Une Lecture mu tazilite du Coran: Le Tafsir d'Abu Ali al Djubbai (m. 303/915) partiellement reconstitue a partir de ses citateurs.

• Author: Frank, R.M.

Al-Jubba i (d. 303/915) is commonly held to be the greatest of the Mu tazilite exegetes. His present reputation in this regard is due in large part to the fact that he was not merely the founder of what proved to be the predominant school of the Mu tazila in Sunni Islam, but also because he was known to have written a full tafsir, and this at a time when exegesis in the form of comprehensive commentaries was reaching its first maturity. Gimaret's partial "reconstitution" of al-Jubba i's work is based chiefly on citations found in several later commentaries, viz., the Tibyan fi tafsir al-qur an of the Imami, Abu Ja far at-Tusi (d. 459/1067) - itself seemingly dependent in large part on a commentary of the Mutazilite grammarian Ali b. Isa ar-Rummani (d. 384/944) - the (unpublished) Tahdhib at-tafsir of the Mu tazilite, al-Hakim al-Jushami (d. 494/1101), the Muj-ma al-bayan fi tafsir al-qur an of the Imami, Abu Ali at-Tabarsi (d. 548/1153), and from Fakhruddin ar-Razi's at-Tafsir al-kabir, though a number of other works are also utilized, among them the Mutashabih al-Qur an of the great Mu tazilite master, Abd al-Jabbar, the Amali of ash-Sharif al-Murtada, and part five of ar-Radi's Haqa iq at-ta wil fi mutashabih at-tanzil. The citations of al-Jubbai (in some cases anonymous) found in Gimaret's chief sources frequently coincide, and those of at-Tabarsi seem heavily dependent on at-Tusi and al-Jushami and often on the Amali (v. p. 26).

Gimaret does not offer us the Arabic text, however, but only a translation, though particular words and phrases are here and there introduced in parentheses and a few variants are indicated and emendations suggested. The citations presented in the sources vary considerably in length and, with the exception of the "preface," which is taken from Abd al-Jabbar's Mughni, the longest derive in almost every case either from Razi's Commentary or from the Amali. In a great number of instances, particular interpretations, witnessed in several sources, differ considerably one from another both with respect to length and to wording, wherefore Gimaret has chosen to give "a kind of synthesis" of what they say, preferring to represent "the sense rather than the letter for the sake of clarity" (p. 14), while indicating the various sources at the end of each passage. In a number of places where he deems it appropriate, he will indicate the precise point that is in question and often appends comments noting al-Jubba i's...