Sufi Koran Commentary: A Survey of The GenreNote that to read this article you will have to download the font "Iran Web 2" from the Encyclopaedia Iranica web page. The Elementary Phase - The Forebears, and Solam^ and His SourcesStage One - The ForebearsBased largely upon the analysis of Gerhard Böwering we can divide the history of Sufi Koran commentary into five phases (Böwering, 1991, pp. 42-43). The elementary phase, lasting from the 2nd/8th to the 4th/10th centuries, consists of two stages. The first of these two stages Böwering terms that of the ìforebears" of Sufi Koran commentary. These are H®asan Basár^ (d. 110/728), Ja¿far S®a@deq (d. 148/765), and Sofya@n T¨awr^ (d. 161/778). Of these three commentators, the most significant was the sixth Shi¿ite Imam, Ja¿far S®a@deq, whose commentary (as recorded by Solam^ [d.412/1021] ) was transmitted to his son, Imam Mu@sa@ Ka@záem (d. 183/799), from him to his son, Imam ¿Al^ Rezµa@ (d. 203/818), and from him through a chain of transmission to Solam^ that Böwering has shown to be historically problematic (Böwering, 1991, p. 53-55; 1994, pp. 18-22; Nwyia, 1968).Stage Two, Solam^ and His SourcesThe elementary phase in its second stage consists of Solam^'s commentary and the following seven Sufis who, in addition to Ja¿far S®a@deq, were Solam^'s primary sources: D¨u'l-Nu@n Mesár^ (d. 246/861), Sahl Tostar^ (d. 283/896), Abu@ Sa¿^d K¨arra@z (d. 286/899), Jonayd (d. 298/910), Ebn ¿AtÂa@÷ AÚdam^ (d. 311/923), Abu@ Bakr Wa@setÂ^ (d. 320/932), and Shebl^ (d. 334/946). Of these, it is possible that only Tosta@r^, Ebn ¿AtÂa@÷, and Wa@setÂ^ may have been compilers of separate Sufi Koran commentaries (Nwyia, 1973; Böwering, 1991, p. 42).Tostar^Tostar^'s tafs^r, written in Arabic and published uncritically, is the only tafs^r of these authors to survive independently. Böwering, in his thorough study of Tostar^'s tafs^r, showed that its structure is comprised of three main levels: Tostar^'s own commentary on Koranic verses, his statements on various mystical subjects in addition to his esoteric contextualiztions of accounts of pre-Islamic prophets, and comments inserted into the tafs^r by later Sufis (Böwering, 1980, pp. 129-30).Solam^Undoubtedly the most significant author of Sufi Koran commentary prior to the 6th/12th century is Solam^, without whose commentary almost the entirety of the Koran commentary of the first generations of Sufis would have been lost. Solam^, whose full name was Abu@ ¿Abd-al-Raháma@n Moháammad b. H®osayn Azd^ Solam^ Naysa@bu@r^, was a Sha@fe¿^ who around 325/937 (or 330/942) was born in Naysa@bu@r, where he also died in 412/1021. Böwering has published his edition of the unique manuscript of Solam^'s minor commentary, Zia@da@t H®aqa@÷eq al-tafs^r (1995), and is currently editing his major commentary, the H®aqa@÷eq al-tafs^r.These commentaries--both of which are in Arabic and consist of esoteric commentary on selected verses of the Koran arranged in accordance with the Koran's traditional order--are almost entirely compilations of commentaries of earlier Sufis, whose names Solam^ cited. Ate¶ briefly discussed each of Solam^'s seventy-four primary Sufi sources (1969, pp. 76-95). Although Solam^'s tafs^rs are essentially collections of the exegeses of other Sufis, his creative genius is evident in the fact that it is largely through his work that the Koranic commentaries of the early Sufis have been preserved. Solam^ himself stated that the very reason he composed his commentary was because he saw that authorities of the exoteric sciences (al-¿olu@m al-záawa@her) had written much about the exoteric implications of the Koran, but that no one had collected the understanding of the Koran as expressed by the "folk of the Truth" (ahl al-háaq^qa), which is to say, by the Sufis (H®aqa@'eq, f. 1b). The tafs^rs most directly influenced by Solam^ are those of Daeylam^, Ru@zbeha@n, and G^sudera@z, which will be discussed below. In addition, an influence of Solam^'s tafs^r (of Su@rat al-Fa@teháa in the H®aqa@÷eq) upon Shi¿ite literature is seen in the Sharhá Tawháid al-S®adu@q of Qa@zµ^ Sa¿^d Qomm^ (d. after 1107/1696) (pp. 626-635). The overall importance of Solam^'s commentaries has been highlighted by Böwering, who has asserted that Solam^'s H®aqa@÷eq is to Sufis what T®abar^'s tafs^r is to the Sunni community as a whole and that Solam^'s commentaries are as important to pre-sixth/twelfth c. Sufism as Ebn ¿Arab^'s major works are to later Sufism (Böwering, 1991, p. 56).
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