To proceed:

Indeed, this grand Tafsir is the first fruit of a monumental endeavor undertaken by (Dār al-Maʿārif in Egypt) to revive the (Heritage of Islam) and to bring forth the precious treasures remaining to us from the legacy of our righteous predecessors (Salaf) and our extraordinary scholars—those who served their religion, gave meticulous attention to the Book of their Lord, the Sunna of their Prophet, and the preservation of their language, in a manner no nation among nations has ever done, nor did others achieve even a tenth of what Allah enabled them to accomplish.

Thus, the first work we chose, as the first fruit of this significant project, was the Book of (Tafsir al-Ṭabarī). I have no need to demonstrate its scholarly value and the unique virtues contained within it that are rarely found in any other Tafsir. It is the greatest Tafsir we have seen, the most elevated, and the most authoritative, by which its author—the definitive authority—truly deserved to be named the (Imam of the Exegetes).

I used to dread undertaking the task of bringing it out, viewing it as immense, out of knowledge of the difficulties surrounding it, the obstacles standing before it, and from long experience with the Book spanning a lengthy era of forty years or more.

Had it not been that my resolve was strengthened and my back fortified by my younger brother, Ustādh Maḥmūd Muḥammad Shākir. He is—so far as I know—the best person capable of bearing this burden and fulfilling this task as it truly ought to be fulfilled, or close to it; I know of no one else qualified for it.

I do not intend to testify for my brother or to praise him, but I affirm what I know and bear witness to what I am certain of.