An exceptionally rare and important Qur'an manuscript with eight tafasir with the combined title al-Itqan fi 'Ilm al-Qur'an ('Perfection in Qur'anic Science') from the library of Akbar (r. 1556-1605), India, Mughal, late 16th century

Akbar (1542-1605), Mughal emperor, by 1602

Thence by descent until Muhammad Shah (1702-48), ca. 1717-27

Formerly in the collection of a Middle Eastern Ambassador to the U.K., early 1970s

The present manuscript was originally bound in a single, massive tome containing within it the mastery or 'perfection' of Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir): eight pivotal tafasir. These eight texts in Arabic and Persian cover five hundred years of Qur'anic exegesis up to and including Akbar's reign and show a notable emphasis on texts by authors spiritually aligned with Sufi thought. They are the Tafsir-i Qushayri, Tafsir Mu'allim al-Tanzil, Tafsir-i Kashshaf, Tafsir al-Madarik, Tafsir al-Baydawi, Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Tafsir-i Husayni, and Tafsir-i Muhammadi.

On the final page, part of the Tafsir-i Husayni is continued from the preceding page, but the page is additionally stamped with a number of smudged seal impressions of Mughal librarians and inscriptions saying the manuscript was inspected, some still partially legible. Of the librarians' seal impressions that can be read, the most significant belongs to Muhammad Yusuf and bears the date '(regnal) year 46'. John Seyller records Muhammad Yusuf as being active in the late reign of Akbar (regnal year 47) and the early reign of Jahangir (regnal year 7), the stamp on the present Qur'an evidently referring to the former's reign (Seyller 1997, p. 347). The genealogical seal of Shah Jahan is impressed at the centre of the page, though much of it is now illegible. Above one of the inspection inscriptions, in a different hand, is inscribed 'emperor 'Alamgir'. The two largest seals, though heavily smudged, belong to a librarian of Muhammad Shah's reign, and are dated to 113[?] (1717-28).

Remarkable, and key to the understanding of the present manuscript, is the inclusion of the Tafsir-i Muhammadi, an obscure tafsir penned by the Gujarati shaykh Qutb al-Awliya' Shaykh Hasan Muhammad ibn Shaykh Ahmad Miyanji Chishti (923 AH/1517-8 - 28 Dhu'l-Qa'da 982/20 March 1575), who spent most of his career under the patronage of sultan Mahmud Shah III (r.1543-54) and his successors in Ahmadabad, until Akbar annexed the province in 1573. He is recorded as having written the Tafsir-i Muhammadi in Ali Muhammad Khan's Mirat-i Ahmadi, a history of Gujarat composed at Ahmadabad ca. 1750 (Ali and Seddon eds 1928, p. 65). A shaykh of the Chishti order, he is primarily known for the still-extant Hasan Muhammad Chishti Mosque in the Shahpur neighbourhood of Ahmadabad, which he built adjacent to the Khwaja Nasir al-Din Chishti Dargah and Mosque in 973 AH (1565-6), a fact recorded both in the Mirat-i Ahmadi and on the building itself (Burgess 1905, p. 44). The importance of Khwaja Nasir al-Din Chishti (d. 1357) to Shaykh Hasan Muhammad is further emphasised in the introduction to his Tafsir-i Muhammadi, where he extols the virtues and spiritual achievements of his Chishti predecessor.

This exceptionally rare tafsir does not, to the best of our knowledge, survive in other manuscript copies (a collection of Arabic and Persian works on Sufism by the same author is in the British Library, inv.no. Delhi Persian 1073), and its inclusion here alongside seven widely-known tafasir is highly unusual. It poses the question why, or by whom, this tafsir was included. The seal impression of Akbar's librarian gives a terminus ante quem for the copying of the manuscript of 1602, only twenty-seven years after Shaykh Hasan Muhammad's death. Akbar's interest in Chishti Sufism is well attested during this period, and the exceptional luxury of the present manuscript, with just short of a thousand gold-sprinkled leaves, each extensively gilded with floral motifs, raises the possibility that the present manuscript was produced in the imperial scriptorium, either during Shaykh Hasan Muhammad Chishti's lifetime or shortly after. Perhaps the key, then, lies in the two-year period between 1573, when the victorious Akbar entered Ahmadabad, and 1575, the year its most venerated living Chishti Sufi passed.

List of Qur'anic Exegeses

Tafsir-i Qushayri of 'Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri (d. 1072), an Arab polymath who settled in Nishapur. Under the tutelage of the Sufi shaykh Abu 'Ali al-Daqqaq, he combined Shafi'i jurisprudence with Sufi asceticism. His tafsir, properly titled Lata'if al-Isharat bi-Tafsir al-Qur'an ('Subtleties of Signs in the Exegesis of the Qur'an'), is considered a key text in Sufi thought.

Tafsir Mu'allim al-Tanzil of Abu Muhammad al-Husayn al-Baghawi (d. 1123), an Ash'ari theologian, traditionist and Shafi'i jurist from Khurasan.

Tafsir-i Kashshaf of Abu'l-Qasim Mahmud ibn al-Zamakhshari (d. 1143), a Mu'tazili theologian, Hanafi jurist, linguist, and poet from Khwarazm. His tafsir is properly titled al-Kashshaf 'an Haqa'iq al-Tanzil ('Revealer of the Truths of Revelation')

Tafsir al-Madarik of Abu al-Barakat 'Abdullah al-Nasafi (d. 1310), a Maturidi theologian and Hanafi jurist from Transoxiana, who settled in Baghdad. His tafsir is properly titled Madarik al-Tanzil wa-Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil ('Perceptions of Revelation and Truths of Interpretation').

Tafsir al-Baydawi of 'Abdullah al-Baydawi (d. 1319), which draws extensively from al-Zamakhshari's Tafsir-i Kashshaf mentioned above. He was a Shafi'i jurist and pupil of the Sufi shaykh Muhammad al-Kunjani settled. His tafsir is properly titled Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil ('Lights of Revelation and Secrets of Interpretation').

Tafsir al-Jalalayn of Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 1460) and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505), two Shafi'i jurists from Egypt. They commenced work on the Tafsir al-Jalalayn ('Exegesis of the two Jalals') in 1459 and the work was completed by 1505 in Cairo.

Tafsir-i Husayni of Husayn Wa'iz Kashifi (d. 1504), also known under the title Mawahib-i 'Aliyya, completed in Herat in 899 AH (1493-4 AD) and dedicated to his patron Ali Shir Nava'i. Husayn Wa'iz Kashifi was a polymath known for his work on politics, astronomy and poetry in addition to Hanafi jurisprudence, Maturidi theology, and the Qur'anic sciences.

Tafsir-i Muhammadi of Qutb al-Awliya' Shaykh Hasan Muhammad Chishti (d. 1575), discussed above.