Editorial Note
Principles and methodology of the digital edition
Edition 1.0 · April 2025 · Amadu Kunateh
1. The Arabic Text
The Arabic text of this edition is drawn from the revised ten-volume compiled edition of Muḥammad ibn Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Tijānī al-Ibrāhīmī, which supersedes the earlier six-volume compilation. The revised recension incorporates a more extensive critical apparatus, a larger number of annotated footnotes, and draws on a broader consultation of the original audio recordings to achieve a more accurate transcription of Niasse's oral delivery.
The text follows the Warsh ʿan Nāfiʿ rasm, the orthographic standard of North and West Africa in which the tafsīr was delivered. This is the standard of the Quran as recited and taught in the Tijānī tradition, and it differs in certain orthographic details from the Ḥafṣ rasm more familiar to readers outside this tradition.
2. Digitisation and Display
The Arabic text was digitised from the printed ten-volume edition. The compiled edition presents the commentary as continuous Arabic prose with footnotes interspersed throughout each lesson section. For purposes of scholarly readability, this edition separates the body text (Niasse's commentary) from the footnote block (the compiler's documentary apparatus) in the lesson display. The body text is presented in the Sheikh's Tafsīr panel; the footnotes are accessible via the Critical Apparatus.
The lesson structure follows the compiler's ten-volume organisation: each lesson corresponds to a session of oral delivery. The site presents all fifty-six lessons of the ten-volume compiled edition, covering the complete Qurʾān from Al-Fātiḥa through Al-Nās (Q. 1:1–114:6).
3. Footnote Markers
The compiler's footnotes are marked inline in the Arabic text using superscript numbers [n]. Each marker is a clickable link that navigates directly to the corresponding entry in the Critical Apparatus, where the full footnote text appears in Arabic alongside an English citation header. The same markers appear in the English translation for Lessons 1–2, where the translation preserves the footnote numbering of the Arabic source.
The footnote apparatus for this edition has been classified by subject genre, Hadith Sciences, Tafsīr, Theology, Sufism, Fiqh, Linguistics, History, a classification not present in the printed Arabic text and constituting an original editorial contribution of this digital edition.
The apparatus now covers all 56 lessons (1,994 footnotes); classification for the remaining lessons is in progress and will be added in a subsequent version of the edition.
4. Verse Ranges and Volume References
The verse ranges for each lesson (e.g. Q. 2:6–25) have been verified against the ten-volume structural document prepared for this edition and, for Volumes 1–5 (Lessons 1–30), against the physical printed volumes.
Volume and page references for lessons cite the ten-volume compiled edition. Page numbers are provided for all ten volumes (Lessons 1–56).
5. The English Translation
The English translation is by Amadu Kunateh and currently covers Lessons 1–2. The complete bilingual translation is currently under review for publication with an academic publisher. Three translation choices warrant explicit notice: the Basmala is rendered “By Allāh's Name, The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful”;ʿabd is translated “slave” (following the established convention in the study of Islamic anthropology); and al-ḥamdu lillāh is rendered “The Praise is for God” (two words, not three). For full methodological statement, see the Translator's Note.
6. Citation
This edition should be cited as:
Ibrāhīm Niasse, Fī Riyāḍ Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, comp. Muḥammad ibn Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Tijānī al-Ibrāhīmī, rev. 10-vol. ed. (n.p., n.d.). Digital bilingual ed., ed. Amadu Kunateh (ORCID: 0009-0002-7839-6474). niassetafsir.org, 2025. Edition 1.0.
A DOI for this edition will be assigned upon publication on Zenodo and will appear here when available.