ajiss Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam: Qur’an, Exegesis, Messianism, and the Literary Origins of the Babi Religion Todd Lawson London and New York: Routledge, 2012. 228 pages. In his Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam, Todd Lawson provides a rich and mul- tifaceted exploration of an unconventional exegetical text by Ali Muhammad Shirazi (d. 1850), more prominently known as the Bab. The text in question is Tafs¥r S´rah Y´suf, also known as Qayy´m al-AsmŒ’ and Aúsan al-Qa§a§. Available only in manuscript form, the Tafs¥r is an early and critically impor- tant text for understanding the rise of Babism, a messianic new religious movement that emerged out of Shi‘ism. Lawson’s study will not only be of 102 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 30:1 ajiss301-latest_ajiss 12/10/2012 6:55 PM Page 102 interest to scholars of Ithna’ ‘Ashari Shi‘ism, Babism, and Baha’ism, but is also a valuable contribution to tafs¥r studies and the burgeoning field of Mus- lim apocalyptic literature. The Tafs¥r S´rah Y´suf, however, is not a conventional scriptural com- mentary, for its relationship to the Qur’an is far more complex. Being deeply connected to the Bab’s emerging identity as the “gate” of the hidden Imam, the Tafs¥r moves beyond the sphere of the explanatory into that of the revela- tory. As a result, the text bears explicitly scriptural resonances. Among the ex- amples provided is that the chapters of the Tafs¥r are called s´rahs, the text has prostration (sajdah) markers, each s´rah opens with the basmalah, and nearly all of them have disconnected letters at their beginning. In Lawson’s own words, “…it is clear from the structure of the work that the author is introducing a new scripture or revelation by means of the Trojan horse of exegesis” (p. 22). Lawson undertakes a deep analysis of this unique and complicated text over the course of a introduction rich in theory, four chapters, a brief conclu- sion, and two appendices. His introduction situates the study within a number of scholarly fields. In a comparative key, the author convincingly argues that the Tafs¥r S´rah Y´suf falls into the genre of apocalyptic writing and places it in conversation with similar texts from the Jewish and Christian traditions, as well as with the Qur’an itself. Particularly helpful for typological purposes is his treatment of several apocalyptic motifs found in the Tafs¥r, namely, the reading of ambiguity as an expression of multivocality, coincidentia opposi- torum, cosmogony, the hidden Imam as a mediating “otherworldly being,” and the issue of pseudonymity. Within the field of tafs¥r studies, Lawson offers a meditation on Shi‘i exegesis as it culminates during the eschatologically in- quisitive Safavid period and continues into the Bab’s lifetime. Another point raised is the experiential delivery of the text. Lawson points out that the Tafs¥r had an important aural component and reports that the work was “written while being chanted” and “chanted to audiences” (p. 14). It is significant that the the Tafs¥r was delivered is Arabic, because at the end of the introduction Lawson reviews the historical criticisms, both from Shi‘i scholars and western academics, that argue that the Arabic used is “un- grammatical or unidiomatic” (p. 17). A tantalizing thread that remains to be addressed, then, is how the Bab’s primarily Persian-speaking audiences might have received and interpreted the irregularities of the recited Arabic and what role this might have played in shaping the new religion. In chapter 1, the author further contextualizes the Tafs¥r and then offers a general description of the work. First, he surveys the preceding exegetical works that have examined S´rah Y´suf (Q. 12) and then of the various at- tempts at Qur’anic imitation. Next, Lawson turns to the Tafs¥r itself and dis- Book Reviews 103 ajiss301-latest_ajiss 12/10/2012 6:55 PM Page 103 cusses the dating of its composition and the available manuscripts. At this point, a helpful comparison is made to the Tafs¥r S´rat al-Baqarah, the only text of the Bab’s to chronologically precede this one. Finally, Lawson docu- ments the text’s structure and arrangement, all the while making insightful connections to the socio-historical realities facing the Bab and his nascent re- ligious movement. In chapters 2 and 3, the author investigates the usage and meaning behind three self-referential terms used by the Bab in the Tafs¥r. These terms are im- portant, as they reveal much about who is speaking and what is intended. Thus, chapter 2 begins by covering the preceding, but relatively scant, schol- arly literature on the Tafs¥r and its authorial voice. Lawson then delves into the first two designations of dhikr (remembrance) and bŒb (gate). In both cases, he traces the relevant religious and literary genealogy of each word before turning to their appearance in the Tafs¥r itself. Influences from Sufi thought are also interspersed throughout. Chapter 3 shifts tack slightly as the author explores the third designation of al-nuqtah (the point) in light of the apocalyptic literary feature of coincidentia oppositorum. A particularly in- sightful vehicle for this inquiry is Lawson’s consideration of the obscure and contested khu‹bat al-tu‹unj¥yah (the sermon between/on/of the two gulfs) of Imam Ali and its subsequent bearing on the thought of the Bab (p. 87). The fourth and final chapter of the book provides the reader with a taste for the text as a whole by closely examining s´rah 93 of the Tafs¥r: S´rat al- Nahl. The main body of the chapter consists of a translation of S´rat al-Nahl accompanied by Lawson’s own line-by-line commentary, or his tafs¥r of the Tafs¥r, where valuable explanations, points of intertextuality, and allusions to the wider tradition are provided. Enriching this treatment of S´rat al-Nahl further are the book’s two appendices: a photoduplication of the S´rat al-Nahl text from the earliest manuscript of the Tafs¥r, followed by a transcription of it. The book concludes with a summative, although brief, conclusion. In sum, Lawson’s impressive feat of erudition opens the doors for future studies of the Bab and his Tafs¥r. His book takes the imposing complex of re- ligious ideas surrounding the Tafs¥r S´rah Y´suf and carefully lays out for the reader the intricately intertwined threads of Shi‘i messianism, Sufi worldviews, and apocalyptic motifs. As a result, the book sheds a great deal of light on the energetic genesis of this new religious force in nineteenth-century Iran. Martin Nguyen Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT 104 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 30:1 ajiss301-latest_ajiss 12/10/2012 6:55 PM Page 104