ON THE ACTIVITY OF MU'INIDDIN AL-HIRAVI, A QUR'ANIC EXEGETE OF THE TIMURID PERIOD

Abstract

This article analyses, from the standpoint of source studies and codicology, the life, scholarly milieu and exegetical legacy of Muʻiniddin Muhammad ibn Hoji Muhammad al-Farahi al-Hiravi (d. 907/1501), a major Qurʼanic exegete (mufassir), traditionist (muhaddith) and preacher (waʼiz) of the Timurid period. The study offers a comparative analysis of such principal historical sources as Alisher Navoiʼs Majolis an-nafois, Khondamirʼs Habib us-siyar and Khulasat al-akhbar, and Mirza Muhammad Haydar Dughlatʼs Tarikh-i Rashidi. The scholarʼs works Hadaiq al-haqaiq, Bahr ad- durar, Al-Waziha fi tafsir al-Fatiha, Ahsan al-qasas and Maʻarij an-nubuwwa fi madarij al-futuwwa are assessed as a scholarly heritage. The article illuminates the authorʼs exegetical methodology, his manner of harmonising transmitted report (riwaya) and reasoned understanding (diraya), his Sufi interpretations, his contribution to the Persian- language exegetical tradition, and his place in the exegetical school of the Timurid period. The influence of Muʻiniddin Farahiʼs legacy on the later Persian exegetical tradition is also assessed, and information about the repositories holding the manuscripts of his works is summarised. The results of the study serve as an important source for studying the history of the Qurʼanic sciences of the Timurid period and the exegetical traditions of Central Asia.