Tafsir An-Nasafi (Madarik at-Tanzil wa Haqa-iq at-Ta-wil)

It is a brief and useful interpretation, shortened by An-Nasafi from the interpretation of Al-Baydhawi and from Az-Zarkashi’s Al-Kashshaf. The author said, with regard to this Tafsir: “A book adopting a middle course in the interpretations, combining different ways of syntax and the Seven Modes of Recitation (of the Qur’an), containing particulars of rhetoric and semiotics [...] not long and boring, nor is it short and insufficient.”

An-Nasafi does not go into grammatical matters except gently, and he adheres to the Seven Modes of Recitation that are Mutawatirah, attributing each recitation to its reader. He also makes mention of the Major Sunni Madhaahib (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali) when interpreting the Verses of the rulings, often champions his Hanafi Madhab and responds to those who oppose him. He is Maturidi in the Sifat. He refuses the Hadith Mawdu' and and denounces the reference to the Isra’iliyyaat.

This Tafsir is an excellent way to benefit from the Balaghah explanation of az-Zarkashi without the Invented Hadith or the long I'rab.

The book is medium in size, easy to deal with, has been in circulation for centuries, famous among the people, was accepted by scholars and was taught to students in Al-Azhar and other schools of Shari’ah for several years.