Third: It is free of the alterations and strikeouts introduced by copyists, printers, or proofreaders. By contrast, manuscript (B) was submitted to the Salafiyya Press, whose proofreaders made alterations and strikeouts directly upon it. Indeed, its margins even bear the names of the typesetters—one finds the name Mahmūd or that of another worker—to whom the work was assigned. Manuscript (A), however, remained untouched by any hand making strikeouts or alterations.

Fourth: This manuscript is free of lacunae and omissions, because most of it is in the handwriting of the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—whereas most of manuscript (B) was written by copyists, resulting in some omissions and lacunae.

Fifth: Its spelling is far superior to that of the other manuscript, whereas manuscript (B) contains obvious errors.

Second: It should be noted that, in my description of the two manuscripts, I stated that most of the first manuscript was in the handwriting of the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—while the second was, on the whole, in the hands of copyists. The following is a detailed explanation of these variations in handwriting and how I dealt with them:

1- Some portions of both manuscripts were in the handwriting of the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—such as much of the first volume and the eighth and ninth volumes. The following issues arise in these portions:

(a) In that volume, the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—wrote a new commentary on the verses beginning with Allah’s words, “Maintain the prayers, especially the middle prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience” (Surah al-Baqarah, verse 238), and continuing through the end of his commentary on Allah’s words, “To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills, and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful” (Surah Āl Imrān, verse 129). Thus, the contents of the two manuscripts do not correspond; rather, they differ in wording, phrasing, and style, as though the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—had written this material twice. There was no possibility that either version was not his work, because both were in his own handwriting—may Allah have mercy upon him—and the tenor and style of both are unmistakably those of the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him. After weighing several options, I decided to place in the main body of the tafsīr the version found in manuscript (A), which was in the shaykh’s home when he died—may Allah have mercy upon him. As for the version in manuscript (B), which was printed in the book’s previous editions, I placed it in an appendix at the end of the tafsīr.

(b) In the eighth volume, the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—made a second copy of the tafsīr in his own hand, from the beginning of Sūrat al-Hujurāt through the end of the tafsīr. While doing so, however, he revised the wording, adding and removing words. Consequently, the extent of the differences revealed by collation varied markedly from one part of the book to another: in some portions, one finds substantial differences between the two manuscripts, whereas in others there are only a few.

(c) Some portions of manuscript (A) were not in the handwriting of the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—while the corresponding portions of manuscript (B) were in his handwriting—may Allah have mercy upon him—as is the case with the sixth volume. In these portions, errors were numerous in manuscript (A) but few in manuscript (B). I therefore benefited from manuscript (B) in the collation and relied primarily upon it, since it was more accurate, were it not for the blemish of the alterations made upon it by the proofreaders of the Salafiyya Press.

Third: Additions. Each manuscript contains additions not found in the other. I have placed these additions within square brackets [], and they are of three types:

The first: Additions found in the base manuscript but not in manuscript (B). I have placed them within square brackets without making any note in the margin.

The second: Additions found in manuscript (B). I have placed them within square brackets and indicated them in the margin with the words, “Addition in B.” This type of addition occurs frequently in portions that were in the handwriting of the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—in both manuscripts.