《古兰经》是真主赐予人类的最后一部启示经典，是构成伊斯兰教这一生活方式的根本原则的首要来源。

The Qur’aan, God’s final book of revelation to man, represents the primary source of the principles which constitute the way of life known as Islaam.

《古兰经》的经文包含以律法、比喻、故事和论证等形式呈现的劝诫与指引，供那些选择信仰真主和末日审判的人遵循。因此，信士今世与后世的成功和幸福，很大程度上取决于他对经中所载内容的理解、领会与践行。然而，由于天资的自然差异，人们对《古兰经》含义的领悟深浅各不相同。即使在圣门弟子（sahaabah）中，这种差异也同样存在，尽管《古兰经》表达清晰，并且是以七种不同方言降示的。此外，至睿至智的安拉选择在《古兰经》中设置了一些概括性的内容，其中一些在经文的其他段落中得到了解释，而另一些则只向先知ﷺ作了说明。

The passages of the Qur’aan contain advice and guidance in the form of laws, parables, stories, and arguments for those who choose to believe in God and the Day of Judgment. Hence, a believer’s success and happiness in this life and the next largely depend on his understanding, internalization, and application of the concepts contained in the Book. However, the depth of comprehension of the Qur’aan’s meanings will vary from individual to individual due to natural differences in intelligence. This variation existed even among the sahaabah (companions of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), in spite of the Qur’aan’s clarity of expression and its revelation in seven different dialects. Moreover, Allaah, the Most Wise, chose to place generalities in the Qur’aan, some of which He later explained in its other verses, while some he explained only to the Prophet (r).

先知（ﷺ）完全知晓并理解《古兰经》，因为安拉选定他作为《古兰经》的承载者，并向他阐明了其中的全部内容。因此，安拉在一节经文中说：

The Prophet (r) knew and understood the Qur’aan completely because Allaah had chosen him as its vehicle and explained it all to him. Hence, Allaah said in one verse:

因此,先知的职责是通过他的行为和言语,向他的追随者解释《古兰经》。安拉在《古兰经》中说道:

Therefore, it was the Prophet’s job to explain the Qur’aan to his followers by his actions, as well as his statements. Allaah stated this in the Qur’aan:

因此,在先知在世期间,圣门弟子只要有机会,都会向先知请教《古兰经》的注释(解释、理解、阐释)。例如,伊本·麦斯欧德传述,当下面这节经文降示时:

Consequently, the sahaabah all turned to the Prophet (r) whenever possible during his lifetime for the tafseer (explanation, understanding, interpretation) of the Qur’aan. For example, Ibn Mas‘ood related that when the following verse was revealed:

一些圣门弟子感到忧虑，因为"zulm"（不义）在语言学上的普遍含义涵盖各种过错，无论大小，而他们之中没有一人是免于过失的。然而，当他们就此事请教先知ﷺ时，他回答道：

some of the companions became distressed, because the general linguistic meaning of thulm covers any kind of wrong, major or minor, and none of them were free from error. However, when they approached the Prophet (r) about it, he replied,

因此,先知(ﷺ)为他们阐明,第一节经文中的"不义"(ظلم)并非指其广义含义,而是指代"以物配主"(شرك)。在这件事中,先知(ﷺ)以《古兰经》解释《古兰经》,展示了理解和诠释《古兰经》的第一步,这一由真主制定的方法,为直至复活日的所有世代穆斯林所确立。先知去世后,圣门弟子们便求助于他们中间那些在理解《古兰经》方面更有天赋、且能够与先知(ﷺ)相处更久的人,以求得对《古兰经》的解释和阐明。

Thus the Prophet ( ﷺ) clarified for them that the broader meaning of thulm was not intended in the first verse; rather it was used to refer to shirk. In this incident, the Prophet ( ﷺ) explained the Qur’aan by the Qur’aan, demonstrating the first step in the divinely ordained method of understanding and interpretation of the Qur’aan that was established for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. After the Prophet’s death, the sahaabah turned to those among themselves who were more gifted in understanding the Qur’aan and who had been able to spend more time with the Prophet ( ﷺ) for interpretation and explanation of the Qur’aan.

