Tafsir Al-Qurtubi Introduction

In this introduction, the author lays out some of the key themes of the Qur’an: Its virtues and the reciter’s; how to recite it; cautioning against showing off; what the one who knows the Qur’an must do and not neglect to do; learning its syntax; the excellence of tafsīr; the excellence of the bearer of the Qur’an; the respect and esteem mandatory for the Qur’an; threats against engaging in tafsīr by means of opinion (ra’y); the Book being explained by the Sunnah; how to learn and understand the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet s; that it used to be easier to act by it than to memorise it; the words of the Prophet s; “The Qur’an was revealed in seven aḥruf (dialects/modes)”; the seven readings; the collection of the Qur’an; the memorisation of the Qur’an by the Companions at the time of the Prophet s; the order of the sūrahs and āyahs of the Qur’an; the meaning of the words sūrah, āyah, kalimah (word) and ḥarf (letter); non-Arabic words in the Qur’an; the inimitability of the Qur’an; hadiths forged about the excellence of the sūrahs of the Qur’an; refutation of those who attack the Qur’an; the Seeking Refuge with Allah from Shayṭān and the Basmalah.