Significance of Narrations in Atyab-ol Bayan Interpretation

Atyab-ol-Bayan in interpretation of Quran is a Shiite interpretation of the holy Quran in Persian which was written by Ayat-ol-Allah Seyed Abdolhossein Tayeb who passed away in June, 1991. Although the author maintains that some of the interpretational narrations are not authoritative, and he even casts doubt on the validity of the narrations for issues other than religious orders; yet, he abundantly refers to narrations of the infallible Imams (PBUT) and sometimes mentions the reason behind revelation of some of the verses and the related stories, while ignoring the ones deemed invalid. In his interpretation of the straightforward and easy-tounderstand verses, which include appearances and clear provisions, he is satisfied with the appearance, while in interpreting more complicated verses he takes advantage of narrations of the Ahl-ol-bayt and the Holy Prophet's progeny to achieve the essence of meaning of verses of the Holy Quran. As he mentions at the beginning of his interpretational work, narrations from the infallible Imams are used as valid sources for his interpretation and he refers to narrations which are compatible with the appearance of verses to describe the meaning of words or intended purpose of verses and also to raise theological discussions in interpretation. He maintains that the interpretational narrations that are apparently in contradiction to verses, include indicators of concept of verses, hermeneutics, restrictions, particularizations and delineation of verses; however, he believes that in most cases interpretational narrations represent indicators of concept of verses and refers to them as resolver of ambiguity and delineator of similar verses. It is concluded that the late Tayeb could not be considered as a merely narration-oriented interpreter. The way he deals with narrations and his specific approach towards interpretational and theological narrations are the subject of discussion in the present paper.