List of Famous Qur’anic Tafaseer (Exegeses) Throughout History

SHAFAQNA – The following was taken from Iqra online

I decided to compile a list of some of the most famous and well known Qur’anic Exegeses (Tafaseer) that have been written throughout history. The list has been compiled using a book titled An Introduction to the History of Tafsir and Commentators of the Qur’an by Husayn Alawi Mehr, translated into English by Sheikh Hamid Waqar. The book is a decent read and gives brief, yet differentiating points about all the important tafaseer that have been written till recent times. I have also tried to locate the actual books online and have hyper-linked them with their titles for most of the tafaseer.

Shi’a Tafaaseer


Tanweer al-Maqbaas min Tafseer ibn Abbas	Ibn Abbas	687 AD	Traditional	Arabic	1	Tafseer compiled by Muhammad ibn Yaqub Firuzabadi
Sahifa Ali ibn Abi Talha ‘an Ibn Abbas fi Tafseer al-Qur’an al-Kareem	Ibn Abbas	687 AD	Traditional	Arabic	1	Tafseer compiled by Rashid Abd al-Mun’im al-Rajjal
Ghareeb al-Qur’an Fi Shir al-Arab	Ibn Abbas	687 AD	Q & A and Poetic	Arabic	1	Questions asked by Nafi’ ibn Arzaq and answerd in Arabic poetry
Tafseer al-Qummi	Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi	4th Century	Traditional	Arabic	2	Authenticity debated. Book is combined with Tafseer of Abu al-Jarud
Tafseer Furat Kufi	Abu al-Qasim Furat ibn Ibrahim Kufi	4th Century	Traditional	Arabic	1	Has 775 narations – about 530 verses explained
Tafseer Ayyashi	Muhammad ibn Mas’ud Samarqandi	320 AH	Traditional	Arabic	2
Tafseer Nu’mani	Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ja’far	360 AH	Traditional	Arabic	1	Book is quoted at the beginning of Bihar al-Anwar Volume 90
Tafseer al-Askari	Muhammad ibn Qasim Astarabadi	350 AH	Traditional	Arabic	1	Until 283rd verse of Surah Baqarah – authenticity debated
Haqaiq al-Ta’wil fi Mutashaabah al-Tanzil	Sayyid Radhi	406 AH	Ijtihadi – theological & literary	Arabic	1	Author of Nahj ul Balagha
Tafseer Sheikh al-Mufeed	Sheikh Mufeed	413 AH	Ijtihadi	Arabic		Compiled by Aqa Ayyazi
Amaali of Sheikh Murtadha	Sayyid Murtadha	436 AH	Theological	Arabic	1	79 sections in the book
Al-Tibyan fi Tafseer al-Qur’an	Sheikh Tusi	468 AH	Ijtihadi – Theological	Arabic	10
Haqaiq al-Tafseer	Abu Abd al-Rahman Sulami	412 AH	Traditional – Mystical	Arabic	4	He was a Sufi from Nishapour
Majma’ al-Bayan	Abu Ali Fadhl ibn Hasan Tabarasi	548 AH	Ijtihadi – theological & literary	Arabic	10	A correcting, editing and addition to Tafsir al-Tibyan of Sheikh Tusi
Rawdh al-Janaan wa Ruh al-Janaan	Abu al-Futuh Razi	556-560 AH	Ijtihadi – theological, mystical & literary	Farsi	20
Fiqh al-Qur’an	Qutb al-Din Sa’id ibn Abdullah Rawandi	573 AH	Traditional & Analytical	Arabic	2
