Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī Mafatih al-Ghayb Tafsir, The Great Exegesis
Oxford World's Classics The Qur'an A New Translation By M. A. S. Abdel Haleem which we have used as the basis for our English Salat Guides, quotes the work of al-Razi so we thought it would be cool to place a copy of Mafatih al-Ghayb, in our Islamic Centre for Teaching and Learning.
We've got some context from Stanford along with the work in pdf form in Arabic and English, which are sourced from the Internet Archives.
From: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (1149–1210) was one of the most innovative and influential thinkers in the first stage of what is sometimes called “post-classical” Islamic thought. Along with other major thinkers of the Islamic East in the twelfth century, notably Abū l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī and al-Suhrawardī, Fakhr al-Dīn reacted critically to the philosophy of Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna). He produced a voluminous corpus that is often elusive in terms of conveying Fakhr al-Dīn’s own considered opinions, but is packed with subtle philosophical argumentation on pretty well every aspect of Ibn Sīnā’s thought. Fakhr al-Dīn did also stake out distinctive positions of his own, for example with respect to the problem of providing real definitions, the distinction between essence and existence, the principles of physics, the unity of the human soul, and the source of ethical norms. This abundant output in philosophy was only one part of his life’s work, which includes texts on Islamic law, theology, astrology, and one of history’s most important commentaries on the Quran. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/al-din-al-razi/
Tafsir, The Great Exegesis in English
Fakhr al-Din Razi’s Tafsir, The Great Exegesis, also known as Mafatih al-Ghayb, is one of the great classics of Arabic and Islamic scholarship. Written in the twelfth century, this commentary on the Qur’an has remained until today an indispensable reference work. The Great Exegesis is a compendium not only of Qur’anic sciences and meanings, but also Arabic linguistics, comparative jurisprudence, Aristotelian and Islamic philosophy, dialectic theology and the spirituality of Sufism.
The present volume is the first ever translation into English from The Great Exegesis and focuses on the first chapter of the Qur’an, the Fatiha. This scholarly yet accessible translation gives readers a thorough understanding of the most commonly recited chapter of the Qur’an; it also opens up for readers a window into the thought and practice of one of Islam’s greatest theologians. This volume includes a foreword by Professor M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, King Fahd Professor of Islamic Studies, University of London.
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Razi (d. 1210) was a leading Islamic scholar of the twelfth century. He was a prolific author on theology and jurisprudence but is best known for his commentary on the Qur’an, The Great Exegesis.
Sohaib Saeed is director of the Centre for Advanced Study of the Quran and its Interpretation (CASQI). He is a graduate of philosophy (University of Edinburgh) and Islamic theology (Al-Azhar), with specialism in Qur’anic studies. He took his PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
‘Razi’s Tafsir is a monument to Islam’s great tradition of learning and an incredibly rich pathway into it. Making it accessible to an English-speaking audience, by a translator who is a scholar himself, is a great contribution that will be appreciated by many for many years to come.’
Jonathan A C Brown, Georgetown University, USA.
‘Dr. Sohaib Saeed offers us a meticulous and readable translation of a masterpiece of Qur’anic exegesis by the great Muslim intellectual Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, whose goal was to illuminate every possible shade of meaning of the Muslim Revelation, from moral-ethical and legal, to rational and allegorical-mystical, not to mention linguistic, grammatical and historical. A must-read for every serious student and connoisseur of the Qur’an.’
Alexander Knysh, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
https://archive.org/details/the-great-exegesis-tafsir-al-kabir-volume-i-the-fatiha