Journal of Codicology and Manuscript Research (In persian: Pizhūhish/hā-yi nuskhah/shināsī va taṣḥīḥ-i mutūn)

Journal of Codicology and Manuscript Research (In persian: Pizhūhish/hā-yi nuskhah/shināsī va taṣḥīḥ-i mutūn)

Two Distinct Versions of the Mystical Exegesis Bahr al-Haqāʾiq wa al-Maʿānī: A Codicological Analysis

Document Type : Original Article

Author
mohammad reza movahedi
Faculty member, University of Qom
10.22034/crtc.2025.234164
Abstract
Two distinct recensions of Bahr al-Ḥaqāʾiq, the Arabic mystical tafsīr by Najm al-Dīn Rāzī, have come down to us. The first is a longer and older version, fragmentary and marked by numerous textual lacunae. The second is a shorter, more coherent recension, widely preserved across manuscript collections worldwide. The extended version is densely interwoven with quotations from earlier exegeses—particularly al-Thaʿlabī’s al-Kashf wa-l-Bayān—and reflects the formative stage of Rāzī’s interpretive voice. In contrast, the concise version offers a more refined and independent commentary, presenting the author’s mystical insights directly, continuing up to Sūrat al-Najm. Significant differences among manuscripts—including in prefaces, sūra arrangement, terminology, and style—alongside the existence of abridgments by later mystics such as ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla al-Simnānī and Shams al-Dīn Sāwajī, necessitate thorough codicological investigation. This study analyzes selected manuscripts and internal textual features to argue that Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Sāwajī, a close disciple of Rāzī, prepared a revised and abridged version of the original tafsīr in Shushtar, likely under his teacher’s supervision. Most later copies appear to derive from this version. Thus, al-Sāwajī emerges not merely as a transmitter, but as a textual architect whose editorial intervention played a decisive role in shaping the final authoritative recension of Bahr al-Ḥaqāʾiq.
Keywords
codicology
mystical exegesis
Bahr al-Ḥaqāʾiq
Najm al-Dīn Rāzī
Shams al-Dīn Sāwajī

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 08 August 2025
  • Revise Date 21 September 2025
  • Accept Date 09 October 2025
  • Publish Date 21 March 2026