Mutashaabih al-Qur’an	Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali ibn Shahrashub Mazandarani	558 AH	Ijtihadi – Analytical & Literary	Arabic	2
Nahj al-Bayaan an Kashf Ma’ani al-Qur’an	Muhammad ibn Hasan Shaybaani	Around 640 AH	Traditional	Arabic	5
Al-Balaabul al-Qalaqul	Abu al-Makarim Mahmud ibn Hasani Waiz	7th Century AH	Traditional & Theological	Farsi	3
Al-Muheet al-A’zam	Sayyid Hayder Amuli	787 AH	Subject-wise – Mystical & Sufism	Arabic	4
Jala’ al-Adhhaan wa Jala’ al-Ahzan	Abu al-Muhasin Jurjani	8th Century AH	Ijtihadi – theological & literary	Arabic	10	Summary of Rawdh al-Janan
Sa’ad al-Su’ood	Sayyid Ibn Taoos	665 AH	Ijtihadi	Arabic	1
Minhaj al-Sadiqeen fi Ilzam al-Khalifeen	Mullah Fathallah Kashaani	988 AH	Traditional – Ethical & Mystical	Farsi	10
Tafseer al-Saafi	Mullah Faydh Kashani	1091 AH	Traditional – Mystical	Arabic	5
Al-Burhaan fi al-Tafseer al-Qur’an	Sayyid Hashim Bahrani	1107 AH	Traditional	Arabic	5
Noor al-Thaqalayn	Abd Ali ibn Jumu’ah Arusi Hawizi	1112 AH	Traditional	Arabic	5
Tafseer Kanz al-Daqaaiq	Muhammad ibn Ridha Mashhadi Qummi	1125 AH	Traditional with Explanations	Arabic	14
Zubdah al-Bayan fi Ahkam al-Qur’an	Muqaddas Ardibili	993 AH	Jurisprudential	Arabic	1
Tafseer al-Qur’an al-Karim	Mulla Sadra	1050 AH	Philosophical & Mystical	Arabic	7
Al-Wajiz – Tafseer Shabbar	Sayyid Abdullah Shabbar	1242 AH	Ijtihadi – Traditional	Arabic	1
Partu’ee az Qur’an	Sayyid Mahmud Taliqani	1399 AH	Ijtihadi – Intellectual & Social	Farsi	6
Al-Qur’an wa al-Aql	Sayyid Nur al-Din Hussayni Iraqi	1341 AH	Rational	Arabic	3
Bayaan al-Sa’adah fi Muqadamaat al-Ibadah	Sultan Muhammad Gunabadi	1327 AH	Mystical	Arabic	4
Al-Alaa al-Rahman fi Tafseer al-Qur’an	Allamah Muhammad jawad Balaghi	1352 AH	Ijtihadi	Arabic	2
Tafseer al-Qur’an al-Karim	Sayyid Mustafa Khomeini	1397 AH	Ijtihadi – Intellectual & Social	Arabic	5
Tafseer al-Mizaan	Allamah Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaee	1402 AH	Ijtihadi – Explaining Qur’an by the Qur’an	Arabic	20
Tafseer Namoonah	Nasir Makarim Shirazi & coauthors	Alive	Ijtihadi – Social & Literary	Farsi	27
Min Wahi al-Qur’an	Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadhlullah	2010 AD	Social & Spiritual Training	Arabic	11
Al-Kashif	Muhammad Jawad Mughniyah	1400 AH	Social	Arabic	7
Al-Furqan fi Tafseer al-Qur’an bil Qur’an wa al-Sunnah	Muhammad Sadiq Tehrani	2011 AD	Ijtihadi – Explaining Qur’an by the Qur’an	Arabic	30
Al-Tafseer al-Athari al-Jami’	Muhammad Hadi Ma’rifat	2007 AD	Traditional with Explanations	Arabic	30
Makhzan al-Irfan	Nusrat Amin	1403 AH	Ijtihadi – Mystical & Philosophical	Farsi	15
Tafseer Nur	Mohsin Qara’ti Kashani	Alive	Traditional with Explanations	Farsi	10
Tafseer Tasneem	Jawadi Amuli	Alive	Ijtihadi – Mystical & Philosophical	Farsi	23+	Still being published
Tafseer Rahnama	Hashimi Rafsanjani	Alive	Subject-wise	Farsi	20

