The Essential Koran: The Heart of Islam [Paperback]

Thomas Cleary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 1994

THOMAS CLEARY is the pre-eminent translator of Buddhist and Taoist texts, including 'The Essential Tao', 'The Essential Confucius', 'The Secret of the Golden Flower', and the best-selling 'The Art of War'.

"For Muslims the whole of the Qur'an is

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This collection of readings from the Quran is designed to help non-Muslim Westerners approach this sacred book and savor something of its amazing power through a selection of chapters and verses encapsulating some of its central ideas and essential beauties. A "rosary of readings and recitations," the excerpts chosen represent the "six aims" of the Quran (which range from knowledge of God to refutations of unbelievers' arguments), all of which point to the need for intelligent, considered faith in order for humans to come to a true knowledge of God. The selections, from hymns of praise to calls for compassion toward the most needy, reveal the majesty and poetry of this extraordinary text while illuminating its spiritual lessons. Cleary's graceful translation makes the ancient verses clear and accessible to the modern reader:

Worship nothing but God;
be good to your parents and relatives,
and to the orphan and the poor.
Speak nicely to people,
be constant in prayer,
and give charity.

The excellent linguistic notes, which Cleary calls an intrinsic part of the translation itself, amplify the meanings of untranslatable words through reference to their Arabic roots and related derivatives. The book is a first-rate introduction for non-Muslims both to the beauty of the Quran and to the core teachings of Islam, which have too often been misrepresented or misunderstood in the West. --Uma Kukathas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco (March 11, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062501984
• ISBN-13: 978-0062501981
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Quran

More About the Author

Thomas Cleary is the preeminent translator of classic Eastern texts, including The Essential Tao, The Essential Confucius, The Secret of the Golden Flower, and the bestselling The Art of War.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muslim approval, February 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essential Koran (Hardcover)

I am a Muslim who has read several different English translations of the Qur'an; I find this one unmatched in articulation, beauty, and accessibility.

Cleary departs from the standard of English translations written in some funky Olde English style, and attempts to capture the rythms and eloquent poetic descriptions found only in the original Arabic.

The Qur'an is an extraordinary literary masterpiece; I have never seen an English translation even attempt to hint at revealing that essential appealing style.

The introduction to the book is thorough and a pleasure to read.

If you are tired of incomprehensible translations, I highly recommend this one.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Words of the prophet, May 4, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Essential Koran (Hardcover)

In this continuation of the Essentials series, Thomas Cleary presents a basic introduction to the Koran.

Koran (Qur'an, in some transliterations) literally means 'reading' or 'recitation'. According to Islamic tradition, the Koran is a spiritually revealed book, in the way Torah was revealed to Moses or the Gospel message was revealed to Jesus. Connecting to these earlier voices of the same God, the Koran also serves as a clarifier, a standard. The prophet Muhammad, born about year 570, orphaned early, led a fairly unremarkable life until about age 40, when he had a revelation, which his wife was perhaps first to recognise.

This is a work in English; it is an article of faith among Muslims that the Koran cannot be truly translated into any language apart from the classical Arabic in which it was revealed. There is a fundamental difference between Arabic (or, more precisely, semitic) language and western languages. While all of the Koran is sacred for Muslims, there are portions which are more understandable and accessible to the Western reader; Cleary has assembled these together here.

`Arabic, most precise and primitive of the Semitic languages, shows signs of being originally a constructed language. It is built up upon mathematical principles--a phenomenon not paralleled by any other language.'

Given this view of the language, there are extensive notes throughout Cleary's translation to try to clarify some of the linguistic elements that are lost in translation.

`In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

All praise belongs to God,
Lord of all worlds,
the Compassionate, the Merciful,
Ruler of Judgment Day.

It is You that we worship,
and to You we appeal for help.
Show us the straight way,
the way of those You have graced,
not of those on whom is Your wrath,
nor of those who wander astray.'

This is the opening of the Koran.

The Koran and Islamic tradition holds that there have been 128,000 prophets, who have in their turn revealed 104 Books. The Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel and the Koran are the four most important books according to the Muslim point of view. Theologically, Islam is not exclusionist, and recognises the validity of revelation that has come before (even if not recognising that current practice retains the authority of that validity).

As a priest, I recall the lines

`People of the Book,
do not go to excess
in your religion,
and do not say of God
anything but truth.'

The prophet Muhammad would get irritated if a prayer leader would stretch things out to the discomfort of the attenders.

`The Messiah
does not disdain
to be a servant of God,
and neither do the intimate angels.
As for those who disdain
the worship of God
and who aggrandize themselves,
God will gather
all of them up.'

In the search for pure truth, the Koran gives insight.

`Say,
"It is God, Unique,
God the Ultimate.
God does not reproduce
and is not reproduced.
And there is nothing at all
equivalent to God."'

Philosophy, history, sometimes confusing but mystically-deepening insights are all presented here. Cleary mostly allows the text of the Koran to stand for itself, without analysis, to allow the spirit to speak directly to the reader. More commentary and historical grounding for the non-Muslim reader would be nice

Various parts of the Koran were revealed in different places, and Cleary takes account of this in his organisation. Also, headings allow one to follow lines of thought, but it sometimes takes some real study and meditation to figure out the connexions.

Spend some time with these writings, and approach it with an open mind and heart, holding fast to your own beliefs, to see what new light might be shed upon them.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Leaves one wanting..., March 24, 2000

By 

L. Byron - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Koran (Hardcover)

Perhaps a good book for those remotely interested in the Koran, but no use for classwork. And to those who have a yen for completion, it will be frustratingly incomplete. Its 202pp is a significant truncation, cf., Dawood's Penguin translation at 437pp. And these are a short 202pp, being written in a verse format leaving vast amounts of white on the right margin. So it's probably only 100pp or less of actual text. For an introduction, it may not be bad, but you can buy a 'real' complete Koran for less money -- which you will probably want to buy after reading Cleary in any event. I'd save myself the trouble and money (and perhaps some intellectual shame: imagine getting caught with 'Selected sections of the Bible') and purchase a complete translation. The Koran is important enough to read cover to cover, although, I must admit, this is a bit of a chore.