Narration in early ṣūfī tafsīr

This thesis aims to determine the relationship between prophetic narration and ishārī interpretation in early Ṣūfī Qurʾānic Commentary by answering the following questions: (I) What is the place, dissemination, and interpretation of narration in early ishārī tafsīr, especially the narrations attributed to Ibn Abbas and his students? (II) Which concepts come to the fore in the Qurʾānic interpretations of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728), al-Tustarī (d. 283/896) and al-Qushayrī (d. 465/1072)? To what extent have these concepts been interpreted in accordance with their etymological origins and their meanings in the pre-Quran and revelation eras? (III) To what degree are the relevant scholars' understanding of asceticism (al-zuhd) and Sufism (al-taṣawwuf) based on authentic data in the early hadith and tafsir tradition? In this regard, we examined the narrations in the following Qurʾānic commentaries: Tafsīr al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; a collection of Qurʾānic interpretations attributed to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, al-Tustarī's Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, and al-Qushayrī's Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt. Also, we tackled the commentaries on these narrations and analyzed the main concepts of the scholars. We have determined that the common central subject of the three scholars is the heart (ḳalb). In the Ṣūfī tradition, this concept emerges as one of the most prominent themes within Qurʾānic discourse, which is also discussed extensively in authentic prophetic narrations in al-Kutub al-Tisʿa. However, the situation is different when it comes to concepts that revolve around the states of the heart, such as asceticism (zuhd), fear (khawf), salvation (najāt), wisdom (ḥikma), sincerity (ikhlāṣ) and righteousness (iḥsān). Each scholar has evaluated these from a different perspective and attributed different meanings to them depending on their knowledge and state of mind. Keywords: Islamic Studies, Qurʾānic Exegesis, Ṣūfī (Ishārī) Interpretation, Narration, Concepts, ʿAbdallāh Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, al-Tustarī and al-Qushayrī.