在圣门弟子中,以精通《古兰经》注释(tafseer)而最为知名的人有:四大正统哈里发、先知的妻子阿伊莎·宾特·艾布·伯克尔、伊本·麦斯欧德、伊本·阿拔斯、乌贝耶·伊本·凯尔卜、宰德·伊本·萨比特、艾布·穆萨·艾什尔里、阿卜杜拉·伊本·祖拜尔、艾奈斯·伊本·马立克、阿卜杜拉·伊本·欧麦尔、哲比尔·伊本·阿卜杜拉,以及阿卜杜拉·伊本·阿慕尔·伊本·阿绥。 先知去世后的二十五年内,圣门弟子将伊斯兰传遍了当时已知的世界各地,并在此过程中推翻了波斯和拜占庭这两大帝国。穆斯林军队每到一处停止推进,便会有一些圣门弟子定居下来,向归信伊斯兰的人教授《古兰经》的诵读与解释。因此,注释之学传播到了整个穆斯林世界,《古兰经》学术中心也在各地兴起。 围绕在圣门弟子身边的人中,有一些杰出的人物,他们一直追随这些圣门弟子并吸收其学问。这些学生被称为再传弟子(taabi‘oon)。每位圣门弟子都承载着一部分知识,其中有些与其他人的知识相互重叠,有些则并不重叠。因此,一些学生前往其他伊斯兰学术中心,跟随其他圣门弟子学习;另一些学生则留在自己的老师身边,直到老师去世。

Among the sahaabah who became the most noted for their ability to make tafseer of the Qur’aan are the following: The four Righteous Caliphs,27 the Prophet’s wife, ‘Aa’ishah bint Abee Bakr, Ibn Mas‘ood, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Aboo Moosaa al-Ash‘aree, ‘Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr, Anas ibn Maalik, ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah, and ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas. 28 Within the space of twenty-five years after the Prophet’s death, the sahaabah carried Islaam to all corners of the known world, toppling in the process the great empires of Persia and Byzantine. Wherever the Muslim armies stopped their advance, some of the sahaabah would settle and begin teaching those who came into Islaam the recitation and interpretation of the Qur’aan. For this reason, the knowledge of tafseer spread throughout the Muslim realm, and centers of Qur’aanic learning sprung up everywhere. Among the people who gathered around the sahaabah were some outstanding individuals who remained their students and absorbed their knowledge. These students became known as taabi‘oon. Each sahaabee carried with him a portion of knowledge, some of which overlapped with that of others and some of which did not. Consequently, some of the students traveled to other Islaamic centers to study under other sahaabah, while others stayed with their teachers until their deaths.

21 字面意思是"我们的"。"君主式的'我们'"在英语中几乎不用，但它是阿拉伯语口语中的常见现象，用来表示说话者的尊贵或重要。我的一贯做法是把这个"我们"译为"我"，因为直译常常使英语读者感到困惑。

21 Literally, ‘Our.’ The ‘royal We’ is barely used in English, but it is a common feature of Arabic speech, used to indicate the importance of the speaker. It is my standard practice to translate this ‘We’ as ‘I,’ since the literal translation is a frequent cause of confusion for English speakers.

22 Sūrat al-Qiyāmah (75):17-19

22 Soorah al-Qiyaamah (75):17-9.

第16章 《蜜蜂章》（an-Nahl）第44节

23 Soorah an-Nahl (16):44.

第24 《古兰经》第6章 《牲畜》（Al-An‘aam）第82节。 第25 《古兰经》第31章 《鲁格曼》（Luqmaan）第13节。

24 Soorah al-An‘aam (6):82. 25 Soorah Luqmaan (31):13.

《穆斯林圣训实录》，第1卷，第72页，第226段。

26 Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, p. 72, no. 226.

27 阿布·伯克尔·al-Siddeeq、欧麦尔·伊本·al-Khattaab、奥斯曼·伊本·阿芬、阿里·伊本·阿比·塔利卜。

27 Aboo Bakr as-Siddeeq, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, and ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib.

28 《古兰学精义》（Al-Itqaan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan），第2卷，第239页。

28 Al-Itqaan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, vol. 2, p. 239.