The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page xi
PREFACE (1988 Edition) This book forms Volume II of the Commentary of the Qur'an. It comprise seven chapters from Sura Al 'Imran to Sura Al-Taubah. The annotations of the text have been generally divided into two parts. The first deals with Important Words in the verse under comment. These words, along with other words derived from the same root, particularly those occurring in other parts of the Qur'ān, have been explained and examples given to illustrate their different uses. These explanations are based on the standard lexicons of the Arabic language, such as the Lisān al-'Arab, the Tāj al-‘Arūs, the Mufradāt of Imām Rāghib, the Arabic-English Lexicon by E. W. Lane and the Aqrab al-Mawārid. As regards the Translation, our procedure has been to base the meaning of every word first on the corroborative testimony of other parts of the Quran and secondly on the context. The words printed in italics have been introduced to explain the meaning of the Text, there being no words corresponding to them in the original. The second part consists of explanatory Notes or Commentary. Every Note first derives its authority from the tenor and spirit of the Qur'ān as expressed in various other places. Next to the Qur'an precedence is given to the Hadith and then come the standard dictionaries of the Arabic language. Last of all, recourse has been had to the evidence of history which was necessary for the explanation of such verses as refer to well-known historical events. In the course of the preparation of these Notes light has been thrown from time to time on the order which runs through the verses of each chapter, the one following the other in natural sequence; and a careful perusal of these Notes will convince the reader that the Quran forms a thoroughly coherent and consistent reading. A system of cross-references has been introduced. These cross- references have been placed below the Text and the Translation. They give at a glance the various places where the subject of a particular verse has been dealt with in the Qur'ān. An Introduction is prefixed to each chapter, in addition to the General Introduction which serves as an introduction to the whole Book. The Introduction to each chapter discusses the place and date of its revelation and gives a summary of its contents and the relation it has with the chapters