In Makkah, where Ibn 'Abbaas had taught, his primary students became the scholars of this area. In particular, Sa'eed ibn Jubayr (d. 95 A.H.), Mujaahid ibn Jabr (d. 104 A.H.), 'Ikrimah (d. 104 A.H.), Taawoos (d. 106A.H.), and 'Ataa ibn Rabaah (d. 114 A.H.) became leading authorities in this field, and their names are still to be found in many works of tafseer.

In Madeenah, the influence of'Ubay ibn Ka'ab was the strongest in the arena of tafseer, and his students Aboo al-'Aaliyah (d. 90 A.H.), Muhammad ibn Ka'ab al-Quradee (d. 118 A.H.) and Zayd ibn Aslam (d. 136 A.H.) emerged as the scholars of tafseer in Madeenah during this period.

In Koofah, 'Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood left behind his great legacy to 'Alqamah ibn Qays (d. 61 A.H.), Masrooq (d. 63, A.H.), and al-Aswad ibn Yazeed (d. 74 A.H.). Other Successors from Koofah who were famous for their knowledge of tafseer were: 'Aamir ash-Sha'bee (d. 109 A.H.), al-Hasan al-Basree (d. 110 A.H.) and Qataadah as-Sadoosee (d. 117 A.H.)

During this period, greater emphasis was placed on Judaeo-Christian tradition (known as Israa eeliyaat), and because of this, many of these narrations entered into Islaamic literature. Most of the people who narrated these traditions were Jews and Christians who had embraced Islaam, such as 'Abdullaah ibn Salaam (he was a Companion, d. 43 A.H.), Ka'ab al-Ahbaar (he embraced Islaam after the death of the Prophet (SAW) and did not see him; he died 32 A.H.), Wahb ibn Munnabih (d. 110 A.H.), and 'Abdul Maalik ibn Jurayj (d. 150 A.H.). Much of the Judaeo-Christian traditions prevalent in tafseer literature can be traced back to these scholars.

Also during this time, the differences in interpreting the Qur'aan were much greater than during the time of the Companions. Another characteristic of this period is the increase of forged narrations attributed to the Prophet (SAW). This was due to the political and religious strife that was rampant throughout the Muslim territories at that time. Lastly, the quantity of verses for which narrations exist from the Successors is greater than that for the Companions, since more verses needed explanation than during the time of the Companions.
D. THE COMPILATION OF TAFSEER
After the period of the Successors, the stage of the actual compilation and writing of tafseer began. The most important works were by scholars of hadeeth, who, as part of their narrations and works of hadeeth, also had sections on tafseer. Therefore, during this stage, the narrations of 'tafseer were considered a branch of hadeeth literature. Some of the scholars of this period that were known for their tafseer narrations include Yazeed ibnHaaroonas-Sulamee (d. 117 A.H.), Sufyaan al-Thawri (d. 161 A.H.), Sufyaan ibn 'Uyaynah (d. 198 A.H.), Wakee' ibn al-Jaraah (d. 197 A.H.), Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaaj (d. 160 A.H.), Aadam ibn Abee Iyaas (d. 220 A.H.), and 'Abd ibn Humayd (d. 249 A.H.). None of their works have survived intact until the present day.[8]
The next stage in the history of tafseer saw the separation of tafseer literature from hadeeth, and the emergence of independent works solely on tafseer. Another stride during this stage was that every verse was discussed, so that tafseer was not only limited to those verses for which narrations from the Prophet (SAW) and Companions existed; rather, these tafseers encompassed all the verses in the Qur'aan.

In attempting to answer who the first person to write a comprehensive tafseer of the Qur'aan was, the researcher is faced with a rather significant impediment: a lack of almost all manuscripts written during the first century of the hijrah. However, there are a number of references in later works to such manuscripts, and among the earliest works referenced is that of Sa'eed ibn Jubayr (d. 95 A.H.).[9] Most likely, this work was not a complete tafseer of the Qur'aan, but rather composed of narrations from the previous generations. An interesting narration in the Fihrist of Ibn Nadeem (d. 438 A.H.) reads as follows:[10]

'Umar ibn Bukayr, one of the students of al-Farraa, was with the governor Hasan ibn Sahl. He wrote to al-Farraa: 'The governor sometimes questions me concerning (the tafseer of) a verse in the Qur'aan, but I am unable to respond to him. Therefore, if you think it suitable to compile something with regards to the Qur'aan, or write a book concerning this, I can return to this book (whenever he asks me)'. al-Farraa said to his students, 'Gather together so that I may dictate to you a book on the Qur'aan'...and he told the muadhin to recite Soorah al-Faatihah, so that he may interpret it, until the whole book (i.e., the Qur'aan) was finished. The narrator of the story, Aboo al-'Abbaas, said, 'No one before him ever did anything like it, and I don't think that anyone can add to what he wrote!'

