The Holy Qur'an: English Translation and Commentary [Hardcover]

Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 1995

Every endeavour has been made and steps have been taken, as far as humanly possible, to avoid any error in this Holy Quar'an. In spite of this, there is likelihood of errors, having inadvertenly been overlooked, to err is human.

The readers are earnestly requested that, in case they come across any errors, they will please point these out to us so that these may be corrected.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1854 pages
• Publisher: Kazi Pubns Inc (October 25, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9694320909
• ISBN-13: 978-9694320908
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Quran

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5 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ali does a great job, April 19, 2006

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ALBERT LAWRENCE "ALBERT LAWRENCE" (NORFOLK, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holy Qur'an: English Translation and Commentary (Hardcover)

Ali provides great notes which give the historical event the Qur'an relates events recently done by people and addressed by the Prophet. A very few non-specific words tell of a recent victory whereafter many were killed and others spared. (Sura 33: 26 and following)) Ali in his notes (notes 3701 and following)gives the circumstance: Jews, having supported enemies of the Prophet, were by forced "agreement" to be judged by an erstwhile friend, who used a method following the Torah, all persons- men, women,children in close-by areas were to be killed and in areas more distant the men would be killed and the women sold into slavery. Ali notes that the punishment was too mild, expressing his own opinion.

The story of Korah (Numbers 16) is re-told changing the name to Qarun (Sura 28:76-82) but essentially identical in both Holy Books. Korah/Qarun opposes Moses on the way to the Promised Land and is swollowed with his supporters by the earth and all die. In both books the opposer of Moses is arrogant, but the Bible states his claim to equality to Moses as one of the Chosen People. The Qur'an version can be read in many ways, as the Prophet as Moses and apostates (with one foot in the Prophet's camp and one foot in his enemies' camps, (see Sura 47:25 for this vire of the apostate)with the apostates destroyed; a painting in a Bernard Lewis book shows a Persian as Moses and a Western-dressed (18th century) Qurun about to be destroyed. Moses can represent tradition or authority and Qarun the new or untested. However, the Qur'an version cannot relate the only actual original meaning because the substance that supplies the Hebrew meaning, rules of the Torah, are mostly omitted by the Prophet. Korah thinks he is "Chosen" by God and he may remain Chosen but be passive, opposed to being active and obedient to the laws based on the Jewish notion of God, the joining of logic, natural law, economomics and justice with the Ethic of Judaism, that action is required and the "Good" is the long-term power increase of the Jewish people and "sin" is that which does not promote this ling-term power interest. All this that supplies the meat of the Hebrew meaning of the story is omitted from the Qur'an. In Qur'an God kills Qarun because God loves Moses; in the Bible God kills Korah because the Jewish people for countless generations would not be served: There is nothing metaphysical, nor is it based on God's friendship with Moses. The rules of Torah, not Moses, are important. In Qur'an the story is metaphysical and based directly upon the God-Moses relationship.

Ali relates the story of Solomon and a Queen identified with the biblical Queen of Sheba--Solomon calls all the birds to come to him, but one bird is late and tells him of the Queen. Solomon tells the bird to take her a message, etc. Ali says that the story seems something out of Arabian Nights and rejects the story as poetry. Ali also has no trouble taking the seven days of creation as poetry.

The Jewish Torah (Livit. and Deut.) forbids a Jew's owning another Jew as a slave. It was not effectively enforced until about the first century C.E. The Qur'an has no such negative commandment. Islam did develop the limitation on slavery after many years.

Qur'an repeatedly says that this life is of little significance,
quite in contrast with the Chosen concept of the Jews. Qur'an encourages suicide attack upon enemies to avoid God's wrath.(Sura 33: 13 and following)

In the story of Lot (Lut in Qur'an), his wife turns to salt for looking back (consideration of the past emotionally and in decision making). In Qur'an she turn to salt, but because she lagged behind, showing disrespect to her husband. (Note 3454, Sura 29:32).

In contrast to the Jewish Bible, which teaches the methods of logical thought, Qur'an orders that believers not think on their own, but do as the Prophet says. (Sura 33:36)

The Qur'an does not teach that cutting out the woman's organs of sexual pleasure is to be done. The tradition appears to have been perpetuated by the Prophet in his "sayings". The Prophet's marriage to a six year old girl is not mentioned in Qur'an, but in an Hadith (Saying of Prophet and company) attributed to the widow.

Qur'an outlaws infanticide. Qur'an allows women to inherit property, contrary to the law of Entail, which Thomas Jefferson wrote against.

Ali likens the beauty of Qur'an in Arabic to the poetry of Keats,

Qur'an holds that Jesus Son of Mary was born of a virgin (Mary is one of the four "perfect women" of Islam) by the will of God.
The Prophet states repeatedly that Jesus was not "begotten" which signifies God had no sex with Mary. Few if any of today's Christian groups hold that The Father actually had sex with Mary. Qur'an holds that Jesus was taken into heaven by God, another suffering the "Passion" or just pain. The Prophet considers vicarious atonement for sins an abomination, a view in essence that held by Jews, though "sin" has very different meanings in the three religions. Qur'an holds that Jesus was sent by God for "confirmation of the Law that had come before him," not to the religion that exists. (Sura 5: 46-47)

The transportation of the Prophet from the Great Mosque to the "furthest" Mosque (taken to be in Jerusalem) is just mentioned at Sura 17:1. Ali tells us that most Islamic commentaries have it as a physical transportation, though Ali did not himself have this belief.