Review of Esoteric Commentary in the View of Ibn Arabi and Ayatollah Marefat

The present paper studies and compares the views of Ibn Arabi and Ayatollah Marefat about esoteric commentary. There are different views about esoteric commentary and its meaning, so it seems necessary to study the views of Ibn Arabi and Ayatollah Marefat in this regard, due to different esoteric commentaries. The term "esoteric commentary" is used seventeen times in the Quran, some of which refer to the esoteric commentary of Quranic verses. The usage has made some scholars to propose a course entitled "esoteric commentary" of Quranic verses and elaborate on its differences with commentary. Generally speaking, Ibn Arabi and Ayatollah Marefat believe that there is a difference between esoteric commentary and commentary and Quranic verses have not only commentary but also esoteric commentary. There are, however, some differences and similarities between their views on how to provide esoteric commentary of the Quran. The main similarity is that both regard esoteric commentary as the hidden meaning of God's speech, not its instances. Their differences, however, have made their practical instance in esoteric commentary very different.