Sufi Koran Commentary: Commentaries in India, under the Timurids, and in Ottoman lands

Sufi Koran Commentary: a Survey of the Genre

by A. Godlas (This is a web-based version of the article "al-Tafsir al-Sufi" to be published by the Encyclopaedia Iranica)
Note that to read this article you will have to download the font "Iran Web 2"
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The Fourth Phase: Commentaries in India, under the Timurids, and in Ottoman lands

The commentaries written in India and in regions ruled by the Ottomans and Timurids, comprise the fourth phase of Sufi tafs^r, the period from the ninth/fifteenth to the twelfth/eighteenth century. Of all the Sufi tafs^rs written during this period, the tafs^rs of G^su@dera@z, Ka@shef^, Nakòjewa@n^, Aziz Mahmu@d Hüda@y^, and Esma@¿^l H®aqq^ Bursaw^, are the most noteworthy. Although the Naqshband^s K¨úa@jah Moháammad Pa@rsa@ (d. 822/1419) and Ya¿qu@b Ùarkò^ (d. 851/1447) wrote tafs^rs that contain some Sufi content, these did not cover the whole of the Koran and so will not be dealt with here.

Commentary in India: G^su@dera@z

The great Ùest^ shaikh, Sayyed Abu'l-Fathá Moháammad b. Yu@sof H®osayn^, a H®anaf^, known as K¨úa@jah Bandah'nawa@z and most particularly by his ancestral name of G^su@dera@z (longhair) (d. 825/1422), spent his life in Delhi and the Deccan during the periods of Tughlaq and Bahmanid rule and wrote a still unpublished Sufi tafs^r (almost entirely in Arabic) that deals largely with Sufi themes (in contrast to the assertion of M. Sa@lem Qedwa@÷^) (Hussaini, p. 20, citing Qedwa@÷^, pp. 174-76). It is similar in structure to but not dependent upon the ¿Ara@÷es al-baya@n; which is to say that like Ru@zbeha@n, G^su@dera@z cited numerous verbatim passages directly from Solam^'s H®aqa@÷eq al-tafs^r (which he indicates by "H®aqa@÷eq") and from Qoshayr^'s LatÂa@÷ef al-esha@ra@t (indicated by "LatÂa@÷ef") and included significant commentary that is apparently his own--commentary which is preceded by the designation ìal-multaqatÂî (unexpectedly found thing). Hussaini briefly discussed the tafs^r and the manuscripts, one nearly complete and one partial manuscript of which are extant in the India Office (#109-111), while a partial copy is held in Lucknow (Hussaini, pp. 11-13, 20, 39; Loth, p. 24).

Commentary Under the Timurids--Ka@shef^

The well-known author, Kama@l-al-D^n H®osayn b.¿Al^ Wa@¿ezá-e Ka@shef^ (d. 910/1504-5 in Herat), wrote the Persian Koran commentary Mawa@heb-e ¿al^ya, which is also known as the Tafs^r-e Hosayn^. Although Mawa@heb-e ¿al^ya (uncritically published in 1938) is largely a translation and exoteric commentary on the Koran, it has a significant and evocative Sufi component. In spite of the fact that Ka@shef^ (who was the brother-in-law of ¿Abd-al-Raháma@n Ja@m^ and father of Fakòr-al-D^n ¿Al^ S®a@f^, the author of the Naqshband^ hagiography Rashaháa@t ¿ayn al-háaya@t ) was a prominent figure in Timurid Herat and an initiate in the Sunni Naqshband^ order, the question of his madòhab is problematic. Some sources stated that he was a H®anaf^, others a Sha@fe¿i, and still others a Shi¿ite. Whatever the case may be, his tafs^r (completed 899/1494) is described as being written in the style of the ìahl-e sonnat va-jama@¿atî (folk of the Sunna and congregation) and does not exhibit Shi¿ite characteristics (Na@÷^n^, preface, pp. 13-21, 79). There are three kinds of Sufi materials that Ka@shef^ cites in Mawa@heb-e ¿al^ya: earlier Sufi tafs^rs, general Sufi prose treatises, and Persian Sufi poetry. Most of the Sufi material in the tafs^r derives from the Sufi comentaries of Solam^, Qoshayr^, Ansáa@r^/Maybod^, and the Kobraw^ school, although he occasionally cites other Sufi tafs^rs such as that of Qa@sha@n^ and possibly Darwa@jik^ (referred to by "al-Za@hed"). Among the Persian Sufi poets he frequently cites are Jala@l-al-D^n Ru@m^, Sana@÷^, and K¨úa@jah ¿Abd-Alla@h Ansáa@r^. He also quotes from a number of other Sufi texts, among them being Ebn ¿Arab^'s al-Fotu@háa@t al-Makk^ya and a variety of works of Ja@m^.

