That concludes the discussion of the handwritten copies of the tafsīr. As for its publication, it began with the printing of its fifth volume. The shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—sent Shaykh Muhammad Nasīf—may Allah have mercy upon him—a letter recorded at the end of the fifth volume of copy (B), dated 30/2/1374 AH. It had been transcribed from the shaykh’s handwriting in a different hand. This is its text:
“In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
To the highly esteemed Shaykh Muhammad Nasīf—may Allah preserve him. Amen.
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. A reply to your letter has already been sent, and I hope it reached you. I now ask you to undertake the following: having sent you the fifth volume of our extensive tafsīr, I have decided to have that volume alone printed. I have therefore written an introduction for it and concluded it with principles and general rules drawn from the principles and general rules of tafsīr. We would like five thousand copies to be printed.
“I would like the choice of who will oversee its printing to be yours—whether Muhibb al-Dīn al-Khatīb, Shaykh Hāmid, or anyone else you deem preferable. Please urge him to take the utmost care with it, even if this increases the expense to us. I have instructed Shaykh Abdullah al-Muhammad al-‘Uhaylī to provide you with everything you request for its printing. I ask Allah to reward you abundantly, to look favorably upon your efforts, and to grant you the finest reward on our behalf. May your life be long; you stand in my stead in every matter. Allah alone grants success. Peace.
“Your devoted friend (1),
Abd al-Rahmān al-Nāsir al-Sa‘dī
“The printer should take care to print the concluding section, Principles and General Rules of Tafsīr, because it is greatly needed.”
The shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—explained why he intended to publish this volume separately in the introduction he wrote for it (2), saying:
“Many friends have repeatedly asked me to publish this tafsīr in full and have pressed me to do so because of the great benefit they see in it. I explained that this would be extremely difficult because it is extensive and because, in our time, people have little interest in lengthy books. I therefore wished to grant part of their request by publishing just one volume of this tafsīr. The middle volume, from Sūrat al-Kahf to the end of Sūrat al-Naml, was selected. What cannot be obtained in its entirety should not be abandoned altogether.”
This volume was printed in 1375 AH. The shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—then sent the remaining volumes of the book to Shaykh Muhibb al-Dīn al-Khatīb—may Allah have mercy upon him—who completed the printing of the entire work. The book was printed in 1376 AH.
Approximately one month before his death, the shaykh sent our teacher Abdullah ibn ‘Aqīl a letter in which he said: “As for the tafsīr, it is as I told you: I received several printer’s sheets from the first volume some time ago, but since then we have received no news about it.” (3) Ten days later, he sent another letter in which he said: “I wish to inform you that I have also received printer’s sheets from the second volume and the remainder of the first volume of the tafsīr. Shaykh Nasīf says that, Allah willing, they are working diligently to complete it. May Allah make that possible and easy.” (4)
It is therefore clear that the shaykh—may Allah have mercy upon him—did not see the complete book. It also appears that he made no comments on the portions that had been printed, since he died approximately one month after the letter quoted above.
The first distinguishing feature of this edition is its chronological precedence, for it was the first edition and forms the basis of all previous editions. Every other edition ultimately derives from it. It is consequently more textually reliable than the others and contains fewer errors, misreadings, and distortions. This does not, however, mean that it is of high quality or that it conforms to the original, for there are several points that must be noted: