http://isgkc.org/EnglishQuran/ Koran English Translation by Dr. T.B.Irving *********************************
This document was prepared with borrowed etext for Arthur's Classic Novels. Etext was prepared by volunteers. XML markup by Arthur Wendover. December 16, 2002. (See source text for details.) This is the etext version of the book The Koran English translation by Dr. T.B.Irving , taken from the original etext koran_irving10.txt.
Arthur's Classic Novels (Bookmarks provided by Hassan Zamanzadeh)
Quran
English Translation by Dr. T.B.Irving
Q1 The Opening
Q2 The Cow
Q4 Women
Q5 The Table
Q6 Livestock
Q7 The Heights
Q8 Booty
Q10 Jonah
Q12 Joseph
Q13 Thunder
Q14 Abraham
Q15 Stoneland (or Rock [City])
Q16 Bees
Q17 The Night Journey (or Glory, or The Children of Israel)
Q18 The Cave
Q19 Mary
Q20 Ta-Ha
Q21 Prophets
Q22 Pilgrimage
Q23 Believers
Q24 Light
Q25 The Standard (or Criterion)
Q26 Poets
Q27 The Ants
Q28 Stories
Q29 The Spider
Q30 The (East) Romans (or the Byzantines)
Q31 Luqman
Q32 Worship or Adoration (Bowing Down on One's Knees)
Q33 The Coalition (or The [Combined] Forces)
Q35 Originator
Q36 Ya-Sin
Q39 Throngs
Q40 The Believer or The Forgiving [God]
Q41 [Signs] Spelled Out (or Ha-Mim on Worship)
Q42 Consultation
Q43 Luxury
Q44 Smoke
Q45 Crouching
Q46 The Dunes
Q52 The Mount
Q53 The Star
Q54 The Moon; (or The Hour Approaches)
Q55 The Mercy-giving
Q56 The Inevitable
Q57 Iron
Q58 The Pleading Woman (or God Has Heard)
Q59 Banishment
Q60 Examining Her
Q61 Battle Array
Q63 Hypocrites
Q64 Haggling
Q65 Divorce
Q66 Prohibition
Q67 Control
Q68 The Pen; (or the Letter N.)
Q69 Reality
Q70 Staircases Upward (or A Skeptic Asking)
Q71 Noah
Q72 Sprites
Q73 Bundled up
Q75 Resurrection
Q76 Every [Man] (or This [Day-and-]Age)
Q78 The Announcement
Q80 He Frowned!
Q81 Extinguished! (or Wrapping Things Up)
Q82 Bursting Apart
Q84 Splitting Open
Q85 Constellations
Q86 The Nightcomer (or The Morning Star)
Q87 Glory to Your Lord in the Highest
Q88 The Pall
Q89 Daybreak
Q91 The Sun
Q92 Night
Q93 Morning Bright!
Q95 The Figtree
Q97 Power (or Fate)
Q98 Evidence
Q99 The Earthquake
Q100 The Chargers
Q101 The Stunning [Blow] (or The Disaster)
Q102 Competition
Q104 The Gossipmonger
Q105 The Elephant
Q106 Quraysh (or Winter)
Q107 Almsgiving (or Have You Seen?)
Q108 Plenty
Q109 Disbelievers (or Atheists)
Q110 [Divine] Support
Q111 The Flame (or Palm-Fiber)
Q112 Sincerity (or [God's] Oneness)
Q113 Dawn
Q114 Mankind
Introduction to The Noble Reading
by T. B. Irving
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THE QURAN IS A magnificent document that has been known for fourteen centuries because of its matchlessness or inimitability, its essential ijaz (10:iv), to use the Quranic term. A clear strain runs through its message and the intent of this translation is to permit everyone, Muslim or non-Muslim alike, to understand the sacred document itself, even though they do not understand Arabic.
here is a necessity, almost an urgency now for an American
version in contemporary English. Our holy Book should be recited on solemn
occasions, both public and private, for comfort, morality and guidance. This
process must begin in childhood in order for it to become familiar, for it is
every Muslim's duty to read the Quran and try to understand it. However, the
duty has become a problem for those who no longer know any Arabic. A new
generation of Englishspeaking Muslims has grown up in
American Muslims face many problems, and the younger ones face more than the usual group of teenagers; many now have reached the second and third generation when the use of Arabic is being forgotten in the home. It has rarely been taught as a formal subject of instruction, nor has the intellectual content of the Quran been studied. The practice which has grown up around the traditional faith has been gravely weakened. Muslims do not have to dance the dabka, wear a fez, eat Arabstyle bread or shish kabob in order to be good Muslims. You can have soft drinks, but it is harder to handle stronger beverages and remain faithful to Islam.
In the first place, any accurate version is really a tafsir or commentary written in the target language, and it is important for us to have a trustworthy one with Islamic views. The Quran itself says that any divine message should be presented in a people's own tongue: 'We have not sent any messenger unless he was to explain to them in his folk's own tongue (Abraham 14:4). Later on some poetic spirit may bring us the noble paraphrase that we likewise need; I have attempted no such paraphrase myself, because I might feel inclined to take too many liberties with it. Right now the message must simply be accurate, and clear enough so that it will convince even a child. It should be a document one can read, as well as offer a basis for research, a useful whole. Centuries of research have in fact been spent on it, by Muslims and nonMuslims alike. I am not concerned with later development and exegesis here, but merely with the statement or restatement of the initial message.
The Bible as we know it, and as the Jews and Christians have known it, and especially knew it in the Prophet's day, is not as reliable as the Quran, and has led to constant variation, especially in its interpretation. Thus despite the difficult relations that exist between the West and the Islamic Middle East at present, the basic document for all sides to understand the latter area is the Quran, no matter how social scientists or theologians may try to interpret that part of the world after their own fashion.
Religion leads people to predictable action or reaction when
its principles govern the outlook of its followers. Thus the Quran is shunned
or favored insofar as its principles lend themselves to controlling human
behavior according to the morality or whims of those in power. Sacred symbols
offer a way by which people can look at the Universe, give them a life style which
tells them how things are and how they should be. The Orientalists who worked
for
However, translations by Muslims are not always acceptable.
Muhammad Ali's is clear but his commentary and at times the English text can be
affected by his sectarian tendency. Besides he has used the Havas Arabic
dictionary and this is risky because of its hindthoughts carried over from
Catholicism. A. Yusuf 'Ali's is more satisfactory as a commentary but his
English is overladen with extra words which neither explain the text nor
embellish the meaning. True embellishment is the simple telling word which does
not detract, but carries the mind directly to the meaning. Marmaduke Pickthall
accomplished his labor in the East, and therefore his translation is in heavy
Jacobean English laid upon a superstructure of Eastern preoccupations. The
Koran by N. J. Dawood which is published in the Penguin series of World
Classics is better than most, but it often becomes merely a prosaic paraphrase.
'Abd alMajid Daryabadi is clear, but hard to work with because of its
arrangement, especially in the naming and numbering of chapters. Egyptian and
Pakistani interpreters often show that they have not been talking to anyone
outside of their own circle, and this lack has hurt even their political
propaganda. Mercier unfortunately was translated into English from his French
version, just as de Ryer and
Since studies like Noldeke's and Bell's exist for those who need a barren type of criticism, it is not my purpose to follow in that line of research, but rather just as painstaking a one in trying to lay before the Englishspeaking world at the end of the twentieth century of their era, or the beginning of the fifteenth century of the Hijra, the message of the Qurain in reverent yet contemporary English. My purpose is not to enter into theological controversy, nor to test the ancestry of ideas that can be found elsewhere; I will not indulge in refutation, especially of old chestnuts, but let the text and the message stand for themselves. This is a long and dignified tradition which should be made part of the world heritage in a universal age.
As with the Spanish poet Alonso de Ercilla in sixteenth
century
The present and traditional order is not chronological, but
arranged topically, as an editor has a right to do with any book in his hands.
How to split up corpus has always been a problem, especially for Western
critics, but changing the order of the text has not bred believers on the West.
The vaunted scientific method of investigating texts at first hand is not
practised by Western experts when dealing with Islam. However, the urge to
revise has worried Western critics and Orientalists like Rodwell,
The Book itself consists of 114 chapters of varying size which are arranged roughly according to their order of length. Its paragraphs and sections have a very traditional order that is easily followed and by which the verses can be located. The present order in the Quran was achieved two or three decades after the Prophet's death, or about the year 650 A.D. The third caliph Uthman ibnAffan (644656) appointed a committee to achieve an authorized version of the Quranic text. Uthman's committee was set up to publish the Quran in a standard version, and the members naturally showed great conscientiousness in this respect. This committee fulfilled its task well, and so within a score of years after the Prophet's death, a splendid job was accomplished.
If we follow the traditional order, then we receive the Prophet's essential message; while if we use a revised order, then we follow his historical mission. I prefer to follow the traditional order, and state the message that Muslim scholars can follow this without effort, and on this order I elaborated the present work for contemporary Englishspeaking readers. Within Islamic circles we cannot now produce a good English prayerbook until this is based upon a reliable English version of the Quran.
The message of Islam does not come through in most
contemporary textbooks used in our schools. Very few have been written by
sincere Muslims, so that Islam is derided, and kept at a distance, when we need
a clear explanation in our own language, devoid of strained syntax and one which
can be read meaningfully and reverently in public. Thousands of Westerners who
are now living in or visiting the countries of the Middle East as well as
others who never expect to live or visit there, need nonetheless to understand
the ethical system which prevails in the Islamic world. The crisis in
The present volume (i.e. the English translation) has been
planned as an advance edition only. What has been accomplished till now has
been done mostly with my own resources. Thanks to the generous help of the
Aossey brothers of
Nevertheless this translation is not the sacred canon but merely a thread of thought plus some inspiration which appear in the pages I have been preparing. Translation is literally impossible because interpretation in another language is an ongoing process, especially with a document that must be used constantly. Almost every day I learn a new rendering for a word or phrase; then I must run this new thread of meaning through other passages. The Quran is a living Book. We must respect yet find a way to interpret this sacred text, and not deform its meaning. The refrain running through Chapter 54 on The Moon tells us: "We have made the Quran easy to memorize; yet will anyone memorize it?" (54:22). As it claims, the Quranic message is easy to learn. It is divided up so that it can be read in sittings, or read straight through (17:XII). This is clear from the canon itself.
The Quran is not a missionary manual but a record of experience. It forms both a message or risala, an "ideology" carried by a rasul or 'messenger'; and it is also a Book or scripture (kitab) sent specifically via the Messenger Muhammad (rasul Allah or 'God's messenger')may God accept his prayers and grant him peace! However the Quran does not offer minute details about everything such as is found in many other scriptures; it is an existentialist document telling about the Prophet's experience during his mission to the Arabs and the world. It is the Noble Reading (56: III); it is a consecrated Text.
In this new translation, I have attempted to accomplish what the West has generally failed to do with Islam: to study it from within and in the light of its own texts. The Quran is obviously the best preparation for such an attempt. Moreover this book gives the young Muslim something to hold on to in this day when most authority on moral matters is being abdicated. The doctrinal and ethical superstructure raised on the Five Pillars and other beliefs does not belong in this Introduction, which has been presented merely as a means of helping understand the message.
I have tried to find the simplest word so that the Muslim child can understand it easily, and feel strengthened thereby. It is also intended for the pious nonMuslim who is not already tied up in theology of some other sort: we must be able to discuss Islam on our own terms, terms which have been made up through our own knowledge and our own use of the English language. This present volume has been prepared in order to spread greater understanding of the Islamic religion and to present the English speaking world with a clear rendition of the original Arabic into intelligible modern English. Even in English, the tendency with the Bible now is away from the seventeenthcentury language which sounds too much like Pickthall, into the English of presentday speakers.
The Islamic community in the United States and Canada has in certain fashion commissioned me with this task, and I must thank my good friends of Cedar Rapids, Iowa especially for their constant encouragement in the venture, because the whole project has grown into a massive undertaking directed also to those non-Muslims who need an introduction to the basic scripture of Islam. I also would like to thank the many people whose enquiries and requests for information and material have kept me working at the job. I hope that in this new translation I have in some small measure achieved a version of the Noble Reading, alQuran al Karim, which can open up its treasures and lay the basis for Islamic piety within the English language and throughout the Englishspeaking world. Thus for over twentythree years, I have been reading the Quran carefully in Arabic "at daybreak" (17:ix), with the aim of presenting it in a form which will live for a few decades longer, God willing, or at least until some more gifted worker takes up the challenge and improves on this version.
Grammar and Syntax
A translation from one language to another requires that the translate have the "feel" of both languages he is working with, that of the textual one which is being translated, and that of the target language, Many Quranic translators, however, have been fluent even in a third tongue which has ended by confusing them; a close attachment to Latin, Urdu or French can hinder the smooth flow of Arabic words and phrases into English. Several previous translations of the Quran have likewise bee rendered grotesque by relying on antiquated grammar and twisted syntax without mentioning other problems like terminology or the correct rendering of individual words. There is no reason why our holy Book must be quoted in awkward English: if the Arabic is clear (16:xiv, 26:xi) the why do we need to worry about it?
My aim has been to remain scrupulously faithful to the Arabic text. and still create a version which represents good American English prose and can be used confidently by Englishspeaking people. Arabic is paratactic in its structure while English syntax involves more clauses and phrases, although it does not approach the complexity of either Latin o German to which it is related.
Conjunctions and connectives pose one of our first problems, for on cannot turn English into parataxis and begin each sentence or phrase wit a series of 'and's" as is done in Arabic and Hebrew. Arabic actually has two common words for our single "and"; waw (which is a prefix in Semitic) refers to the simultaneous "and", while fa (also a prefix) expresses the consecutive connector. The letter fa, can be rendered at times by 'then', 'next' and 'so', or even by the interjection 'why ... !'as a further possibility. In English we use "so", "thus", "well", "then", "as well as" to connect sentences and thought groups in the same manner; we use 'so" and "plus constantly in this fashion in normal speech. On the other hand the simultaneous waw can be 'while' with following or linking verbs and 'as well as' with long lists of nouns, especially for the final one at the end of list which needs to be included and have attention focused on it: "to Heaven and Earth, and to the mountains... " (33:IX). The common Semitic paratactic sentence is deadly in dealing with these long lists if it is not handled judiciously in translation. Conjunctions should bind the latecoming concept into the body of the main thought, and not just let ideas go on and on. Moreover neither of these particles waw or fa need always be rendered into English.
Some confusion in translation stems at times from the inability to distinguish between noun and verbal sentences, as occurs in other Semitic languages too: "Verily, I say unto you... " or "Verily I, say unto you... " as it should be punctuated, occurs in the New Testament in John 1:51 in the King James version, as well as other places, where the Aramaic dialect shines through the bad Greek. It is really, in contemporary English: 'As for me, I tell you... " In the great hymn to "Light" we have the sentence "Waalladhina kafaru amaluhum kasarab biqiat (24:v). This begins with a noun clause, and the resulting nominal sentence should be: "Those who disbelieve [will find] their deeds are like a mirage on a desert..." (Light 24:39). The need to put the subject first in English often leads us to use the passive.
The disjunctive pronoun precedes the common Spanish phrase: A mi me gusta ... meaning 'I like . . . '; somewhat similar to Le voici for 'Here it is...' in French. In The Opening chapter (alFatiha) we find this construction used in the fourth line: "You do we worship and You do we call on for help" (1:15). There is no "only" in this sentence, as some translators insert; the disjunctive position itself gives the needed emphasis they are trying to find.
Verbs cause some difficulty too since they can vary in their usage. The English verbs "to be" and 'to have" are generally expressed in Arabic only by means of the syntax governing pronouns and prepositions. How things exist, and how they should be or how we would like to have them, yields a different quality in Semitic speech; the tone of its ethos has other distinct roots. "Act" and "mean" in my translation are not always placed between brackets since, similar to "to be" and "to have", they are implied as active, mental verbs: "Your Lord acts as an Observer" (34:II (end). The verb "acted [honorably or charitably]" in 2:VIII gives more force to the verbal quality.
