نفس الصباح في غريب القرآن وناسخه ومنسوخه:تفسير الخزرجي

Nafas al-Sabah fi Gharib al-Quran wa Nasikhihi wa Mansukhih

A valuable classical work of Qurʾānic exegesis by the Andalusian scholar Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Khazrajī (519–582 AH), commonly known as Tafsīr al-Khazrajī. The work is distinctive for bringing together two important branches of Qurʾānic scholarship within a single continuous commentary: Gharīb al-Qurʾān, explaining unusual and difficult Qurʾānic vocabulary, and al-Nāsikh wa’l-Mansūkh, identifying and discussing verses regarded by earlier scholars as involving abrogation.

Al-Khazrajī follows the order of the Qurʾān from beginning to end, proceeding through its sūrahs and explaining unfamiliar words and expressions as they occur, while also noting questions of abrogation relevant to individual verses. This arrangement makes the work particularly convenient for consultation, since its discussions of vocabulary and naskh are integrated directly into the Qurʾānic sequence rather than treated as two independent subject-based works.

In explaining Qurʾānic vocabulary, al-Khazrajī draws extensively upon the earlier tradition of Arabic philology and linguistic tafsīr, benefiting from such authorities as Abū ʿUbaydah, Ibn Qutaybah and al-Farrāʾ, alongside works of Maʿānī al-Qurʾān and Gharīb al-Qurʾān. In his treatment of abrogation he likewise engages earlier specialist literature, including works attributed to Ibn Ḥazm and those of al-Naḥḥās and other authorities. Surviving passages show these linguistic and naskh sources being employed together within his discussion of individual verses.

The work is therefore more than a simple glossary: it represents an early Andalusian contribution to linguistic tafsīr and the sciences of the Qurʾān, preserving earlier interpretations while organising them into an accessible running commentary. It is particularly useful for students and researchers interested in Gharīb al-Qurʾān, Nāsikh wa Mansūkh, Qurʾānic vocabulary and the development of tafsīr in al-Andalus.