to examining unfamiliar words, elucidating their meanings by referring to their roots and verbal nouns, and citing as evidence verses, hadiths, reports transmitted from the Companions and the Successors, and the statements of linguists.

2. He follows the sound method in expounding meanings: he interprets the Quran by the Quran, or by hadith, or by the statements of the Companions; and he draws supporting guidance from the statements of the Successors and the independent jurists. This is because one part of the Quran explains another: what is stated generally in one place is detailed elsewhere, and one verse may qualify the general import of another.

We find him bringing together verses that share the same meaning in order to clarify the meaning of a word in a verse. For example, in his exegesis of the verse, “He extends them in their transgression, wandering blindly” (1), he explains the meaning of “extending,” then cites the verse, “And We shall extend for him a prolongation of punishment” (2). He then explains the meaning of “providing reinforcement” and cites Allah’s words: “And We supported you with wealth and sons” (3).

Regarding the verse, “In their hearts is a sickness, so Allah has increased their sickness” (4), he says: “For the verses were sent down successively, one after another; whenever they disbelieved in a verse, they increased in disbelief and hypocrisy. This is the meaning of Allah’s words: ‘As for those in whose hearts is a sickness, it increased them in defilement upon their defilement’” (5).

Imam al-Baghawī’s reliance on the sunnah in interpreting the Noble Quran is a clear hallmark of his exegesis. How could it be otherwise, when he was the Reviver of the Sunnah? His exegesis is therefore replete with the hadiths he carefully selected and related with their chains of transmission. Rarely does he cite a hadith without a chain of transmission, or relate a weak hadith. At times, he presents several hadiths concerning a single verse, as he does in his exegesis of Allah’s words: “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become mindful of Allah” (6), or His words: “And the poets—the misguided follow them” (7).

3. He addresses the Quranic readings without excess, doing so when a reading entails a change in meaning. Thus, regarding Allah’s words, “Remain in your homes” (8), he says, may Allah have mercy on him: “The Medinan reciters and ʿĀṣim read it with the qāf bearing the a-vowel, while the others read it with the i-vowel. When the qāf bears the a-vowel, it means: ‘Remain,’ that is, stay in your homes, derived from the verb meaning to remain in a place. … As for reading the qāf with the i-vowel, it has been said that it derives from the verb meaning ‘to remain’; its meaning is ‘remain,’ with the rāʾ bearing the i-vowel, and the first rāʾ was omitted