"Giving" and "saying" are often not expressed clearly to a Western reader in other translations, and need to be assumed from the context and their prepositions. "Belongs" and "belonged to" are English verbs which sometimes must be inserted, as in "to God [belongs] the Unseen" li'Llah'. ... (16:xi); or "He owns whatever is in front of us, and whatever is behind us" in 19:iv. "Owns" is another verb that can be inserted for the prepositional phrase lahu 'to him [is]', and at times is clearer than'he has' (70:3).
Tense and conditional moods must be expressed with care, especially with the absent verb "to be"; La ikrah fi aldin should be '[Let there be] no compulsion in religion' (The Cow 2:xxxiv). The softened imperative here expresses the difference between how things exist and how they should be, or how we would like to have them.
Collective nouns are generally considered as abstract feminines in Arabic, exactly what we find in the English words "cattle", "opera", "people". Plurals in Arabic which do not refer to human beings become abstract feminines, and take their adjectives in the feminine singular.
The partitive construction may be known to some educated speakers of English from their study of French; yet this knowledge has rarely used by other translators from the Arabic: "seek some of his bounty we are enjoined in 17:vii; and kulu min tayyibati ma razaqnakum 'eat wholesome things we have provided you with' (20: iv); also "some of We transported along with Noah" (19:iv); and "so We may show you [Moses] some of our greatest signs" (20:I). These examples provide random sample.
The superlative absolute presents another problem. It appears as 'quite Aware' for God's quality as the Alam (17:v); 'quite Observant' for Absar and 'quite Alert' for Asma in 18:iv.
Translating into English has still other problems. For
example, English is very deficient when it comes to 2nd person pronouns, which
nowadays are found only as "you", "your" and
"yours". The old "ye", "thou" an "thee"
as well as their respective possessive pronouns are obsolete, especially when
teaching our children, even though they appear in the King James version of the
Bible and the translation of The Glorious Koran as this has been rendered by
Marmaduke Pickthall. His archaic quality cannot live on. The situation is
further complicated by the use of the indefinite 'you" referring to
"anybody" or "everybody" as in the colloquia expression 'You
should do that!" Occasionally I indicate the singular and plural of this
pronoun (as these may occur in Arabic), especially when the Prophet is
addressed; at other times the message is directed to his audience or to
believers. "You all" or "you (all)" is more natural than
"you" in North American English, and I have occasionally used this
neutral though dialectal plural with discretion where one must show the
difference between the singular and the plural pronoun of Arabic. It sounds
more natural even outside of the
English is also defective in the meanings for "man", both as this word i opposed sexually to "woman", and generically to the animal kingdom in general, and also to sprites. The singular insan means '(every) man' in 17:II and 19:v, almost in the spirit of the medieval European mysteries; and i the Chapter AlAsr we meet him "At eventide, everyman /[feels] at loss..." (103:12).
"Man(kind)" and "people" are other defective expressions in English. The 'folk' meant by qawm are literally those who "stand up" alongside you to defend your common interests. Ahl, on the other hand, means those people from one's own tent group, "living down the street" or in the same apartment house, as we would express this in modern urban society. "Adam" is a symbol for original man, mentioned in the Quran, but only referred to as the common ancestor of humanity: Banu Adam. The name is derived from 'red earth' in Arabic referring to the clay God used in fashioning him
The Arabic pronominal conjunction man is archaic when this is translated as 'whosoever' or even 'he who', and this usage confuses younger readers; generally I use 'anyone who' and only occasionally 'he who' for this pronoun.
On the English side, our word "day" shows lexical deficiencies, for the word can be contrasted first with the concept of 'night" (layl vs. nahar), then with the sidereal day as this is found in calendar dates, in contrast to weeks and months (which is yawm). I use 'daytime' or 'daylight' for nahar; but 'day' only for the broader twentyfour hour period.
The simple possessive case occasionally seems to be difficult to translate properly into English, especially the form with the apostrophe. The Arabic word order induces this syntactic error since it apparently follows French or Romance style, especially for Western theological students who have studied Latin first; but it really is similar to elementary Germanic syntax, even to the omission of the article in the possessing element. However, since the sequence in Arabic is possessedpossessor, the opposite of English, it seems superficially to resemble French. If you write one under the other, however, then the reverse word order shows up the affinity, a trick I have used successfully on the blackboard with attentive students in my classes in Arabic.
These examples in short are some of the textual difficulties which the translator faces in handling the Quran. It has been a challenging task, but always rewarding.
Handling Dualism and Pairs
The dichotomy of life has always intrigued and puzzled people. They have tried to explain this phenomenon by saying the world is made up from pairs, just as they were born from a father and a mother, and themselves expect to marry. Some examples of these associated pairs are Heaven and Hell, Hell and Hades (or Jahannam and Jahim in Arabic, by some alliterative coincidence), Heaven and Earth, night and day, heat and cold, light and dark.
Halal and haram are alliterated twin principles too that
appear in 5:3 and other places in the Quran; dividing things into the permitted
and forbidden is common for mnemonic purposes. The 'hallowed' or haram is
almost like the concept of taboo which the West borrowed from the Polynesians
following the voyages of Captain Cook to the Pacific in the late eighteenth century.
The 'sacred' or muqaddas is a similar state:
Consciousness and the Unseen give us dualistic principles for knowledge as well. Bodily pains contrasted with physical pleasures form another duality linked to Heaven and Hell in our minds. So good and evil form another pair (4:xi) as we find them throughout God's creation; they both come ultimately from God, but are not coequal (5:xviii). We need to turn evil into good (7: xii) since they all derive from God (5: xiii). God may have permitted the presence of evil, but He did not command its existence.
"Where is night when the day arrives?" asked the Prophet rhetorically when he was questioned on this matter of good and evil. We also hear:
The blind and the sighted are not equal
nor are darkness and light
nor a shady nook and a heatwave.
The living and the dead are not alike,
God lets anyone He wishes listen, while you
will not make those in their graves hear.
(Originator 35:1922).
If there were other gods
in either [Heaven or Earth]
besides God [Alone],
they would both dissolve in chaos.
(Prophets 21:22)
This concern for twin principles led to the socalled
"Persian error" which the Albigensians practised in southern
In Islam the sin of dualism is part of Association or shirk, and thus is unpardonable (4:48, 116). This "Persian error" considers the presence of evil to be necessary, as are the other pairs like Light and Darkness, Night and Daylight: allayl wa alnahar of 2:164 etc. There has been overmuch study of Jewish and Christian sources for the antecedents of Islam, but little of Manicheism and Zarathustrianism.
How to be both artistic and correct with the dual in Arabic becomes a syntactic problem when it comes to translation into English. A dual of sorts is found in the English words "either" and "both", but English has no adequate inflections for expressions like "both of them", "the two" etc., except with parents and other married couples, such as with Adam and Eve (7:ii). However 'both' is generally the best distinguishing word in English, with verbs and nouns as well. Its use occurs with Moses and Aaron in 20:ii ("they both said"); also 10:viii and 26:ii, and with David and Solomon (21:vi, 27:ii).
A concern for light comes up, as this is contrasted with darkness (2:xxxiv): "God ... brings out of darkness into Light" (2:xxxiv, 13:i and especially 24:v). Bitter cold and darkness make the night seem hideous; though night can also comfort, since it acts as a "garment" (25:v). So do good and evil as we find them throughout God's creation, we have noticed.
Sex of course is based on dualism: "He has placed two pairs for every kind of fruit on it" (13:i).
Terminology
The fascinating matter of root meanings in Arabic is a
linguistic matter which I will now deal with in this section on terminology. As
soon as one begins to use our current Arabic dictionaries, it becomes evident
that they have not been compiled by believers. One can tell this by the
approximation of many otherwise clear Islamic terms, as well as the prejudice
or worry shown by outsiders, even in Wehr, which in any case was translated
from the German. These modern lexicographers have never sat in a mosque, so
concerned are they with Christian ceremonies and festivals. Penrice's
dictionary and glossary of Quranic terms is helpful, but it too must be used
with caution, for it is overladen with nineteenth century missionary terms.