Showing 1 to 45 of 45 entries

Sunni Tafaaseer

TAFSEER	AUTHOR	DEMISE	STYLE	LANGUAGE	SIZE	NOTES
Ma’ani al-Qur’an	Yahya al-Farra	210 AH	Literary	Arabic	3
Majaz al-Qur’an	Abu Ubaydah	208 AH	Literary	Arabic	2
Nadhm al-Qur’an	Abu Uthman Jahiz	255 AH	Literary	Arabic
Tafseer Jami’ al-Bayan fi Ta’wil Ay al-Qur’an	Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir Tabari	310 AH	Traditional	Arabic	12
Tafseer al-Musnad	Abd al-Rahmad ibn Abi Hatam Muhammad ibn Idris (Abu Hatam Razi)	327 AH	Traditional	Arabic	12
Tafseer Bahr al-Uloom (Samarqandi)	Aby Layth Samarqandi	373 AH	Traditional	Arabic	3
Ma’ani al-Qur’an	Abu Ishaq Zajjaj	311 AH	Literary	Arabic	5	Etymological and grammatical tafseer
Al-Nakt fi I’jaz al-Qur’an	Abu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Isa Rummani	386 AH	Theological	Arabic
Ta’wilaat al-Qur’an (Ahl ul Sunnah)	Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad Maturidi	333 AH	Theological	Arabic	10	Founder of the Maturidi sect. Tafseer is of Surah Munafiqoon till end, and beginning till end of Surah Baqarah
Al-Kashf wa al-Bayaan	Abu Ishaq Ahmad al-Thalabi	427 AH	Traditional & Ijtihadi	Arabic	10	Paid attention to 14 dimensions (v1, p 16)
Al-Waseet fi Tafseer al-Qur’an al-Majeed	Abul Hasan Wahidi Nishapouri	468 AH	Traditional	Arabic	4
Al-Nakt wa al-Uyun	Abul Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad Habib Mawardi Basri	450 AH	Traditional	Arabic	6	Author was Shafi’i
Al-Muharrar al-Wajiz	Ibn Atiyah Andalusi	543 AH	Traditional	Arabic	1	First author to dismiss Israiliyat, and author was strong in Dirayah
Tafsir al-Qur’an	Abu al-Muzaffar Sam’ani	489 AH	Traditional & Literary	Arabic	6	Author was Shafi’i
Lataaif al-Isharaat	Abul Qasim ibn Abdul Karim ibn Hawazun Qashiri Neshapouri	465 AH	Mystical	Arabic	3
Tafseer Ibn Abu Muslim Isfahani	Muhammad ibn Ali Abu Muslim Isfahani	459 AH	Literary	Arabic	24	Mutazilite
Al-Kashshaaf	Jarallah Zamakhshari	538 AH	Literary & Theological	Arabic	6
Mu’aalim al-Tanzeel	Abu Muhammad ibn Mas’ud Bahguwi	516 AH	Traditional with Explanations	Arabic	8
Zaad al-Maseer fi Ilm al-Tafseer	Abu al-Faraj ibn Muhammad al-Jawzi	597 AH	Traditional-Analytical & Literary	Arabic	9
Kashf al-Asraar wa Iddah al-Abraar	Abu al-Fadhl Rashid al-Deen Maybidi	530 AH	Mystical	Farsi	10	Originally written by Khwajah Abdullah Ansari (d. 481)
Tafseer Kabeer (Mafatih al-Ghayb)	Fakhr al-Deen Razi	606 AH	Ijtihadi – Theological & Philosophical	Arabic	32
Al-Jami’ li-Ahkam al-Qur’an	Abu Abdullah Qurtabi	761 AH	Ijtihadi – Literary & Jurisprudence	Arabic	24
Anwaar al-Tanzeel wa Asrar al-Ta’weel	Abu al-Khayr ibn Baydawi Shirazi	685 AH	Ijtihadi – Literary	Arabic	4
