According to the doctrine of early Imami Shi鈥檌sm, the authority to interpret the Qur鈥檃n belongs exclusively to 士Al墨 and his descendants, the Imams.
Consequently, most of the聽罢补蹿蝉墨谤蝉聽written in Twelver Imami circles after the Occultation of the twelfth聽Imam聽are essentially comprised of traditions attributed to the Imams. Yet, an impressive revival of the Imami聽罢补蹿蝉墨谤聽can be observed in the Ilkhanid period, and even more so during the Safavid era in Iran, in the context of interfacing between Imami Shi鈥檌sm,聽Sufism聽and philosophy. The lecture presents three case studies in order to illustrate the evolution of Imami Qur鈥檃nic exegesis in the early modern and modern eras, in its coherence and diversity:聽al-Mu岣ツ弓 al-a士岷揳m聽by聽Sayyid聽岣ydar 膧mul墨;聽罢补蹿蝉墨谤聽Shar墨f聽L膩h墨j墨, alias Qu峁璪聽al-D墨n聽Ashkevar墨; and聽Mir示膩t al-anw膩r聽by Ab奴 l-岣san al-I峁ah膩n墨. Rather than three separated trends, these works reflect different ways of combining Shi鈥檌 esotericism, mysticism and rationalism within the framework of Qur鈥檃nic exegesis.