Havas is clearly Catholic, and at times abysmal in its ignorance of Islam.
Professor Izutsu of
Let us discuss some terms in more detail. For instance, with the shades of meaning in the root to 'remember', 'recall', and also, perhaps surprisingly, 'male'; in the II or causative form "dh kk r" it means to ,remind'; and in the V, which is the reflexive of II or the causative, to 'reflect', 'bear in mind' (for one's own benefit). The root gives us assalam meaning 'peace' as a greeting to persons; asIslam for 'surrender' and 'submission' for the colonialist nonbeliever (infidel is how he would call himself elsewhere), but for us, 'commitment' to God Alone; and Muslim as the one 'who has so surrendered' or 'committed himself to the Deity, the man who lives 'at peace.' For Islam, the word 'commitment' is more positive, active and responsible than are 'surrender" or 'submission" which the Orientalists and missionaries use; we Muslims have a right to choose our own terminology in English. We must forge our own words for our terms and parables like those about Satan, Ishmael, Jesus, Diabolis etc.
The majestic figure of God Alone or Allah forms the capstone of Islamic worship and thought. He is asSamad of Chapter 112:2, the 'Focus' and 'Source' for everything. How should reverent Muslims name Him? God has a Hundred of the "Finest Names" (59:end). The names and attributes for God are many: "AllKnowing" in our Germanic roots becomes the "Omniscient" in European Latinized parlance, which has given us other terms like "circumnambulation", "genuflexion", "ablution", as well as "submission" and 'surrender" as meanings for Islam.
Training for this purpose will come through study and spiritual exercise. Let us therefore discuss some secular virtues. I use the word 'achievement' rather than the more oldfashioned term 'triumph' for fawz. The virtues themselves are: first of all, birr, as the basic one which we meet in 2:xxii for the first time; 'righteousness' sounds too oldfashioned now. Muhsin is 'kindly', a concept that comes from the heart. It might be 'beneficient' in Latinized jargon, for bene means 'good' or 'well' that is similar to khayr; while ficent means 'doing [it]'. The abstract noun in the causative IV form is ihsan or 'kindness' and parallel in morphological pattern (IV vn.) to Islam, and iman ('faith' or 'belief'). The ideal was static. Reverence calls for restraint before things holy, giving sanctity to attitudes. Rushd or rashad is the social ideal of 'common sense' or 'normal behavior'. We find it in the name of the twelfthcentury Spanish Arab philosopher IbnRushd, who prepared the text of Aristotle for the scholastic teachers in the rising European universities of the following century.
Similarly kufr is 'disbelief, 'ingratitude' and a kafir is a 'disbeliever'; shirk means 'associating [someone else with God],' and a mushrik is such an 'associator'; taghut are those 'arrogant' persons who deliberately come between man and his God. Almuttaqin are 'the heedful', 'those who do their duty', while taqwa is the quality of 'heeding [God's decrees]', or 'heedfulness', 'piety', just plain 'doing one's duty' before God and man. The moral basis of the new state in Madina is seen in the 'realm' or mulk in what we now know as 'control' today, and this can be used both as a noun and a verb: "O God, Holder of Control!" (3:26)
The passage Laysa albirr..., is rendered "It is not virtue.. . "; 'virtue' rather than 'piety' for this concept seems in order. Alfasiqun are 'perverse', 'corrupt' or 'immoral' people (2:xii). We should notice how the terms Heaven and Hell are alliterative in both English and Arabic (aljanna and aljahannam), to which we might add jahim which I have rendered 'Hades' to maintain the poetical effect. I also want to keep addunya and alalamin separate as this 'nearer [world]' and 'the (greater) Universe' respectively, so they can be separate in the text and in the reader's mind. The latter is really a plural in Arabic, but I have unified this concept in English. Jinn and Ruh are two terms for 'sprite(s)' and 'Spirit' respectively. Jinn is often rendered as 'spirit' too, although these are really separate concepts; I am rendering the former 'sprite(s)' and leaving the second as 'Spirit' or 'Breath' for Ruh as we see in 17:x (beginning). Sprites or jinn, as a term, is handled wretchedly by most commentators, because it represents a plural in itself, while jinni is the proper singular. Jinn are what are called elves or fairies in English folklore, and mean the personified powers of the supernatural which are vaguely sensed by less sophisticated people, whose forces we meet in Robert Frost's "Mending Wall". These sprites found in the title of Chapter 72, were made from the glow in fire (55:i), like the angels or Diabolis (7:ii).
There are foreignbased words like mil, the Roman 'mile' or a "thousand" paces; the sirat from Latin strata meaning 'street', its English derived descendant; qasr from castrum which is Latin too, which via the Arabic, gives Spanish its alcazar (as well as Castro); thawr or 'bull' has its memories of the Minotaur in Crete, and los toros in Spain; ard or 'earth' reveal this kinship, especially in terms connected with ancient agriculture; Burg in Germanic is linked with the title of Chapter 85 or AlBuruj meaning Constellations, those 'castles' that we see in the night skywhich give us 'borough' in English and 'bourgeois" in European sociology and politics.
Many expressions are given an ironic cast in some translations like "grand vizier" for the Turkish prime minister, when a simpler term like 'prime minister' or 'premier' would take it out of the Arabian Nights and make it sound more appropriate and fitting for statecraft. "No burdened [soul] shall bear another's burden" (6:xx etc.) shows what a cabinet minister carries in his portfolio. Other Turkish or AngloIndian forms are "muezzin" and "kismet". Crusading terms like "infidel" for the nonbeliever or misbeliever, one who flashes "scimitars" instead of waving swords. Spellings of this sort are 'Kaaba" and Port "Said" as if this latter were the past participle of our verb to "say"; they should read instead: 'Kaba" and 'Said".
The etymology of the word "worship" in English should be borne in mind, as an exercise giving 'value' or 'worth' to superior beings, what we might call reverence, and thus linking it to ibada in Arabic. The true worshipper or abd (96:i) we meet in many Islamic names (and which is reduced to the ironic 'Abdul" or 'servant of the.. .' in Orientalist jargon exactly like "admiral" who is literally 'prince of the...', we must presume "of the sea").
There is also much prejudice in many of the Orientalist
weasel words such as the term "Moorish" in connection with Spanish
Islam or the French Foreign Legion. Jinete meaning 'horseman' or 'rider' and
zanahoria for 'carrot' are the only truly Moorish or Berber words in the common
Spanish lexicon, while true Arabic ones occur there frequently; yet they are
all called "Moorish". What does the term Moorish mean? Who invented
the name "Mauretania" in this century to describe the region south of
Spelling and Phonetics
Throughout this translation I have consistently used the
Library Congress system of transliteration. This is essentially the same as
that employed by the Royal Asiatic Society of London and the Board Geographic
Names in
A standardization of Arabic nomenclature is needed for the
countries which were under different colonial rule. Shatt alArab formed by the
confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates upstream from
The spellings of 'Moslem", "Kaaba" (for Kaba) have a true beginning in ignorance, but they never seem to point any way to salvation. The spelling "Koran" is often used by nonMuslims and westerntrained Muslims, the same people as use the spelling "Moslems", as the late Professor Hitti did in his book Islam in his incredible quotation: "An old fashioned Moslem (sic) goes through the legal ablutions before he open the book" (pp. 2627) ! What sort of Muslim did he get his information from? When this is pronounced with a voiced "s", it gives us 'Mozlum" which means the exact opposite of a man of peace, for dhulm or zulm is 'harm', 'evil' etc. A "Moslem" thus means a 'cruel' individual like an Oriental tyrant.
Fortunately Arabic itself has a standard orthography and has had one for 140 years; it is only the ear of the former colonial master or the present glib newspaper or television reporter which needs trainingor to be eliminated altogether. English moreover is a deficient language in it use of the Roman alphabet, while French is even worse, or perverse. Some aspects of Arabic spelling should be indicated clearly, and not confused especially with long vowels and emphatic or velarized consonants: t, d, dh (or z), s and the occasional 1. These consonants all express phonemic and semantic differentiation, and so they should be indicated clearly in some fashion.
