al-tustarī and şüfi commentary in tafsir al-qur’an al-azīm

In my conference paper, i will focus on the second part of my doctoral thesis titled narrations attributed to abd allah ibn ‘abbās in early şüfi tafsir. this chapter presents a bird’s-eye view of ibn abbas through the eyes of al-tustari, focusing on the narrations and opinions of the mecca school of tafsir.. this study seeks to unveil the relationship between prophetic narrations and süfi commentary in early arabie qur’anic exegesis.this is important in terms of seeing the relationship and balance between the use of the qur’an and hadith as a foundation for mystical interpretation. after giving information about al-tustarī’s life, süfi personality, qur’an perception, his works, and especially his süfi qur’an commentary, i discussed the ibn abbas profile in tafsir al-qur’an al-azim thoroughly. also, i examined the most frequently encountered süfi concepts which have a prophetic narration basis attributed to abd allah ibn abbas. this way, we can see the role and place of the hadith tradition within early süfi hermeneutics. these concepts are as follows: (1) salvation (najāt). (ii) wisdom (hikmah), (iii) knowledge and scholars (‘ilm- ulama), (iv) those who belong to the lord (rabbaniyyün) and (v) disconnected letters (al-hurüf al- muqatta a). the chapter ends with a thorough evaluation.this research showed that from a narration-ishära perspective, we can conclude that this tafsir contains pure narration-based interpretations without any ishärī elements, diräya-oriented interpretations, and pure ishārī-centered interpretations. also, many of al-tustari’s interpretations which appear to be ishārī actually in terms of meaning, were compatible with the interpretations of the commentators of the mecca school of tafsir and were sometimes even literally the same. the principle of dependence on narration (riwāya) observed in the classical era of tafsir work has largely preserved its validity in tafsir al-tustari. future studies should focus on a comparison between sunni and shi’i sources regarding al- tustarī and his mystical interpretations.