Description

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s commentary on the Qur’an, known as The Great Exegesis or Keys to the Unseen, is one of the great classics of Arabic and Islamic scholarship and has remained until today an indispensable reference work.

The Great Exegesis is a compendium not only of Qur’anic sciences and meanings, but also Arabic linguistics, comparative jurisprudence, Aristotelian and Islamic philosophy, dialectic theology and the spirituality of Sufism.

The Great Exegesis has been translated in two volumes:

Volume I includes the commentary on the first Chapter of the Qur’an, Surat al-Fatiha;

Volume II includes the commentaries on the sixth Chapter of the Qur’an, Surat al-An‘am, and the thirty-sixth Chapter, Surat Ya-Sin.

These scholarly yet accessible translations give readers a thorough understanding of these much-recited Chapters; they also open up for readers a window into the thought and practice of one of Islam’s greatest theologians.

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1210) was a leading Islamic scholar of the twelfth century. Born in Rayy, Razi studied under his father, Diya’ al-Din ‘Umar, before setting off on travels throughout Persia and central Asia to pursue studies in jurisprudence, philosophy, theology and other sci­ences. He died in Herat, having amassed a large and devoted following of students. Razi was a prolific author on theology and jurisprudence but is best known for his commentary on the Qur’an, The Great Exegesis.

Sohaib Saeed, the translator of Volume I, is director of the Centre for Advanced Study of the Quran and its Interpretation (CASQI). He is a graduate of philosophy (University of Edinburgh) and Islamic theology (Al-Azhar), with specialism in Qur’anic studies. He took his PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Khalid Williams, the translator of Volume II, specialises in translation from Arabic, with a particular focus on Islamic Studies and Sufism. He is the translator of The Straight Path: A Commentary on the Holy Qurʾan, Volume II of A Sufi Commentary on the Qurʾan and The Qurʾan and the Prophet in the Writings of Shaykh Ahmad al-‘Alawi, all published by the Islamic Texts Society.