Similar needs exist in phonetics. The sounds of hamza and
ayn are two difficult letters to transcribe consistently, as well as to explain
the uninitiated. The first or hamza is the glottal stop which gives English the
need of its alternate indefinite article "an" in order to avoid
between words that begin with a vowel (as we bear in the childish for "I
want a apple"). The ayn is the voiced pharyngeal fricative, historically
has given us the capital "E" in the Roman alphabet, which represented
this originally in Phoenician; and this might be used to express this sound,
except that it would lead to confusion, especially among uninitiated. These two
important letters in the Arabic and other Semitic alphabets are not usually
indicated in the Roman transliteration that many people use; nevertheless they
require some representation, especially students may learn more easily. The
words
Long and short vowels moreover should be indicated clearly and not confused; these distinctions are basic to Arabic prosody and especially proper Quranic diction. I use the grave accent of French " ` " to show alif maqsura, or the long "ou" representing a hidden i or y in the root as in names Musa or Isa. The digraph "ou" is a hopeless representation because it cannot show whether the Arabic vowel is long or short. Emphatic velarize d consonants all have phonemic and semantic differentiation, and so they should also be expressed clearly. Perhaps capital letters might be used for typewriters without any symbols for such foreign accents. Many booksellers, for instance, do so.
Are Eastern nonArab Muslims able to explain these sounds speakers of English, especially to North American children who educational system has little contact with the Middle East or with foreign language instruction? Do Pakistanis hear these sounds clearly, or can Egyptians explain them to young Americans or Canadians? It is likewise grotesque for Englishspeaking persons to be advised to say a "z" or "s" the voiced "dh" (j ) or the voiceless "th" which they already say "they" and "other", or in "think" and "with". English speakers have enough difficulties already in learning a foreign language without having an unnecessary one thrust upon them.
Thus we come to Style and Mood
I have felt a need to break away from the usual type of commentary Christian, Orientalist and even some Muslim ones at times, in order to provide a fresh outlook on the Quran to move it out into the Englishspeaking consciousness. I am interested only in stating the Quranic message in clear contemporary English. This task has thus been tackled gradually as I read the Arabic text over and over for more two decades, trying to find an English cadence for it. This must not falsify message but should a llow fresh words and concepts to enter the English speaking mind and emotions.
The Englishspeaking world already has a great tradition of reading scripture. We have had a long tradition of Psalm and Gospel reading in our Protestant communities which can lead us along the way, and give us a sense of direction or manner. Some Quranic translators have tried match this mood by making their versions archaic or Jacobean, although this is not the means to achieve reverence in our youth, who understand what they are hearing or reciting. They need comprehensible yet reverent English which will be respected by future generations. I should like to duplicate the terse yet vibrant quality of the original Quranic message. We must make our message simple and go back to the primitive Arabic meaning wherever this is possible; but the whole vocabulary will have to be made over in painstaking fashion. We need to take a fresh at the original text and explore it for new content and presentday application.
Matters of style thus come up. There is as much use of the
Style creates mood: rhymed prose meets the ear, to offer us diction. As a corollary, this edition is arranged in paragraphs, verses or lines so the reader, in both public and private, is guided to the rhythm and movement of the passage. Saj (rhymed prose) is ancient, oral punctuation; it tells the reader where to pause during his recitation so that his listeners can hear the message reverently, and understand it more easily. NonEnglish speakers often read English translations without realizing where to make the proper pauses needed for reverent attention. We find this rhythm in Chapters This Land (alBalad) 90 and Morning Bright (adDuha) 93 as well as in the two final ones, Dawn (alFalaq) 113 and Mankind (anNas) 114, which I have not attempted to reproduce. The contrasting English words "night" and "daylight" rhyme, while Heaven and Hell or Hades alliterate; but these must not become cacophonic or a jingle, because such is not within the spirit of the Quran.
The present version has been arranged either in prose form
or as rhythmic free verse, depending on the nature of the Arabic original. I
have laid the more lyric sections in the form of free verse and rough stanzas.
An ecstatic quality is found in the early Meccan chapters towards the end of
our canonical text (but actually at the start of the primitive prophetic
message). Here is seventhcentury
Giving cadence and rhythm form part of ritual through visual and auditory formulae. Through rhythm we achieve a glimpse of reality and thereby become more familiar with the Universe and how it functions. Ritual leads us through initiation and passage, especially for the adolescent who needs it; in this fashion young people begin to participate in the collective advance whereby mankind achieves its vision of reality.
What is reality, we ask again? What is that central focus for life on which everything depends, that we hear about in "God is the Source [for everything]" (I 12:2 Sincerity)? Through reverence and restraint we achieve its image, a visual or verbal formula, but without setting up any idols.
I hope that these ideas can bring the reader closer to reality, to the Unseen, that mystery of the world and life. The way we respond to the call of reality, gives us visual and auditory cadence and rhythm. Narrated style is what we hear, as this is related by the Deity Himself: "Do not fear; I am with you both. I both hear and see." (20:26). God is Omnipresent.
The Sleepers in The Cave (alKahaf) (18:iiv) has been one of
the most difficult stories to translate into flowing and convincing English;
likewise, Moses' Mystic Journey in the same chapter (ixx), and the tale of
Double Horns or Alexander the Great that follows it (xi). At 20:iv we learn how
Pharaoh was overwhelmed; while in 53:i we see "the Hawthorn on the
Boundary/ alongside the
The present work has been a long story, undertaken in many
cities and regions, in
The first attempt for my original presentation was the
wellknown
Chanting and Recitation
"Cantillation" is a quaint word that has crept into Orientalist studies on Islam to describe the traditional manner of reciting the Quran for public worship. Others of this sort are "circumambulation" for walking around the Kaba, "submission" or "surrender" for the believer's commitment to live 'in peace'; "genuflection" for kneeling in prayer, and "ablution" for washing before it. Those who use the terms must never have sat quietly in a mosque waiting for divine service to begin; or if they did so, it must have seemed unusual to them. Yet English has a long tradition in this field with Gospel reading and the responsive recital of the Psalms.
The Quran was called the divine "
As it claims, the Quran is easy to memorize, and is divided up so that it can be read in sittings, or it can be read straight through (17:106). This is clear from the canon itself. Mercier and Arberry are the only nonMuslim
Western scholars who have approached this matter of Quranic recital, and we refer you to them for the time being; the late Professor Mercier's liturgical preface on prosody to his anthology in some ways is better than Arberry's which is expressed in the Introduction to his first or shorter version; The Koran.
In preliterary times, and especially before the invention of
the printing press, public recitation was the way most scriptures were taught
and memorized. Chanting was performed in a printless culture so that others
could hear the sacred text, and thus participate in "reading" it. We
should try to capture this effect again. Before the invention of the electric
light, the motion picture and other mechanical contrivances which entertain us
today, novels and scriptures were read in
Few musical instruments are mentioned in the Quran, only the
trumpet (assur) in 18:99 and bugle (an naqur) in 74:8. None are rhythmic or
percussive although some drums may have existed, and they are easy to
improvise. Much rhythm in the
The lilt of the Quranic style makes it easy to read and recite: "We have made the Quran easy to memorize" (54:17 ff). Rhymed prose meets the ear just as paragraphs, lines of verse and punctuation marks meet the eye in reading the printed page, In divine worship these indications become a part of ritual; the image or visual formulae are thus important. Worship means devotion, as this is seen in the verb to 'devote' oneself, to give a vow to, for it means to render the sort of 'service' which we find outlined in The Opening chapter of the Quran itself, the Fatiha (1:5): " You do we worship and You do we call on for help". The Universe moves on rhythm, which is part of its reality. Consciousness and the Unseen show that God is ineffable Intelligence, alaql: "Whenever We do read it, follow in its reading," we are told in 75:18, for the Quran has reached us in clear Arabic (12:23, 43:23 etc.).
