‘At-Tas’heel’ by Imaam Al-Kalbi
25-2-2008 | IslamWeb
Question:
Kindly inform us of the strengths and weaknesses of "At-Tasheel", the tafseer work of the Imaam Al-Kalbi.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The book At-Tas-Heel li ‘uloom at-tanzeel authored by Imaam Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzay Al-kalbi 
from Grenada who died in 741 Hijri year, is one of the books of Tafseer (interpretation of the Quran) which dominantly concentrated on the grammatical and eloquence aspects in the Quran. It is distinguished for being easy, well-organized and revised. The benefits of some verses are sometimes stated in order, and sometimes the author would elaborate on some specific matters –as he did with the subject of Thankfulness to Allaah when interpreting Al-Faatihah and the difference between being thankful to Allaah and praising Him. He spoke about piety in chapter 2, and about the mention of Allaah, Tawheed (believing in the Oneness of Allaah) and other matters which he called the different 12 stages [or degrees] of Sufism.
Another deficiency about his Tafseer, is that he classified the Tawheed of Allaah into three stages:
The First Stage: Tawheed of the common Muslims.
The Second Stage: Tawheed of the elite; which is a state only few people reach. They claim that in this state such people receive knowledge of the religion directly from Allaah, and thus add a third source for legislation which is inspiration.
The Third Stage: Fanaa (extinction or annihilation); They claim that when a person exaggerates in worshipping Allaah; Allaah physically units with him in his body. In other words, they claim that Allaah and such a person become two in one. Al-Kalbi confirmed this as his faith in his Tafseer.
Finally, this book [Tafseer] is classified among the books of Tafseer of Al-Ash’ariah.