Methods of Citing the Covenant of Mālik Ashtar in the Commentaries Nemooneh and Nafaḥāt al-Qur’an

One of the most significant letters of Imam Ali (AS) preserved in Nahjal-Balāghah is his letter to Mālik Ashtar Nakhaʻī, composed upon Mālik’s appointment as governor of Egypt. This letter, widely recognized as the Covenant of Mālik Ashtar, has been cited by Muslim scholars in diverse ways throughout history. Among contemporary Qur’anic commentaries, Nemooneh and Nafaḥāt al-Qur’an, both supervised by Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi and authored by a team of scholars, frequently reference the Covenant. This study seeks to identify and classify the methods by which the Covenant is cited in these two commentaries, employing a descriptive-analytical approach. The findings demonstrate that commentaries Nemooneh and Nafaḥāt al-Qur’an utilize the Covenant from a hermeneutical perspective, such as specifying the scope of general Qur’anic statements, clarifying qualifications attached to Qur’anic verses, and resolving textual ambiguities. Additionally, the Covenant is employed in semantic analysis, including the explanation of rare Qur’anic vocabulary and the expansion of the semantic range of Qur’anic terms.

کلیدواژه ها:

Nahj al-Balāghah ، Covenant of Mālik Ashtar ، Commentary Nemooneh ، Commentary Nafaḥāt al-Qur’an ، Citation