Al-Farraa died in the year 207 A.H., and thus we can say that this is definitely one of the earliest works of this nature.[11 ] Ibn Maajah (d. 273), of Sunan fame, also wrote a tafseer of the Qur'aan, but again this was limited to narrations from the previous generations.

One of the greatest classics available is without a doubt the monumental tafseer of the Qur'aan by Muhammad ibn Jareer at-Tabaree (d. 310A.H.). This tafseer, although heavily based on narrations, also discusses the grammatical analysis of the verse, the various qiraaat and their significance on the meaning of the verse, and, on occasion, Ibn Jareer's personal reasoning (ijtihaad) on various aspects of the verse. In many ways, this can be considered to be the first tafseer to attempt to cover every aspect of a verse. Other tafseers followed quickly; in particular the tafseers of Aboo Bakr ibn Mundhir an-Naisapooree (d. 318 A.H.), Ibn Abee Haatim (d. 327 A.H.), Aboo Shaykh ibn Hibbaan (d. 369 A.H.), al-Haakim (d. 405 A.H.) and Aboo Bakr ibn Mardawayh (d. 410).[12]

This era also saw the beginning of the specialisation in tafseer, with tafseers being written, for example, with greater emphasis on the grammatical analysis and interpretation of the Qur'aan. Greater emphasis was also placed on personal reasoning (ijtihaad), and tafseers written solely for the defence of sectarian views (such as the tafseers of the Mu'tazilah), and even for the defence of one's fiqh madh-hab (such as the tafseers of the Hanafees, Shaafi'ees and Maalikees) appeared. Another aspect that started during this era was the deletion of the isnaad from tafseer narrations, and this led to the increasement of weak and fabricated reports in tafseer literature.

A Summary
To summarise, it is possible to divide the history of tafseer into five periods.[13 ] The first period is considered to be the time of the Companions and Successors, and consisted mainly of narrations concerning those verses over which there was a difference of opinion or misunderstanding, in addition to the hadeeth of the Prophet {SAW) dealing with tafseer. Personal reasoning {ijtihaad) from the Companions and Successors was, in general, only resorted to when absolutely necessary.
The second period is the era of the late Successors, and the generation after them. During this time, hadeeth literature had begun to be compiled, and tafseer narrations therefore become a part of hadeeth works. Also during this time, the various hadeeth of the Prophet (SAW) and narrations from different Companions began to be compiled, whereas in the first period, these narrations were typically limited to a specific area.

The third stage saw the rise of independent tafseer works, based on the hadeeth works of the previous generation, and thus tafseer became an independent science among the Islaamic sciences. This stage, which can be said to begin in the second half of the third century, also produced the first complete Qur'aanic tafseers, whose commentary was not limited to only those verses concerning which narrations existed from previous generations. However, during this stage, the primary source of tafseer still remained narrations from the previous generation.

It was only during the fourth stage where reliance on narrations decreased, and much greater emphasis was placed on personal reasoning, and tafseers were written based on sectarian bias. For example, as-Suyootee narrates concerning the verse,

“...Not the path of those whom You are angry with, nor those who are astray” [1:7]

that there exist ten different opinions concerning who this verse refers to, despite the fact that the Prophet (SAW) has clearly explained that it refers to the Jews and Christians!14 This period also witnessed the increasement of forged narrations in tafseer literature, as the isnaad disappeared from tafseer works. [15]

The final period of the history of tafseer, which has lasted from the fourth century of the hijrah until today, saw the culmination of the science of tafseer, and the emergence of various categories of tafseer, such as tafseer based on narrations, on personal reasoning, topic-wise interpretation, polemical interpretation, and jurisprudential interpretation (these will be discussed in greater detail below). Other tafseers sought to combine all of these topics into one work, thus giving a broad, all-encompassing approach to interpretation.