Interpretations of Ahl al-Bayt in Surah Safat

Abstract

One of the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt (ع) regarding the elucidation of the knowledge of the Holy Qur'an, as derived from narrations, is the introduction of a new dimension aligned with the times, called Ta'wil. Through this approach, the esoteric meanings and instances of Qur'anic verses are extracted. The verses of the Qur'an, in addition to their apparent meanings, possess layers of esoteric meanings and Ta'wil, and the best way to access the Ta'wil of the Qur'an is through the infallibles (ع). This article seeks to answer the question: What are the types of Ta'wil by Ahl al-Bayt (ع) in Surah al-Saffat? In this regard, Ta'wili narrations related to this Surah were extracted from among the exegetical narrations and, using a descriptive-analytical method, it was determined that out of a total of 182 verses in this Surah, 17 verses possess Ta'wil, with a total of 21 Ta'wili narrations from Ahl al-Bayt (ع) beneath these verses. Of these 21 narrations, 13 are of the type of esoteric instance, 7 are of the type of esoteric meaning, and 1 narration discusses a general instance. It is noteworthy that in these narrations, the Qur'anic verses are mainly interpreted as referring to Ahl al-Bayt, their friends, and their opponents.