Part One
[Introduction]
[The Author’s Preface, in which he speaks of the lofty station of the Qur’anic exegetes]

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. With His help we seek assistance. May blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, his Family, and his Companions, in abundant measure.

The shaykh, jurist, erudite imam, practicing scholar, brilliant ḥadith-master Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr Farraḥ al-Anṣārī al-Khazrajī al-Andalusī, later of Córdoba—may Allah be pleased with him—said:

Praise belongs to Allah, who began by praising Himself before any creature could praise Him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner: the Lord, the One, the Eternal Refuge, the Living, the Self-Sustaining, who never dies, Possessor of Majesty and Bounty, of immense gifts; the One who spoke the Qur’an, who created man, who favored him with faith, and who sent His Messenger with clarifying discourse—Muḥammad, upon whom be Allah’s blessings and peace for as long as day and night alternate.

He sent him with His manifest Book, the criterion that separates doubt from certainty, a Book whose challenge has confounded the eloquent, whose rebuttal has exhausted the discerning, and whose equal the most articulate are rendered mute from attempting—“they could never bring its like, even if they were to help one another.”

He made its parables lessons for whoever reflects, its commands guidance for whoever seeks insight; He expounded therein the obligatory rulings, distinguished therein the lawful from the unlawful, reiterated within it admonitions and narratives for understanding, set forth similitudes, and related unseen tidings. Exalted is He who said, “We have neglected nothing in the Book” (Q 6:38).

Through it He addressed His friends, who thus comprehended; He made clear to them His intent, and so they came to know. The reciters of the Qur’an are the bearers of Allah’s hidden secret, the guardians of His treasured knowledge, the successors of His prophets and their trustees. They are His people, His elect, His chosen intimates.

The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Indeed, among people are Allah’s own folk.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, who are they?” He replied, “They are the people of the Qur’an; they are Allah’s folk and His elect.” Ibn Mājah recorded it in his Sunan, and Abū Bakr al-Bazzār in his Musnad.

How fitting it is, then, that whoever has learned the Book of Allah restrain himself by its prohibitions and keep in mind