Al-Istignā fī ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān by al-Udfuwī (d. 388/988), a well known historical figure in Arabic language and Quranic recitation (qirā’āt), had been overlooked by many leading scholars who wrote on the history of the Quranic Commentary (tafseer). is paper argues that al-Istigna, beyond being an ordinary tafseer work, makes an important turning point in the literature of ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān. It also presents a critical edition of the introduction (al-muqaddimah) of the book and the part of the commentary on the Sūrah al-Fātiha, based on unique manuscript.