شرح القصيدة القشيرية في عقيدة أهل السنة ط2

Sharh al-Qasidah al-Qushayriyyah fi 'Aqidat Ahl al-Sunnah

A study and commentary upon a little-known theological poem by the celebrated Shāfiʿī scholar, theologian and Ṣūfī Imām Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin al-Qushayrī (376–465 AH), best known as the author of al-Risālah al-Qushayriyyah. The poem was composed by al-Qushayrī in response to questions addressed to him concerning matters of Islamic creed, and provides an interesting window into the theological teachings of this major fifth-century scholar.

The present work is by Dr. Ḥamzah Muḥammad Wasīm al-Bakrī, who critically establishes the text of al-Qushayrī's poem and accompanies it with a modern explanatory commentary. According to the publisher, it appears to be the first dedicated commentary on the poem, written almost a thousand years after its composition. The commentary explains unusual vocabulary and clarifies the sometimes condensed meanings of the verses, while keeping the exposition accessible to the contemporary student.

Although primarily a work of ʿaqīdah, the commentary draws upon several supporting disciplines. Dr. al-Bakrī brings in relevant discussions from Ḥadīth and Tafsīr, together with points of Arabic grammar (iʿrāb) and rhetoric where these assist in understanding the wording and argument of the poem. It is therefore useful both as a study of al-Qushayrī's creed and as an example of how a concise classical theological poem may be unpacked through the broader Islamic scholarly tradition.

Of particular interest is the work's recovery of a less familiar aspect of al-Qushayrī's intellectual legacy. While he is overwhelmingly associated today with his famous Risālah on Ṣūfism, the Qaṣīdah al-Qushayriyyah reflects his engagement with Sunni theological doctrine and the Ashʿarī tradition. It is consequently a useful short text for readers interested in the relationship between classical Ashʿarī theology and the scholarly Ṣūfī tradition represented by al-Qushayrī. Library cataloguing likewise classifies the work under Ashʿarism, kalām and Islamic creed.

This Dār al-Fatḥ, Amman edition is the second, revised and expanded edition, published in 1442 AH / 2021 CE. It comprises 120 pages in a single softcover volume, with the text of the original poem fully vocalised.