Commentaries in Ottoman Lands--Nakòjewa@n^

Ne¿mat-Alla@h b. Mahámu@d Nakòjewa@n^ (Nakòjowa@n^) (d. 920/1514), a H®anaf^ Naqshband^ shaikh, wrote in Arabic the Sufi tafs^r (published in 1325/1907) titled al-Fawa@tehá al-ela@h^ya wa-al-mafa@tehá al-g@ayb^ya. Originally from Nakòjewa@n in Azerbaijan, Ba@ba@ Ne¿mat-Alla@h or Shaikh ¿Alwa@n (as he was also known) completed his tafs^r in 902/1497 in Tabriz, and from there emigrated to Ak¶ehir in Anatolia, where he spent the last sixteen years of his life and where his grave was well-known. He did not cite any other Sufi tafs^rs and appears to have written al-Fawa@tehá al-ela@h^ya without consulting any sources. Although he commented on every a@ya of the Koran, the vast majority of his exegesis consists of brief traditional exoteric commentary clarifying the meaning of words. Nevertheless, in a substantial introduction to the tafs^r, at the beginning and end of every su@ra, and periodically throughout his tafs^r, Nakòjewa@n^ included Sufi-oriented material involving the terminology and concepts of the school of Ebn ¿Arab^ (Nakòjewa@n^, pp. ii (preface) and pp. 2-3; Aya@z^, pp. 563-566).

Commentaries in Ottoman Lands--Hüda@y^

Aziz Mahmud Hüda@y^ (1038/1628), the prolific Turkish shaikh of the Jelwat^ Sufi order, who lived most of his adult life in Uskudar (across the Bosporus from Istanbul), gave discourses on the Koran that after his death were composed into a tafs^r titled Nafa@÷es al-maja@les. Written in Arabic (but still unpublished), for the most part this tafs^r consists of exoteric commentary interspersed at times with Sufi commentary dealing with aspects of the Sufi path such as asceticism (zohd), "consciousness of God" (taqwa@), and "passing away in God" (fana@÷ fi'lla@h). Although it has been asserted that Hüda@y^ wrote his tafs^r without referring to any other tafs^rs, Ate¶ observed the influence of Solam^ on at least a part of the Nafa@÷es (H. Yélmaz, 111; Ate¶, p. 231).

Commentaries in Ottoman Lands--Esma@¿^l H®aqq^ Bursaw^

The most extensive and comprehensive of all the Sufi tafs^rs written during this period is Ru@há al-baya@n, by Esma@¿^l H®aqq^ Bursaw^ (d. 1137/1725), a prolific scholar, who like Hüda@y^ was a Sufi shaikh of the Jelwat^ order. A H®anaf^, Esma@¿^l H®aqq^ lived most of his life in Istanbul and Bursa. Ru@há al-baya@n (which has been published both in Turkey and in the Arab world), written largely in Arabic, has both traditional exoteric and Sufi dimensions. Its significance for the Iranian world lies primarily in the fact that H®aqq^ often quoted from the tafs^rs of the Kobraw^ school, as well as from Solam^, Qoshayr^, Ebn ¿Arab^/Qa@sha@n^, Ru@zbeha@n, and Ka@shef^. Furthermore, into his tafs^r he weaves Persian poetry from the likes of H®a@fezá, Sa¿d^, Ru@m^, and ¿AtÂtÂa@r. Ru@há al-baya@n is similar to Ka@shef^'s Mawa@heb-e ¿al^ya, only more massive and with a greater emphasis on Sufi tafs^r.

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