The poetry of the early Muslims came from the Badu or Beduin, who had little formal culture or education; they preserved what their ancestors had taught them to remember in their great odes, even though the Prophet himself was declared not to be a poet, and rejected the term (52:29 and 69:41). Cadence and rhythm mold the phrase and sentence; God's hovering spirit can thus be sensed. Phonograph records, tapes or cassettes now help in learning to chant, either for listening or in order to learn the passage by heart; they provide the best contemporary way for the uninitiated to hear this art.
Any new reader, especially a fresh convert, needs to find the cadence when he is meeting this for the first time. For this reason, my translation has not been designed for memorizing but rather for reading from the printed page. The Quran is literally untranslatable: each time one returns to it, he finds new meanings and fresh ways of interpreting it; the messages are endless for it is a living Book.
If this is the first time that you are reading the Quran, then you may look for special passages to begin with. For instance, the first call to Muhammad comes in the chapter 96 called A lAlaq The Clot (or Read!) Here we find the beginning of that respect for reading and learning on which the later Islamic commonwealth was built up. His second call come at the beginning of alMudaththir The Man Wearing a Cloak 74, and is confirmed in alInshirah, Consolation 94: "Did We not relieve your breast for you?" These are the first thrilling words which God the Merciful spoke directly to His chosen messenger Muhammad. Then followed the commission heard in alAla Glory to your Lord in the Highest! 87. There is comfort for the Prophet during his trials in adDuha Morning Bright! 93, and more consolation in alKawthar Plenty 108. Two of Muhammad's visions appear at the beginning of anNajm The Star 53. He is told to reject alKafirun Disbelievers (or Atheists) in 109, and rebuttal of the charge of being a poet is found in 52:29. Muhammad clearly understood he was not one (36:69), although prophets are compared with ashShuara, Poets 26 in the chapter by that name, because of the inspiration which both receive.
Muslims do not need to "cantillate", but to read
the Quran reverently. A traditional method of reading our holy Book has been
built up for this purpose in Islamic countries; in
The inimitability or ijaz of the Quran is stated: "Do not make up an parables about God;" (16:74); one should never compare God wit anything. "No falsehood shall approach it from either in front of it or behind it" (41:40).
Layout and Editing
It need hardly be said that writing materials were scarce in
the ancient world, let alone in seventhcentury
The first collection of our sacred Text was possibly attempted by close companion and protégé Zayd ibnThabit; the Prophet's wifeHafsa is also mentioned as preserving much material, as is 'A'isha. The way in which the Prophet's wives were entrusted with the text is exemplary.
A committee was then set up to establish the canonical text
of the Quran by the third 'rightly guided" caliph or Successor to the
Prophet, 'Uthman ibnAffan. The commissioners worked at compiling the scattered
Quranic document during the years 650655. Once this task was finished and the
canon established, Uthman then gave one copy each to
The layout of my translation has been reached through a gradual process of trial and error which came chiefly so that I could locate significant material for myself, which I needed to refer to. Layout and editing are important just as ancient saj resembles the wild pigeon's broken cooing. Rhymed prose meets the ear, but since the invention of the printing press, it is punctuation and paragraphs that meet the reader's eye. Verse form and punctuation are both matters of literary structure; when the rhyme shifts in the Quran, it is shown roughly in this version by using different lines and paragraphs in English, so that the reader can achieve a similar rhythmic effect, especially for public reading or recitation.
Layout on the page may seem more important than rhyming today, for the eye rather than the ear is our contemporary instrument: "the blind and the sighted are not equal / nor are darkness and light" (35:1920). In the seventh century, and during the West European middle ages until the invention of the printing press and the growth of a general reading public, learning largely meant such oral training.
Further problems were those of paragraphing and capitalization so as to follow English usage. Straight adjectives which refer to the Deity are capitalized, as well as unique qualities or symbols like the Path, the Way, Truth and so on. All pronouns: We, He, You etc. representing the Deity are capitalized here, including their possessive form (His, Your, Our etc.) as occurs with other mention of the Deity. This use of capitals is employed to ensure a mood of reverence for the name and mention (dhikr) of God, especially with younger or nonMuslim readers thus the names of God, including the pronouns You and Your, He, Him and His etc., are kept distinct in this work.
Capital Roman numerals refer to one of the 30 moreorless equal PARTS into which the Quran has been traditionally divided for the purpose of continuous recitation. Lowercase Roman numerals refer to the SECTIONS into which each longer chapter is divided. I use the asterisk * to mark the beginning of a verse; two of these ** indicate the 5th, 10th etc. verses; triple asterisks *** show 100's.
Capital Roman numerals, placed in the upper inside corner of the page indicate the Part of the Quran; following this are numbers (Arabic and lowercase Roman) indicating the Section and Verse. This system has bee devised so that the Concordance, which in Sha Allah will follow with some 2000 pages, will provide easy reference for each page, without referring to future page numbers.
Marginal headings appear in the outside margin. The verse number for each 10th verse also appears. The Arabic names for chapter titles are to be found in the Table of Contents. Some titles are alternates even in the original Arabic, such as Quraysh or Winter for Chapter 106, with np parentheses; others are furthert possibilities or alternates in English translation like Eventide (or Nightfall) 103 because the Arabic word, Asr has been difficult to render convincingly. Parentheses here indicate the alternative.
Long and short vowels need to be distinguished in Arabic, as well a emphatic consonants. The use of digraphs like th, gh and dh may be deplored, but English already has them in ch, sh, th, ng etc. These emphatic consonants are d, dh (or z), and the occasional 1. Parentheses ( ) or socalled "round brackets" are used for implied statements, while "square" brackets [ ] are for elliptical insertions. Single quotation mark indicate direct translation from the Arabic: salih for 'honorable'; alRahim 'the Merciful'.
Also the system of underlining or the use of fonts should be explained. Italics have been saved for special emphasis, and especially with the Invocation: In the Name of God, the Mercygiving, the Merciful!; an blackface, or bold type is for Chapter titles (The Cow 2), (The House o Imran 3), etc., so these will be recognized as chapters and not as book titles. Blackface is also used for phrases with special importance. The use of hyphens must be more careful: IbnRushd, AbuBakr, Ibnkhaldun alaykum show pronouns and prefixes clearly for beginners and the amateur whom we have attracted to read this book. I am tired of reading student papers which talk of "Khaldun" and "Rushd" quite baldly, no realizing that this person, if he ever existed, is an ancestor or a symbolic concept, and that ibn and banii mean 'sons of' (like Mac, Mc in Celtic and abu means 'father (of)'. We need a style here that will make Quranic study valid and easier for our children and students.
SAY and SEE in small capitals denote God's own upcoming words an signs to the Prophet and to mankind. We also use NOTE and OR in the same small capitals for similar notations which are parallel.
An Index or Concordance will come later because it will consist o perhaps 2000 pages. I wish eventually to achieve a useful whole with note and an index for North American and Englishspeaking Muslims the world over. It should be a document one can read with pleasure and profit spiritual profit.
Translation as an Art
Finally we need some reflections on the art of translation: how does one use language, especially when it is the elevated expression of the Quran? Is it possible to render such lofty style into foreign tongue?
This new version of The Noble Reading which I am presenting has a serious purpose, which is to make its clear message available for the Englishspeaking world at the end of the twentieth Christian, or the beginning of the Islamic fifteenth century, which started in the last weeks Of 1980 A.D. This task is comparable to translating any great classic like Homer, Virgil, Quijote or Faust, since it involves a transfer of true literature into the medium of a parallel culture. It is a problem more for the quality which must be matched in English than for any inherent difficulty or obscurity in the text itself.
This present version is not addressed so much to scholars as to godly minds and especially to those who are growing up speaking English, and thus need a simple, clear text of the historic writ to guide them. The Qur)an itself says: "We have not sent any messenger unless he was to explain to them in his folk's own tongue" (14:i). For this reason, any attempt at translation has validity if each nation is to receive its message in its own language. It should be a document one can read, and it also, if possible, must offer a basis for ongoing research. We should respect the sacred text, yet interpret it accurately and reverently. This is not an intellectual game but has a serious purpose.
