Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, I do not mention along with it anyone among the Companions who provided something similar to that. If I find it from the Companions, then if they are in agreement, I mention the highest among them in status with the most authentic chains of transmission, and I name those who agree with them while omitting the chain of transmission. If they differ, I mention their disagreement and cite a chain of transmission for each one of them, and I name those who agree with them while omitting the chain of transmission. If I do not find it from the Companions and I find it from the Successors, I perform regarding what I find from them the same as what I have mentioned in the example of the Companions.

[Exegetes’ Benefit from Ibn Abi Hatim]

Al-Husayn ibn Mas‘ud al-Baghawi drew from him in his book Ma‘alim al-Tanzil, as did Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in Majmu‘ al-Fatawa. The Hafiz Ibn Kathir quoted him extensively in his book Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim.

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani also quoted him in his book Fath al-Bari. As for al-Suyuti, he stated: "I have summarized the Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim in my book, which is al-Durr al-Manthur."

Imam al-Shawkani benefited from him greatly in Fath al-Qadir, along with many other books.

[My Methodology in Editing the Book]

[Section One:]

(Editing the extant portion of the Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim). The extant portion of this Tafsir includes the following:

• From Surat al-Fatihah to the end of Surat al-Ra‘d.

• From Surat al-Mu’minun to the end of Surat al-‘Ankabut.

1- The manuscript copies:

Given that only one copy exists, the transcription was somewhat difficult. What facilitated the transcription for me were the references that quoted from this Tafsir, such as Ibn Kathir and al-Durr al-Manthur. As for the lacunae present in the copy, I supplemented them as follows:

1- A missing folio from the original microfilmed source in Surat al-Baqarah, which I completed from the book Tafsir Ibn Abi Hatim - Surat al-Baqarah, edited by Dr. Ahmad ‘Abd Allah al-Zahrani, published by Maktabat al-Dar in Medina, as well as the edition by Dr. Hikmat Bashir for Surat Al ‘Imran, published by Maktabat al-Dar in Medina, from which I benefited greatly, especially in correcting the chains of transmission, as many of these chains are frequently repeated.

2- There is a lacuna in folio numbers 114-115, containing the end of Surat al-A‘raf and the beginning of Surat al-Anfal. I completed it from the theses of Brother Hamad Ahmad Abu Bakr and Dr. ‘Iyad al-Kubaysi, given that these distinguished gentlemen were able to obtain and photograph them from their original sources.

• I performed the Takhrij (verification of the chains) for the elevated (marfu‘) hadiths.

• I sufficed with performing the Takhrij for the reports and narrations from the printed Tafsir works from which the author quoted, such as: Tafsir ‘Abd al-Razzaq, Tafsir Sufyan al-Thawri, and Tafsir Mujahid.

As for the lost Tafsir works from which the author drew, I made the Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim the primary source for this, and I did not cross-reference the Tafsir works that came after him except in the case of correcting the text.

• I mentioned the evaluation of the hadith or report as stated by scholars such as: the Hafiz Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir and al-Suyuti, as well as what was stated by Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, and al-Tirmidhi in his Jami‘.

[Section Two:]

(Collecting the lost narrations from the Tafsir):

A- I relied in collecting the narrations on the following books:

1- Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim by Ibn Kathir.

2- Al-Durr al-Manthur by al-Suyuti.

3- Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani.

4- Taghliq al-Ta‘liq by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani.

5- Fath al-Qadir by al-Shawkani.