اللباب في علوم الكتاب:تفسير ابن عادل الحنبلي

al-Lubab fi 'Ulum al-Kitab: Tafsir Ibn 'Adil al-Hanbali

A vast encyclopaedic commentary on the Qurʾān by the Ḥanbalī scholar Abū Ḥafṣ Sirāj al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿĀdil al-Dimashqī al-Ḥanbalī, commonly known as Ibn ʿĀdil al-Ḥanbalī. In his brief introduction, Ibn ʿĀdil himself explains the nature of the work succinctly: he compiled it from the statements of scholars concerning the various sciences of the Qurʾān. The result is an exceptionally extensive tafsīr bringing together the contributions of mufassirūn, linguists, grammarians, jurists and scholars of Uṣūl.

One of the most distinctive features of al-Lubāb is its exceptional attention to the Arabic language. Ibn ʿĀdil discusses Qurʾānic vocabulary, morphology, grammatical constructions and the various possibilities of iʿrāb, frequently supporting these discussions with Arabic poetry and other evidence from established usage. He devotes considerable space to Qirāʾāt, examining how variant readings interact with grammar and interpretation. This linguistic material is so extensive that the work is an important resource not only for Tafsīr but also for the study of Qurʾānic Arabic and Naḥw.

The commentary nevertheless extends far beyond linguistic analysis. Ibn ʿĀdil gathers and organises the interpretations of earlier mufassirūn and incorporates substantial discussions of Fiqh, Uṣūl, ʿAqīdah, Qirāʾāt, rhetoric and other Qurʾānic sciences, together with relevant admonitions and related discussions arising from individual verses. Among the works from which he draws particularly heavily are the tafsīrs of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Baghawī and al-Qurṭubī, as well as the linguistically rich works of al-Samīn al-Ḥalabī.

Its particular value lies in this compilatory and encyclopaedic character: rather than restricting himself to a single dimension of interpretation, Ibn ʿĀdil assembles a large body of earlier scholarship around each passage and arranges it into a comprehensive explanation of the Qurʾānic text. It is consequently especially useful for advanced students and researchers interested in Tafsīr, Arabic grammar, Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, Qirāʾāt and comparative interpretation.