The Quran could be considered untranslatable, because each time one returns to the Arabic text, he finds new meanings and fresh ways of interpreting it. It is a living document. I have at all times tried to find the simplest word so the Muslim child can understand it easily, and thereby feel strengthened by it. Any translation which is to have a use in divine worship must be simple yet noble, and not overladen with higher criticism. No translation should confuse, but teach and make things holy; we do not need criticism so much as constructive explanation. I myself must remember to act as a Westerner before this document in order to keep its meaning from being blurred. It must be translated respectfully for our own worship, and so that we and others can understand its message. The forms of piety are important, as well as the thought and mood which they engender. In our faith this leads to direct contact with God, with no need of any intercession, a condition achieved through literal and moral purification, and through prayer.
The Islamic world is growing again, its centre is widening,
and Muslims everywhere, especially throughout the Englishspeaking part of it,
need a version of their Scripture they can confidently give to their children
as well as to friends who have not yet captured the full message of Islam. Our
aim is to give pride to young Englishspeaking Muslims in North America
especially, and also in
I have tried to be as objective as possible, but yet to
provide the basis for evaluation by Englishspeaking readers who know no Arabic.
This should make it usable so the intelligent person engaged in research can
quote the Quran in today's English. There is a necessity for an American
version in contemporary English, to help in the revival of the Quranic sciences
during the coming fifteenth century of the Hijra, and this must occur in the
Englishspeaking world. If my translation has any merit, it will simply be that
it is intended for North Americans, so young American and Canadian Muslims can
understand, when they are still teenagers or younger, what God told Muhammad
fourteen hundred years ago in Arabia, with no artifice or bombast, but in
clear, simple and I hope beautiful English. Otherwise our message will be lost
here in
It would be a waste of time at present to do any work on Sunday school materials until we have a good copy of the Quran we can trust. For this reason, several years ago I decided to dedicate time at the beginning of each morning to accomplishing this, so it would be done properly. This is the basic need for any propaganda in Islam on this continent, and until we have a version in good English, we will continue to read translations which evoke no reverence or beauty in the minds of the listeners.
We also need a good chapbook on prayers. Young American Muslims simply do not know their prayers, and that is the need in any "programmed learning" for Islam. But it must be done in Arabic, with the original text, in Romanized Arabic so those who cannot read the script can approximate the sound (and especially, avoid the dialectal variants one gets from Egyptian, Lebanese or Pakistani material), and again, a decent translation of the same into good English. This should be done with photos of the positions of prayer, and a tape recording of each of the individual prayers, not done in a hurry, but by a trained teacher with proper voicing of the material in Arabic, by a native speaker who reads the Quran and recites prayers well, at slow speed, then at normal speed, and chanted if that is necessary; but all done so that Sunday school students can learn from them, and even an untrained Sunday school teacher would be able to handle the tapes. The chapbook should be published in a dignified way.
Some direct problems of translation might bear discussion at this point. Through the original Arabic we learn what Muhammad was striving to express to his followers, but our problem is to catch how he might want this expressed for the people of today who speak English, and to translate it so that an intelligent and reverent American, especially in the teenage group, can grasp the message which the Prophet received fourteen centuries ago in Arabia. Most versions give one the sensation of being thrust upon the reader through the translator's own mentality and purpose, a failing I cannot avoid completely. However, anything translated must lie close to the heart of future generations of Englishspeaking Muslims. I do not want to render a traditional paraphrase, nor to make a display of erudition with so many notes that they will confuse the younger student; notes must be such that they will help even the random reader. One's language should be meaningful above all, and its beauty come forth from the meaning, using the English of today in all of its richness, with both our Germanic and Latin roots. Our texts have been vitiated, and higher criticism has not led many to the faith. However if the Arabic is clear (16:xiv, 26:xl), then why does it need to be worried over so intensely?
Most renditions have been so antiquated that they make the Quran and Islam appear to have little connection with living circumstances. Thus I have tried to avoid strictly Christian terms like 'infidel," "piety," "sin," etc., except where such are unavoidable. The Quran possesses a definite language and style which becomes clearer as one works along with it. One English word if possible should be chosen in all of its range of meaning for each Arabic concept, using roots that can be turned into adjectives, verbs, nouns or other grammatical forms based on it. This in fact is not a translation but a version, a modest tafsir for the Englishspeaking Muslim who has not been able to rely on Arabic for his meanings, and for sincere enquirers, those modern Hanifs who are tired of the trinity, or of chaos and confusion in matters religious. The carper should look elsewhere.
Let us hope therefore that this enterprise will lead us on into the triumphant fifteenth century of Islam, which is now upon us. Our religion is once more resurgent, and its message can be stated with full clarity. Muslims everywhere hold their fate in their own hands now, and it is their will that in the end will prevail. Once we have trained our children.
I would like to thank Professor Thomas A. Lathrop of the
October, 1985
1.
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This is the customary invocation used in Islamic ceremonies of all kinds, and it forms a true prayer, occupying somewhat the same place in Islam as the Lord's prayer does with Christians. The chapter is often said to contain the "essence" of the Quran, and in 15:VI it is called the "Seven Oft Repeated Verses."
In the name of God, the Mercy-giving, the Merciful!
Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe,
the Mercygiving, the Merciful!
Ruler on the Day for Repayment!
You do we worship and You do we call on for help.
Guide us along the
the road of those whom You have favored,
with whom You are not angry,
nor who are lost!
2.
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Because the chapter is quite long, it continues through two and a half of the thirty Parts into which the Quran is traditionally divided, and comprises more than one-tenth of the whole text of the holy Book.
In the name of God, the Mercy-giving, the Merciful!
A.L.M.
This is the Book which contains no doubt; it means guidance for those who do their duty who believe in the Unseen, keep up prayer, and spend something from whatever We have provided them with;
who believe in what has been sent down to you as well as what was sent down before you,
While they are convinced about the Hereafter; such people hold on to guidance from their Lord; those will be successful.
It is all the same whether you warn those who disbelieve or do not warn them; they still will not believe: God has sealed off their hearts and their hearing, while over their sight there hangs a covering; they will have severe torment.
Some people say: "We believe in God and the Last Day," while they are not believers. They would like to deceive God and those who believe, while they merely outwit themselves and do not even notice it! Their hearts contain malice so God has increased their [share of] malice. They will have painful torment because they have been lying.
Whenever someone tells them: "Don't act so depraved on earth," they say: "We are only improving matters!" They are indeed mischief makers, but they are not aware of it. When someone tells them: "Believe just as other people believe," they say: "Are we to believe just as simpletons believe?" Surely they are the fools even though they do not realize it!
Whenever they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe;' while once they go off alone with their ringleaders, they say: "We are with you; we were only joking!" God will joke with them and let them go on acting arrogantly in their blind fashion! Those are the ones who have purchased error at the price of guidance, while their bargain does not profit them nor have they been guided.
They may be compared to someone who kindles a fire, and once it lights up whatever lies around him, God takes away their light and leaves them in darkness. They do not see: deaf, dumb and blind will never respond!
Or to a raincloud from the sky containing darkness, Thunder and lightning; they stick their fingers in their ears to ward off death of the thunderclaps, for God will soon be rounding up disbelievers Lightning almost snatches their sight away: each time it lights things up for them, they walk along in it, while when darkness settles down on them, they stand stockstill. If God wanted, He would take away their hearing and eyesight; God is capable of everything!
Mankind, worship your Lord Who created you as well as those before you, so that you may do your duty! [He is] the One Who has made the earth a carpet for you and had the sky built above you, and sent water to pour down from the sky and brought forth fruit by means of it as sustenance for you. Do not set up rivals for God while you know [better].
If you (all) are in any doubt about what We have sent down to Our servant, then bring a chapter like it and call in your witnesses besides God if you are so truthful. If you do not-and you will never do so-then heed the Fire which has been prepared for disbelievers whose fuel is mankind and stones! Proclaim to those who believe and perform honorable deeds that they will have gardens through which rivers flow. Each time they are provided with fruits from it for their sustenance, they will say: "This is what we were provided with before!" They will be given similar things and have clean-living spouses there. They will live in it for ever!
God does not hesitate to compare things to a mosquito nor to anything bigger than it. Those who believe realize that it is the Truth from their Lord, while those who disbelieve say: "What does God want in such a comparison?" He lets so many go astray through it, and guides many by means of it. Yet only immoral persons are led astray by it! Those who break God's covenant after they have pledged to keep it, and sever whatever God has ordered to be joined, and act depraved on earth, will be the losers. How can you disbelieve in God when you once were dead and He furnished you with life? Soon He will let you die once more, then bring you back to life again; then unto Him will you return! He is the One Who has created everything that is on earth for you; then He soared up to Heaven and perfected it as seven heavens. He is Aware of everything!
So when your Lord told the angels: "I am placing an overlord on earth", they said: "Will You place someone there who will corrupt it and shed blood, while we hymn Your praise and sanctify You?" He said: "I know something you do not know."
He taught Adam all the names of everything; then presented them to the angels, and said: "Tell me the names of these if you are so truthful." They said: "Glory be to You; we have no knowledge except whatever You have taught us. You are the Aware, the Wise!" He said: "Adam, tell them their names."
Once he had told them their names, He said: "Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen in Heaven and Earth? I know whatever you disclose and whatever you have been hiding."
So We told the angels: "Bow down on your knees before Adam." They [all] knelt down except for Diabolis. He refused and acted proudly, and became a disbeliever.
We said: 'Adam, settle down in the Garden, both you and your wife, and eat freely from it anywhere either of you may wish. Yet do not approach this tree lest you become wrongdoers."
Satan made them stumble over it and had them both expelled from where they had been [living]. We said: "Clear out! Some of you will [become] enemies of others. You will have a resting place on earth a enjoyment for a while."
Adam received words [of inspiration] from his Lord and he turned towards Him. He is the Relenting, the Merciful!
We said: 'Clear out from it together! If you should be hand guidance from Me, then anyone who follows My guidance will have fear nor will they be saddened; while those who disbelieve and reject Our signs will become inmates of the Fire; they shall remain in it!
Children of
Keep up prayer, pay the welfare tax, and worship along with those who bow their heads. Are you ordering people to be virtuous while forgetting it yourselves, even as you recite the Book? Will you not use you reason?
Seek help through patience and prayer, since it is exacting except for the submissive who assume they will meet their Lord, and that they will return to Him.
Children of
So you said: "Moses, we will never believe in you until we see God openly," the Thunderbolt caught you while you were (all) looking on. Then We raised you up after you had died so that you might act grateful; We spread the clouds out to shade you, and sent down manna and quail for you: 'Eat some of the good things which We have provided you with!" They did not harm Us, but it was themselves whom they harmed.
So We said: "Enter this town and eat wherever you may wish in it at your leisure. Enter the gate [walking] on your knees and say: 'Relieve us!" We will forgive you your mistakes and give even more to those who kindly. Yet those who do wrong altered the Statement to something than what had been told them, so We sent a blight down from Heaven on those who did wrong since they had acted so immorally.
Thus Moses looked for something for his people to drink, and said: "Strike the rock with your staff!'; so twelve springs gushed forth fro it. Each group of people knew its drinking spot: "Eat and drink from Go provisions, and do not cause any havoc on earth, as if you were mischief-makers."
When you said: "Moses, we'll never stand one [kind of] food! Appeal to your Lord to produce whatever the earth will grow for us, such as vegetables and cucumbers, and its garlic, lentils and onions;" He said: "Do you want to exchange something commonplace for something that better?" Settle in some city to get what you have asked for!' Humiliation and poverty beat them down and they incurred anger from God. That was because they had disbelieved in God's signs and killed the prophets without having any right to. That happened because they disobeyed and had act so defiant.
Those who believe and those who are Jews, Christians and Sabeans, [in fact] anyone who believes in God and the Last Day, and acts honorably will receive their earnings from their Lord: no fear will lie upon them nor need they feel saddened. Thus we have made an agreement with you and raised the Mountain over you: "Hold firmly to what We have brought you and remember what it contains, so that you may do your duty;" while later on you turned away, and if God's bounty and His mercy had not [rested] upon you, you would have turned out to be losers! Yet you knew which of you had been defiant on the Sabbath, so We told them: "Become apes, rejected!" We set them up as an illustration of what had come before them and what would come after them, and as a lesson for the heedful.
When Moses told his folk: "God commands you to sacrifice a cow," they said: "Do you take us for a laughingstock?" He said: "I seek refuge with God lest I become so ignorant!" They said: "Appeal to your Lord for us, to explain to us what she is."
He said: "He says she is neither a worn-out cow, nor a heifer, but of an age in between. Do as you are ordered!" They said: "Appeal to your Lord for us, to explain to us what color she is." He said: "He says that she is a bright yellow cow. Her color gladdens those who look at her." They said: "Appeal to your Lord for us, to explain to us what she is like. Cows seem all alike to us and we should be guided properly, if God so wishes." He said: "He says that she is a cow which has not yet been broken in to plow the earth nor to irrigate any crops; she is sound and has no blemish on her." They said: "Now you are telling the Truth!", and they slaughtered her though they almost had not done so.
When You killed a soul and quarreled over it, God was bound to bring forth whatever you had hidden. We said: "Strike him with some part of it." Thus God revives the dead and shows you His signs so you ma use your reason. Even after that your hearts were hardened and became stony, and even harder yet, for there are some stones which rivers gush out of and there are others which water comes forth from when they split open and there are still others which collapse out of awe for God. God is no oblivious of what you are doing!
Are you so keen for them to believe for your own sake while group of them have already heard God's word? Then they tamper with it once they have studied it, and they realize it. Whenever they meet with those who believe, they say: "We believe!", while when some of them go off privately with one another, they say: "Will you report something to the which God has disclosed to you, so they may dispute with you about it in the presence of your Lord? Don't you use your reason?" Do they not realize that God knows anything they hide and anything they display?Some of them are illiterate and do not know the Book except to say "Amen" [to it]. They are merely guessing. It will be too bad for those who write the Book down in their own hand[writing], then say: "This is from God!", so they may sell it for a paltry price. It will be too bad for them because of what their hands have written. Too bad for whatever the earn! They say: "The Fire will only touch us for several days."
SAY: "Have you taken it on oath from God? God never breaks Hi word. Or are you saying something about God which you really do no know?" Rather anyone who commits evil will find his mistake will he him in; those will become inmates of the Fire; they will remain in it for ever. Those who believe and perform honorable deeds will be inhabit ants of the Garden; they will live in it for ever.
Thus We made an agreement with the Children of Israel: "You shall serve God Alone, and treat your parents kindly, and [also] near relatives orphans and the needy, and say kind things to [other] people, and keep up prayer and pay the welfare tax"; then you turned away and except for few of you, you avoided doing anything. So We made an agreement with you: "You must not shed your own blood, nor drive one another out of your homes;" then you ratified this and were witnesses [for it]. Then there you go killing one another and driving a group of you from their homes, backing one another up against them out of sin and enmity. If the are brought to you as prisoners, you ransom them, while it has been forbidden for you even to expel them!
Do you believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in another part of it? What reward has anyone of you who does so, except disgrace during worldly life, while on Resurrection Day they will be driven off to the harshest torment? God does not overlook anything you do! Those are the ones who purchase worldly life instead of the Hereafter; punishment will not be lightened for them nor will the be supported.
We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with messengers later on. We gave Jesus the son of Mary evidence and assisted him with the Holy Spirit. Yet every time some messenger comes to you with what you yourselves do not fancy, why do you act so overbearing? One group you have rejected while another group you would [like to] kill.
They said: "Our hearts are covered over." Rather God has cursed them because of their disbelief; little do they believe. Whenever a Book has come to them from God to confirm what they already have-whereas previously they had been seeking victory over those who disbelieve-so whenever something they can recognize is brought to them, they disbelieve go in it. God's curse lies on disbelievers! How wretchedly have they sold their own souls by disbelieving in what God has sent down to them, begrudging that God should send down some of His bounty on any of His servants He may wish. They have brought an exchange of anger for anger on themselves; disbelievers will have shameful torment. Whenever someone tells them: "Believe in what God has sent down;" they say: "We