al-Kashf wa-al-Bayan an Tafsir al-Quran (The Unveiling and Clarification Concerning Quranic Exegesis) by Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Thaalabi (d. 427 AH / 1035 CE) is a ten-volume encyclopedic tafsir from the Ashari Shafii tradition of Nishapur. Its objective is to gather a comprehensive corpus of transmitted interpretations, linguistic explanations, narrative traditions, and asbab al-nuzul (reasons of revelation) related to each Quranic ayah, including extensive material from the qasas al-anbiya (stories of the prophets) literature. The manhaj is broadly tafsir bi-al-mathur with wide inclusivity: Thaalabi transmits a large range of material without applying the rigorous hadith-critical scrutiny later exercised by scholars such as Baghawi and Ibn Kathir, drawing criticism from hadith specialists for his uncritical transmission of weak and unreliable narrations. Thaalabi was known for his piety and had Sufi inclinations. He is Ashari and his madhhab is Shafii. The work is an important historical reference for scholars of early tafsir tradition and narrative literature but is used cautiously in popular Sunni religious education. More...