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No book has been interpreted and commented on as much as the
Qur'a-n. According to statistics based on existing commentaries and bibliographical information, more than three thousand commentaries have been written on the noble Qur'an in different styles and methods thusfar. But the main elements of a commentary such as basic principles, doctrines, rules, methods, and interpretive tendencies have not been defined within a coherent system. Generically commentators have directly given their commentaries on Qur>-anic verses without clarifying these issues. Though some books have been written about the basic principles, methods, and interpretive tendencies in the recent years, the definitions given are neither clear nor harmonious. The present article tries to provide the definition of all the existing elements in Qur'a-nic commentary within a detailed and exact technical system.