Types of interpretation in Tafsir al-Tabari

According to popular belief, "explanation" and "interpretation" in Tabari’s Jāmi al-bayan an taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān are synonymous, but in the light of recent research, this assumption has been challenged. The nature of applying "explanation" in this book suggests that in Tabari’s perspective, the scope of "explanation" is much wider than "interpretation". If understanding at the level of interpretation is concerned with the discovery and unveiling of the ostensible meaning of the word, the scope of "explanation" in general and in Jāmi al-bayan in particular, is markedly different from "interpretation". It is because understanding at the explanation level requires unravelling all the historical elements of the text, including the time, place, language and culture of the revelation era. On the other hand, one of the underlying foundations of interpretation in the process of text deciphering is considering the reader’s level of understanding. By analyzing the Tabari’s method and exploring these dimensions, types of explanation such as "comparing the ostensible meaning against its roots", "preferring the most probable meaning based on reason and traditions", "extending the general message of the verse to similar cases " can be identified in this interpretation. This study aims to provide clear evidence for each of these types in order to demonstrate that Tabari has adopted an explanation approach to derive sacred meaning from Quran and has consciously resorted to explanation in numerous verses.