The Quran commentary literature, one of the most voluminous in Islam, is usually compared to an ocean. Yet, until recently only droplets of that ocean were available in English. The appearance of the first volume of An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries is a significant advance in the burgeoning field of Tafsir studies. Unlike previous undertakings which promised much and delivered little, this project has institutional support from the Institute of Ismaili Studies, which has gathered a first-rate specialist team and made major resources available to produce this volume and those to follow. This anthology appears at a critical moment in the academic study of Islam, which is witnessing a major resurgence resulting in more courses on Islam and its intellectual tradition. Many departments, moreover, have increased the number of comparative courses, which necessitates the use of primary material in English translations. This anthology will close a gap in the comparative studies of scriptural exegesis which, having suffered from a lack of material in English from the Islamic tradition, has meant that one of the richest of traditions has been closed to non-specialists. Moreover, students in Islamic studies who have little time to devote to quranic studies will be greatly served by this anthology.

Each volume of the series focuses “on a group of Qur'anic verses organized thematically, and presents the commentary on and interpretation of each verse by a selection of commentators representing various schools of thought” (p. xi). The selection of the verses is based on three criteria: their significance for devotional purposes, the connection and position they take towards the main themes of Judaism and Christianity (or “verses used to contextualize and place Islam within the overall Abrahamic tradition” p. 9), and their role in intra-Islamic apologetics (p. 9). For this volume five verses and one short chapter were chosen: Q. 2:115 God's omnipresence, Q. 2:255 God's seat/throne, Q. 6:12 God's mercy, Q. 24:35 God's light, Q. 54:49 God's measure, and finally, chapter 112, which deals with God's oneness. These are apt verses to select. The commentaries on these verses cover the principal topics that engaged Muslim theologians when they attempted to define God: His relation to humans, His essence, and His oneness in distinction to the Christian conception of a Trinitarian Godhead.

Twenty Quran commentaries are used for this anthology. The historical span is from the second/eighth to the fourteenth/twentieth centuries. The commentaries were chosen from “key representatives of the principal Muslim religious denominations: Sunnism, Shīʿīsm (Twelver, Ismāʿīlī and Zaydī) as well as Ibāḍism” (p. 7), making it certainly one of the richest anthologies ever to appear in English. Its scope is thus comprehensive. To choose from the tens of commentaries available is a difficult task and the editors have struck a fine balance in their choices, in the face of a variety of factors: sub-genres (philological, mystical, or theological oriented works), sectarian affiliations, and historical periods. This is also the first and only anthology to give minor Shiite (Zaydi and Ismaili) and Sunnite (Ibaḍi) traditions due attention.

The chapter entitled “The commentators and their commentaries” is a succinct and incisive analysis of the twenty exegetes and the significance of their works. Despite its intentionally limited scope, this chapter is ironically one of the most accessible histories of Tafsir we have. The discussion of the twenty exegetes and their commentaries turns into an outline of the history of the genre. I will focus here on two commentators chosen by the committee to highlight the significance of the decision to include these particular authors. The first is al-Alūsī (d. 1270/1854). Al-Alūsī, although known to scholars working on reform movements and on the nineteenth century, has never been assessed as an exegete. The failure to include Tafsir as a component of Islamic intellectual history and to recognize its contributions to this history is unfortunate and bedevils the field. The intimate relationship between al-Alūsī, the Ottoman state, and the project of interpreting the Quran in Baghdad is hardly investigated in the secondary literature, let alone given the significance it deserves. His commentary was part of a very complicated process in the nineteenth century that has extensive ramifications not least in the work of al-Qāsimī, who wrote one of the last traditional type commentaries in the Middle East. Al-Alūsī could have been easily overlooked, since his commentary is not accorded the significance it deserves when compared to al-Manār of the reform Islam movement.

The second exegete I wish to highlight is Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Faḍl Allāh. To pick a living Shiite commentator (the only living commentator in the selection), instead of a Sunnite, is a brave decision. The committee is banking on our preconceived notions of what to expect from a conservative cleric to undermine our confidence in our own judgements. This is one of the most engaging authors writing in the Middle East. Tafsir, it appears, is one of the preferred genres for Muslim intellectuals. The study notes Faḍl Allāh's concern for the relationship with his Lebanese Christian compatriots which is a central theme to his Quran commentary. This is a feature one hardly expects in Tafsir.

This anthology is the result of a careful process of deliberation and insightful judgements. The meticulousness of the editors is apparent in every aspect of the book. The selections are extensive, the translations read well and are faithful to the Arabic original. The editors' insistence on a complete translation of the excerpts is to be lauded, given the temptation to cut and thus render “modern” the complexity of this form of writing. The anthology states that it has two major aims: to make a representative selection of the Tafsir literature available in English and to show the multiplicity of voices available in this tradition. The editors are modest; the anthology has achieved far more than it has set out to do. It is repositioning Tafsir as a central discipline in Islamic studies, an overdue development, and a major achievement.