of Quranic interpretation, and mentioned those Companions who engaged in interpreting it (1).

Ibn Jarīr al-Tabarī summarized his exegetical method when explaining the different modes of interpreting the Quran. After enumerating three such modes, he said:

“Since this is so, among those who interpret the Quran, the one most likely to attain the truth concerning those parts whose interpretation is accessible to people is the one who presents the clearest proof for his interpretation. In matters whose interpretation was entrusted to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) alone, to the exclusion of the rest of his community, this proof consists of reports reliably established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): either through widespread transmission, wherever such transmission exists from him; through the transmission of upright and reliable narrators, where no widespread transmission exists; or through evidence demonstrating its soundness. In matters whose meaning can be ascertained through the Arabic language, the best interpreter is the one who provides the clearest demonstration for what he expounds and explains—whether through evidence drawn from their widely circulated poetry or from their speech and well-known, widespread linguistic usage. This applies regardless of who the interpreter may be, provided that his interpretation of such matters does not depart from the views of the earlier authorities among the Companions and leading scholars, or of the later authorities among the Successors and the scholars of the Muslim community” (2).

Since al-Tabarī was a leading authority in jurisprudence, he discussed legal rulings in his commentary, critically examined the scholars’ views on each issue, and preferred some over others, supporting the conclusions he reached with scholarly evidence.

Al-Tabarī’s method in this commentary may be summarized in several concise points as follows: