Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d.412/1021) changed the face of qur’anic exegesis when he collected the teachings of his Sufi predecessors and rearranged them into his compendium of qur’anic exegesis, Ḥaqā’iq al-Tafsīr (The Realities of Exegesis). By fastening the words of his spiritual ancestors to the words of the Qur’an, al-Sulamī developed a new mode of interpreting the Qur’an: one that allowed for an understanding of the Qur’an through the lens of lived mystical experience rather than rigorous curricula of study. This paper argues that al-Sulamī’s tafsīr served to develop ideas of who qualifies as an authoritative interpreter of the Qur’an beyond the rigid notions of tafsīr that existed in al-Sulamī’s social and religious context. Using the spiritual teachings and experiences of celebrated 9th century mystic Dhū al-Nūn al-Miṣrī as a case study, the paper goes on to argue al-Sulamī redefined the paradigm of qur’anic exegesis by establishing Sufis as the prime authorities of qur’anic knowledge. Instead of championing the masters of language and law as the authoritative transmitters of the meaning of the Qur’an, al-Sulamī’s project recognized Sufi masters alone as the authentic interpreters of the Qur’an—a notion forcefully propagated by later luminaries of the Sufi tradition, including Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) and Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240). Relying on qur'anic theories advanced by Gerhard Böwering and hagiographical research developed by Jawid Mojadeddi, this paper analyzes how al-Sulamī combined the use of ḥadīth methodology, Sufi theology, and language deconstruction to establish the Qur’an, not as a object of rigorous examination and study, but as a dynamic vehicle of human experience.