IBN JUZAY'S SUFIC EXEGESIS: SELECTIONS FROM KITAB AL-TASHIL LI-ULUM AL-TANZIL [1]
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
IN THE NAME of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
Praise to Allah, Lord and Sustainer of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Prophet Muhammad, his folk, companions, the following generation, and all who follow him until the final hour.
This piece is a translation of passages from a tafsīr [Quranic exegesis] authored by Imām Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Juzay
My first exposure to this tafsir was when I first arrived in Damascus and attended lessons with Sheikh Mustafa al-Turkmani. I began attending in the middle of Surat Ali Imran, and several years later I was able to cover some of the missed material with another sheikh while studying at Qalbaqjiyyah Mosque. Ibn Juzay began his tafsir with a short introduction to the various disciplines related to explaining the Quran. One of the topics he included is Sufism. The basic concern of Sufism is the heart: knowing its good and bad qualities, how to rid it of bad qualities, and how to instill it with the good. Ibn al-Juzay explained that Sufism is "connected to the Quran since the Quran mentions divine knowledge, struggling against the self [[[nafs]]], and illuminating and purifying hearts via obtaining praiseworthy character and avoiding blameworthy character." He enumerated twelve topics related to Sufism which he would explain in his tafsir. I translated Ibn Juzay's introduction to Quranic disciplines, the twelve topics related to Sufism, and his commentary for Al-Fatihah in 1999. Although I edited the introduction several times over the years, I never polished up the portions on Sufism. Seeing the state of my own heart, I decided that it was time to review the material for my own sake, and to polish it up in hopes that it might benefit others. I ask that whoever reads it pray for everyone who is connected to this translation in any way - especially its author Ibn Juzay. May He guide us to the right direction. (Amin)