Surprising little has been written about exegesis of Surat Yusuf, the Qur幣ans greatest of narration (ahsan al-qasas), and certainly the longest and most substantial narrative in the Qur幣an. The little that has been written about Shi平i interpretations of the Surat Yusuf has generally taken as its starting point Sunni exegesis, Jewish exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, or both. This paper describes two interpretations in hitherto unpublished sources of esoteric literature: the Ismaili missionary Ja幣far b. Mansur al-Yamans (d. c. 960)Kitab al-faraid wa-hududal-din(The Book of [inheritance] Allotments and the Limits of Religion), and the second,al-Risala al-Yusufiyya(The Joseph Epistle) by Abu al-Fath al-Baghdadi (thrived late fourth/tenth century).
Hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London) and convened by Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, theIslamic History and Thought Lecture Seriesis designed to invite scholars of various international academic institutions, specialising in intellectual, social and political aspects of medieval and early modern Islamic societies, to present and discuss their research. Watch previous lectures on our.
Speaker:油(Associate Professor, University of Oregon)
Discussants:油Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov(IIS), Dr F但r竪s Gillon (Aix-Marseille University).
Please note that the lecture will be recorded and uploaded on the IIS website.
Image: ”Yusuf fleeing the Advances of Zulaikha” by Bihzad, folio from a ”Bustan” of Sa’di. Herat, 1488. Darl al-Kutub,Adabfarisi 22, f. 52b
