An Inquiry into Haghäegh al-Tafsir and its Ta vil Approach

Haghäegh al-Tafsir is believed to be one of the oldest works of interpretation in Islamic gnosis. This work of interpretation is a compilation made up of Imam Sädegh’s (a. s.) interpretations، ibn-Atä’s interpretation، abol-Hossein Noori’s interpretation and Hossein ibn-Mansoor Halläj’s interpretation. The documentary and content analyses on Haghäegh al-Tafsir reveal serious doubts about the part of this work attributed to Imam Sädegh (a. s.). However، some statements of his interpretation are seen in other authentic Shiite texts. The interpretive narrations of Imam Sädegh (a. s.) are either the statements of great Sufis attributed to him or they are real narrations from Imam Sädegh (a. s.) which have gradually assumed a different character among Sufis. Since Solami is among the outstanding Sufi figures of the fourth and fifth century (AH) and he has trained scholars such as Goshairy and Sa’labi، he has created his work of interpretation out of those works of interpretation in order to collate and verify the principles and fundamentals of the Sufism based on seir-o-solook (spiritual journey). The ta’vils of this work of interpretation are different from esoteric ta’vils and an attempt has been made not to let its ta’vils become a pretext for denial of the literal meanings of the Quran. Thus، the opinions of scholars such as Siyooti and Zahabi who have considered this work of interpretation and esoteric interpretations identical are not reliable.