Madaarik al-Tanzeel wa Haqaiq al-Taweel	Ibn Mahmud Nasafi	710 AH	Ijtihadi	Arabic	5
Lubab al-Taweel fi Ma’ani al-Tanzeel	Alaa al-Deen al-Khazin	725 AH	Traditional	Arabic	5
Gharaaib al-Quran wa Raghaaib al-Furqaan	Hasan ibn Muhammad Qummi Nishapuri	730 AH	Ijtihadi – Philosophical, Mystical & Theological	Arabic	6	Dispute whether he was Shi’a or Sunni
Al-Bahr al-Muheet fi al-Tafseer	Abu Hayyan Andalusi Gharnaati	745 AH	Ijtihadi – Literary	Arabic	10
Tafseer al-Qur’an al-Azeem	Abu al-Fida ibn Kathir Damashqi	775 AH	Traditional	Arabic	4
Al-Jawahir al-Hissan fi Tafseer al-Qur’an	Abdul Rahman Tha’alabi	876 AH	Traditional	Arabic	5
Nazm al-Durrar fi Tanasib al-Ayaat wa al-Suwur	Burhan al-Deen Abul Hasan Baqa’i	885 AH	Mystical	Arabic	22
Tawilaat al-Najmiyah fi Tafseer al-Ishaari	Najm al-Deen Asadi	654 AH	Mystical	Arabic	4
Dur al-Manthur fi al-Tafseer bil-Ma’thur	Jalal al-Din Suyuti	911 AH	Traditional	Arabic	17
Ruh al-Bayan	Shaykh Ismail Haqqi Barusawi	1127 AH	Mystical & Literary	Arabic	10
Fath al-Qadir	Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Shukani	1250 AH	Traditional	Arabic	5	Author was born in a Zaydi family, but later became a Sunni
Ruh al-Ma’ani	Shahab al-Din Alusi Baghdadi	1270 AH	Ijtihadi	Arabic	15
Bayan al-Ma’ani ala Hasb Tarteeb al-Nuzul	Abdul Qadir Mullah Hawish	1398 AH	Chronological with Explanations	Arabic	6	Chronological tafseer
Tafseer al-Hadith	Muhammad Izzah Nablusi	1400 AH	Chronological with Explanations	Arabic	10	Chronological tafseer
Al-Jawahir fi Tafseer al-Qur’an al-Kareem	Tantawi Jawhari	1357 AH	Intellectual	Arabic	20
Fi Dhilaal al-Qur’an	Sayyid Qutb	1386 AH	Social & Scientific	Arabic	6	Translated into English as In the Shade of the Qur’an
Al-Manaar	Sheikh Muhammad Abduh & Sayyid Rashid Rida	1323 & 1354 AH	Social & Scientific	Arabic	12
Mahaasin al-Ta’weel	Jamal al-Deen Qasimi	1332 AH	Social	Arabic	17
Tafseer al-Muraaghi	Ahmad Mustafa Muraaghi	1371 AH	Social	Arabic	10
Idwa al-Bayaan fi Iydah al-Qur’an bil Qur’an	Muhammad Amin Shanqiti	1393 AH	Explaining Qur’an by the Qur’an	Arabic	10
Tafseer al-Qur’an lil-Qur’an al-Karim	Abdul Kareem Khateeb	1396 AH	Ijtihadi – Explaining Qur’an by the Qur’an	Arabic	16
Tehreer wa al-Tanweer	Ibn Ashur	1393 AH	Ijtihadi – Social & Literary	Arabic	15
Zahra al-Tafaseer	Muhammad Abu Zahrah	1394 AH	Social	Arabic	10
Tafseer al-Muneer	Wahbah al-Zahili	Alive	Ijtihadi – Social	Arabic	16
Al-Asaas fi al-Tafseer	Sa’id Hawwi	1989 AD	Social	Arabic	16
Tafseer al-Shi’rawi	Muhammad Mutawali Shi’rawi	1411 AH	Social	Arabic	15

Shi’a Tafaaseer

Sunni Tafaaseer

Zaydi Tafaaseer

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Shi’a Tafaaseer

Sunni Tafaaseer

Zaydi Tafaaseer

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