzal Husen Elias, Ismail Ibrahim, and Ismail Khathrada.

• Tafsir-e-Uthmani by Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and Shabir Ahmad Usmani has been translated as:

1. The Glorious Qur'an based on the Tafsir-e-'Uthmani translated and edited by the teachers of Madrasah Ayesha Siddiqua, Karachi. Al-Bushra Publishers

2. Tafsir-e-Uthmani translated by Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmad, Idara Impex, India

• Ma'ariful Quran by Muhammad Shafi Usmani. Translated from Urdu to English. Fully available online.[19]

• Illuminating Discourses on the Noble Qur’an by Ashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri, translated into English by Ismail Ebrahim, and edited by Ismail Khathrada and Afzal Hoosen Elias

• Tafhim al-Quran by Abul A'la Maududi translated as Towards Understanding the Qur'an

• Nahw tafsir mawdu`i li-suwar al-Qur'an al-Karim by Muhammad al-Ghazali has been translated as

1. A Thematic Commentary on the Qur’an translated by A.A Shamis, The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)

2. Journey Through The Qur'an: The Content and Context of the Suras translated by Aisha Bewley

• Tafsir al-Qur’an (also known as: Tafsir-e-Majidi) by Abdul Majid Daryabadi

• Tafsir al-Tabari by al-Tabari has been partially translated by Scott Lucas as Selections from The Comprehensive Exposition of the Interpretation of the Verses of the Qur'an in two volumes, Islamic Texts Society

• Fi Zilal al-Qur'an by Sayyid Qutb has been translated as In the Shade of the Quran by Adil Salahi and A.A Shamis, Islamic Foundation

• The Noble Quran: Meaning With Explanatory Notes by Muhammad Taqi Usmani

• Tadabbur-e-Qur'an has been translated as Pondering over the Qur'an by Mohammad Saleem Kayani. Incomplete, in two volumes, Islamic Book Trust

• Tafsir al-Jalalayn by Jalal ud Din Suyuti and Jalal ud Din al Mahalli has been translated as:

1. Tafsir al-Jalalayn: Complete English Translation by Aisha Bewley, Dar al-Taqwa

2. Tafsir al Jalayan: Great Commentaries of the Holy Qur'an translated by Feras Hamza, Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Fons Vitae

• Tafsir al-Kabir by al-Razi has been partially translated as The Great Exegesis: al-Tafsir al-Kabir by Sohaib Saeed. Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Islamic Texts Society

Salafi tafsir

Original

• Tafsir Ishraq Al-Ma'ani (1997-2007) by Syed Iqbal Zaheer. In eight volumes, this tafsir summarizes the exegesis of the most prominent writings of Muslim scholars from Tabari to Sayyid Qutb from a Salafi perspective.

Translation

• Tafseer as-Sa'di by Abdul-Rahman al-Sa'di, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab and edited by Huda Khattab, International Islamic Publishing House (from Arabic)

• Ahasanul Bayan by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, translated by Mohammad Kamal Myshkat, Dar-us-Salam Publications (from Urdu)

Twelver Shia tafsir

Original

• The Ascendant Qur'an: Realigning Man to the Divine Power Culture by Muhammad al Asi

Translation

• Tafsir al-Mizan by Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i (1904 – 1981 CE). (was translated from Arabic to English by sa'id akhtar rizvi).

• An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an by Kamal Faqih Imani (was translated from Persian to English by Abbas Sadr-'ameli).

• Tafsir Nemuneh by Naser Makarem Shirazi (1927 CE – Present) (was translated from Persian to English).

• The Qur'an Interpretation. 2 vols. by Mohammed-Ali Hassan Al-Hilly (1968, Iraq), translated by E. A. Nassir (2016, Beirut). The Qur'an Interpretation (2 vol). (from Arabic)

Ismaili Shia

• The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary (First Edition: 4 April 1934, Second Edition: 1937, and Third Edition: 1938)' by the anglophile British-Indian Dawudi Bohra Abdullah Yusuf Ali (14 April 1872[26] – 10 December 1953) - 'Ali undertook this work at a time when the Qur’an had yet never been properly presented in English from a Shia perspective and only non-Muslim translations were available, which were sometimes overly unsympathetic. It has become one of the most widely used English editions of the Qur’an due to the quality of the translation and its use of extensive futnotes.[27] In the 1980s, the book has been appropriated by the Saudi religious establishment and edited to better fit the country's Wahhabi/Salafist perspective. This latter version is today widely distributed as the Amana Edition.

Sufi tafsir

Original

• The Qur'an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English by Ali Ünal - Ünal is a member of the Gülenist movement.

Translations

• Asrar al-Tanzil by Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan (from Urdu)

• Laṭā'if al-Isharat bi-Tafsir al-Qur'ān has been partially translated as Abu'l-Qasim Al-Qushayri's Lata'if Al-Isharat: Subtleties of The Allusions by Kristin Zahra Sands, Dar Ul Thaqafah

• A Sufi Commentary on the Qur'an: Ta'wilat al-Qur'an by Abd al-Razzaq Al-Kashani, translated by Khalid Williams. The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Islamic Texts Society

• Tafsir Al-Tustari: Great Commentaries on the Holy Qur’an translated by Annabel and Ali Keeler, The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Fons Vitae

Ahmadi tafsir

• The English Commentary of the Holy Quran translated by Maulvi Sher Ali, Mirza Bashir Ahmad and Malik Ghulam Farid.

Modernist tafsir

• The Message of the Qur'an by Muhammad Asad, 1980.

Other Tafsirs

• The Study Qur’an — authored by an editorial collective led by noted Islamic philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr, published in 2015 by HarperCollins. This work seeks to highlight the depth and diversity of interpretations that exist within traditional Islam, drawing on 40 major classical commentaries from a wide range of orientations, including both Sunni and Shi'a viewpoints, the Maturidi, Ashari, Mutazili and Athari schools of Islamic theology, as well as Sufi interpretations; but excluding modern reformist and fundamentalist views. Has been hailed by academics as an unparalleled reference work in the field of Islamic studies.[33]

Notes