The Exegesis "Nafā’is Al-Jawāhir Al-Ḥisān Al-Bahiyya fī Bayān Asrār Ma‘ānī Al-Āyāt Al-Qur’āniyya" by the Scholar al-Ḥasan ibn Ibrāhīm al-Jamā‘ī al-Khaṭīb al-Yamanī (d. 1265 AH) An Introduction to the Author and Analysis of his Approach

Abstract

This study examines the interpretation Nafā’is al-Jawāhir al-Ḥisān al-Bahiyyah by the scholar Ḥasan ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khaṭīb. It aims to introduce the author, his scholarly life, and highlight the key features of his approach in interpreting the Qur’an. This is preceded by a prologue describing the manuscript and presenting the scholars' commendations of it.

The research employs the historical, analytical, descriptive, and inductive approaches.

The study concludes with several key findings, the most important of which is that al-Khaṭīb combined traditional exegesis (tafsīr bi’l-ma’thūr) with rational interpretation (tafsīr bi’l-ra’y). He relied on well-known exegetical sources such as the exegeses of al-Rāzī, al-Nīsābūrī, and Abū al-Suʿūd, adapting them through omission, addition, summarization, and refinement while maintaining their general methodology and textual coherence. Consequently, many of the methodological characteristics that distinguish his interpretation reflect the features of the sources he depended on.

The study recommends conducting comparative analyses between al-Khaṭīb’s exegesis and the exegeses he utilized, such as those of al-Rāzī and al-Nīsābūrī, to highlight his contributions and methodological differences.