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
Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
10.22034/crtc.2025.536222.1197
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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3.      Derayati, Mostafa (1390 [2011/12]), Union Catalogue of Iranian Manuscripts (Fankha), comp., Tehran: National Library and Archives of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
4.      Dhahabi, Shams al-Din (1989), Tarikh al-Islam, ed. ‘Umar ‘Abd al-Salam Tadmuri, vol. 48, Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, Beirut, Lebanon.
5.      Husayni, Sayyid Ahmad (1971), Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the Treasury of the Haydari Rawda in Holy Najaf, al-Na‘man Press, Najaf, p. 28.
6.      Safari Aq-Qal‘eh, Ali (1396 [2017/18]), New information on the life of Najm Dayeh in a copy of his tafsir Bahr al-Haqa’iq with a note in his own handwriting, Gozaresh-e Mirath, nos. 80 and 81.
7.      Movahedi, Mohammad Reza (1381 [2002/03]), On the Other Side of the Mirror: An Introduction to the Mystical Tafsir of Shaykh Najm al-Din Razi, Tehran, An Publications.
8.      Movahedi, Mohammad Reza (1380 [2001/02]), Najm al-Din Razi and the Mystical Exegesis of the Qur’an, specialized journal Beyanat, 1380, no. 30.
9.      Movahedi, Mohammad Reza (1401 [2022/23]), Findings on the Life and Works of Najm Razi, Research in Mystical Literature (Gohar-e Goya), year 16, no. 2 (consecutive no. 49).
10.  Movahedi, Mohammad Reza (1394 [2015/16]), The Sources of Allusions in the Tafsir Ghara’ib al-Qur’an, series and issue: vol. 5, no. 12.
11.  Manuscript no. 822 from the Mar‘ashi Najafi Library (from 2:36 al-Baqara to al-Tur), copied in 705.
12.  Manuscript 37 of Bahr al-Haqa’iq from the Hasan Husni Pasha Library (Sulaymaniyah Library), copied in 647 and read to the author in 650 (from al-Fatiha to 2:252 al-Baqara).
13.  Manuscript 328 of Bahr al-Haqa’iq from the Nur ‘Uthman Library, from al-Fatiha to al-Tur, copied in 881.
14.  Manuscript no. 189 (Marashi Najafi Library) (from the beginning of al-Baqarah to the end of al-Tawbah) and manuscript no. 5288 (Marashi Najafi Library), without a date of copying (from al-Fatihah to Hud) 
15.  Manuscript no. 153 of Bahr al-Haqa’iq, Damad Ibrahim Library (complete, with the supplement of Simnani), undated 
16.  Manuscript no. 14 of Bahr al-Haqa’iq, Turhan Sultan Library (complete, with the supplement of Simnani), copied in 921 
17. Manuscript no. 94 of Bahr al-Haqa’iq, Raghib Library. Shams al-Din Savaji (complete, with a non-Simnani supplement), copied in 974
Journal of Codicology and Manuscript Research (In persian: Pizhūhish/hā-yi nuskhah/shināsī va taṣḥīḥ-i mutūn)
Volume 5, Issue 2 - Serial Number 10
September 2026
Pages 312-331

  • Receive Date 28 July 2025
  • Revise Date 14 September 2025
  • Accept Date 23 September 2025
  • Publish Date 23 September 2026