Tafsir al-Tabari is considered a foundational text for almost all later Quranic commentaries, including those by Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi. Volume 2 is particularly popular in its selected English version as it highlights some of the most recited and spiritually significant portions of the Quran with scholarly depth.
The Commentary on the Quran Vol. 2 is less a book you “read cover to cover” and more a reference encyclopaedia of early Islamic thought. Owning it is like having a direct line to the first three generations of Muslim scholarship. If you are serious about understanding how classical Islam derived law, theology, and ethics from the Quran, Al-Tabari’s second volume is indispensable. The Commentary On The Quran Vol. 2 By Al-tabari