Introduction

Tafsir al-Jalalayn — meaning the commentary of the two Jalals — is one of the most widely studied Qur'anic commentaries in traditional Islamic education worldwide. Its unusual history of authorship spans two generations of Shafi'i scholars. The first was Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli (791–864 AH / 1389–1459 CE), an Egyptian jurist and theologian of considerable standing who began the commentary. Al-Mahalli completed the second half of the Quran — from Surah al-Kahf to Surah an-Nas — along with Surah al-Fatiha, but died before finishing the work. His student, the prolific Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE), completed the first half in a remarkably short time, reportedly around forty days, drawing on his teacher's method and maintaining stylistic consistency throughout.

As-Suyuti was among the most productive scholars in Islamic history, authoring hundreds of works across the sciences of hadith, tafsir, linguistics, and history. His ability to complete al-Mahalli's work without disrupting its character is a testament to his mastery of classical Arabic and his deep familiarity with the exegetical tradition. Together, the two scholars produced a text that is concise without being superficial — a rare achievement in a discipline where commentary can easily expand to many volumes without adding proportionate insight.

The defining characteristic of Tafsir al-Jalalayn is its brevity and clarity. Rather than dwelling on chains of narration, competing interpretations, or extended linguistic analysis, the authors aim to provide the most direct and established meaning of each verse. Difficult vocabulary is glossed inline, grammatical ambiguities are resolved concisely, and variant readings (qira'at) are noted where they affect meaning. The result is a running explanation of the Qur'anic text that a student can read alongside the Mushaf itself, with minimal interruption to the flow of recitation and reflection.

Because of this accessibility, Tafsir al-Jalalayn has long occupied a central place in traditional Islamic curricula, particularly in madrasas across South Asia, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Arab world. It is often among the first tafsir texts studied after foundational Arabic grammar and morphology, serving as a bridge between the raw text of the Quran and the more elaborate commentaries students will encounter later. Many scholars have written glosses and supercommentaries on it — a mark of the work's enduring centrality.

Readers should approach this tafsir with an awareness of its scope. Al-Jalalayn does not aim to resolve all theological debates or survey the full range of scholarly opinion on contested verses. Its Shafi'i legal perspective is reflected in the occasional fiqh-related notes, but the primary goal is exegetical rather than polemical. For deeper engagement with the evidence base underlying a particular interpretation, or for exploration of divergent scholarly positions, readers are advised to consult more expansive commentaries such as Tafsir al-Tabari, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, or Tafsir al-Qurtubi alongside this text.

Presented here in its traditional chapter-by-chapter order, this edition of Tafsir al-Jalalayn offers both the Arabic commentary and an English rendering. The English translation aims to preserve the tight, economical style of the original rather than paraphrase or expand it. Students and general readers alike will find that even a brief passage from this tafsir opens the Qur'anic text in ways that sustained independent reading rarely achieves.