الأنوار الواضحة في تفسير الفاتحة

al-Anwar al-Wadihah fi Tafsir al-Fatihah

A distinctive classical work by the Shāfiʿī scholar ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Aḥmad al-Dīrīnī (612–694 AH), devoted principally to the theological meanings contained in the opening words of the Qurʾān. Despite its title, this is not a conventional verse-by-verse commentary on the whole of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah. Rather, al-Dīrīnī takes the opening praise of Allah as the point of departure for an extended exposition of belief in Allah, His names and attributes, and the principal doctrines of Ahl al-Sunnah.

The work is organised into a series of thematic chapters addressing such subjects as the meaning of al-ḥamd, the proofs of faith, forms of remembrance, praise of Allah through His Most Beautiful Names, the meaning of divine greatness, human actions, Sharīʿah and ḥaqīqah, Tawḥīd, and matters relating to the Hereafter. Throughout these discussions, al-Dīrīnī places particular emphasis upon presenting arguments and proofs for the doctrines he discusses, while maintaining a relatively concise and accessible style.

A major portion of the book is devoted to Sharḥ Asmāʾ Allāh al-Ḥusnā, explaining the Beautiful Names of Allah and the theological meanings associated with them. The work may therefore be regarded as much a treatise on ʿAqīdah and the Divine Names as a work of Tafsīr, with the opening of al-Fātiḥah providing the Qurʾānic framework around which these discussions are developed.

The Dār al-Fatḥ, Amman edition was critically edited and annotated by Dr. Ḥamzah Muḥammad Wasīm al-Bakrī and published for the first time in 1435 AH / 2014. The text was established through comparison with two manuscript copies, accompanied by scholarly annotations, and supplemented with a study examining the precise meaning of tawqīf in relation to the names that may properly be applied to Allah. The edition comprises approximately 220 pages in a single volume.