Podcasts — Encounters around Tafsîr

Institut Imtiyaz teachings on the commentary of the Qur’an, free to listen to.

First season — July 2026

From 20 to 25 July 2026, Institut Imtiyaz held its summer seminar, « Rencontre autour du tafsîr ». Five teachings were given by Idrîs de Vos, Grégory Vandamme and Omar Bellaari: nearly fifteen hours devoted to the commentary of the Qur’an, from the Fâtiha to the great spiritual readings.

These teachings are given in French. YouTube generates automatic subtitles for them: click the subtitles button, then Settings → Subtitles → Auto-translate to read them in your own language. Be aware that this transcription is machine-generated: it conveys the general argument, but remains approximate, particularly for Arabic names and technical terms.

  1. The tafsirs of the Fâtiha: scope and depthIdrîs de Vos(2 h 34)The sura that opens the Qur’an and returns in every prayer, through the breadth and depth of the commentaries it has inspired.
  2. A history of Sufi tafsirsGrégory Vandamme(3 h 00)How the spiritual commentary of the Qur’an took shape and developed over the centuries.
  3. The heart in the Qur’an (1/2)Omar Bellaari(2 h 50)The place of the heart in the Qur’an, its vocabulary and its spiritual significance.
  4. Examples of Sufi tafsirs: Ibn ʿArabî, Ibn ʿAjîba, Rûzbehân BaqlîGrégory Vandamme(3 h 25)A study of examples drawn from the great Sufi commentators.
  5. The heart in the Qur’an (2/2)Omar Bellaari(2 h 23)The second part of the cycle devoted to the heart in the Qur’an.

▶Listen to the full series

the five teachings follow the order of the seminar.

Further reading

Table of the major tafsirsa panorama of 108 commentaries on the Qur’an, from the origins to the present dayHistory and science of tafsîrthe stages in the formation of Qur’anic exegesis