Surprising little has been written about exegesis of Surat Yusuf, the Qur示an鈥檚 鈥済reatest of narration鈥 (ahsan al-qasas), and certainly the longest and most substantial narrative in the Qur示an. The little that has been written about Shi士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 This paper describes two interpretations in hitherto unpublished sources of esoteric literature: the Ismaili missionary Ja示far b. Mansur al-Yaman鈥檚 (d. c. 960)聽Kitab al-fara鈥檌d wa-hudud聽al-din聽(The Book of [inheritance] Allotments and the Limits of Religion鈥), and the second,聽al-Risala al-Yusufiyya聽(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, the聽Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series聽is 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聽.
Speaker:听聽(Associate Professor, University of Oregon)
Discussants:听Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov聽(IIS), Dr F芒r猫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,聽Adab聽farisi 22, f. 52b
