The Qur'an, a masterpiece of immense religious and literary value, is presented in a convenient, affordable edition for a new generation of readers. The earliest known work in Arabic prose, the Qur'an is divided into 114 "suras", or chapters, containing the religious, social, civil, commercial, military, and legal codes of Islam.
The Koran (Dover Thrift Editions)
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Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.
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The Qur'an, a masterpiece of immense religious and literary value, is presented in a convenient, affordable edition for a new generation of readers. The earliest known work in Arabic prose, the Qur'an is divided into 114 "suras", or chapters, containing the religious, social, civil, commercial, military, and legal codes of Islam.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By H. Schneider
Format:Paperback
I always wanted to read the Koran/Quran, but never could make up my mind which translation to choose. All are attacked by somebody for different reasons. So in the end I chose at random: standing in a bookshop waiting for my wife to make up her mind on something else, I noticed this edition in front of my nose and thought, what the heck, why not.
Not sure it was a good idea.
Rodwell first published his translation in 1861, and it appears as if he deliberately wrote in an even older style to make the book sound approximately like a King James Bible, which may not be ideal.
He had the innovative idea to re-arrange the text by chronology of its writing, which has probably lots of merits on terms of Islamology, but confuses the reader who is used to a different arrangement from the official versions. The official version have the convincing principle of arranging the text pieces by length. I am sure your computer could come up with a half dozen equally logical arrangements, but in the end, what should decide is convention. After all, this is supposed to be a translation.
The editor of the newly published Rodwell text put it back into the right order, so this is a 'normalized' Rodwell Koran. Jones kept Rodwell's original endnotes, give or take some, but had to re-arrange them with the Sura sequence too, of course. Jones claims that Rodwell's translation stood the test of time, but that his introduction did not, so Jones provides his own brief one about the times and the text and the prophet. Usefull.
Now to Rodwell's language: I keep hearing praises about the poetic beauty of the Arabic text. Honestly, Rodwell lost that aspect out of sight entirely. There is no poetry here.
Jones asserts that otherwise the translation stood the test of time. Actually that is discouraging if it is true. One of my AFs recommended other translations to me. Ok, I' ll give the benefit of doubt and try one of those.
Not sure it was a good idea.
Rodwell first published his translation in 1861, and it appears as if he deliberately wrote in an even older style to make the book sound approximately like a King James Bible, which may not be ideal.
He had the innovative idea to re-arrange the text by chronology of its writing, which has probably lots of merits on terms of Islamology, but confuses the reader who is used to a different arrangement from the official versions. The official version have the convincing principle of arranging the text pieces by length. I am sure your computer could come up with a half dozen equally logical arrangements, but in the end, what should decide is convention. After all, this is supposed to be a translation.
The editor of the newly published Rodwell text put it back into the right order, so this is a 'normalized' Rodwell Koran. Jones kept Rodwell's original endnotes, give or take some, but had to re-arrange them with the Sura sequence too, of course. Jones claims that Rodwell's translation stood the test of time, but that his introduction did not, so Jones provides his own brief one about the times and the text and the prophet. Usefull.
Now to Rodwell's language: I keep hearing praises about the poetic beauty of the Arabic text. Honestly, Rodwell lost that aspect out of sight entirely. There is no poetry here.
Jones asserts that otherwise the translation stood the test of time. Actually that is discouraging if it is true. One of my AFs recommended other translations to me. Ok, I' ll give the benefit of doubt and try one of those.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The translation used for this edition--that of the Reverend J.M. Rodwell--is at once both beautiful and infuriating. On the one hand, Rodwell has worked very hard to render the Koran in suitably dignified English. However, in the process, he has completely destroyed the subtleties and poetic feel of the original Arabic in favor of a more "biblical" approach.
This edition of Rodwell's translation also preserves his reordering of the chapters according to chronological order. This results in the book feeling much more fragmented than it should. Also, the press used to create this edition is exceedingly old and uses an outdated typeface.
Finally, Rodwell's footnotes are clearly an attempt of a Christian scholar to refute the Koran, and are as a whole essentially useless. This translation is hardly worth paying for today, with so many other excellent renderings of the Koran in English (Dawood, A. Yusuf Ali, Haleem, CLEARY).
In short, pass up this outdated work--there are many finer English Korans out there.
This edition of Rodwell's translation also preserves his reordering of the chapters according to chronological order. This results in the book feeling much more fragmented than it should. Also, the press used to create this edition is exceedingly old and uses an outdated typeface.
Finally, Rodwell's footnotes are clearly an attempt of a Christian scholar to refute the Koran, and are as a whole essentially useless. This translation is hardly worth paying for today, with so many other excellent renderings of the Koran in English (Dawood, A. Yusuf Ali, Haleem, CLEARY).
In short, pass up this outdated work--there are many finer English Korans out there.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Ky. Col.
Format:Paperback
This summer, I have been on somewhat of a religious journey (not replacing my own Christian faith but just wanting to learn more about other religions). Happily, I found a translation of the Koran (Qur'an) as I was curious to learn about Islam from its own religious text. I should admit that I'm not a scholar on Islam or on the Middle East. As I can't read Arabic, I wouldn't know just how precise any translation is. That said, the reading was an interesting experience. His introduction and historical/textural commentaries were interesting as well. Rodwell was not a Muslim and his application of textural criticism and historical layering to the Koran may offend Muslims, especially if they regard the book as "perfect." Overall, an interesting experience.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad tranlation
The Koran (Bantam Classic)I bought this version of translation out of curiosity. i have read the Holy Quran few times. After leafing through this book, i came to Sura (chapter) 30. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Hoss
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Scholar's Translation
Since I do not know arabic I cannot judge the accuracy of Rodwell's translation. However, due to the translator's copious notes I WAS able to understand the historical context in... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Scott Foster
2.0 out of 5 stars
This edition is flawed on a number of levels.
Feeling like I was adrift in a sea of choices for a translation, I ended up buying this specific edition mostly on the basis of cost, but also because of its explanatory notes. Read more
Published on November 23, 2006 by Joel S. Peters
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Koran (Everyman Paperback Classics)
For my first look at the Koran, I chose this book because of the price and the Everyman reputation. However I cannot recommend this translation to any one. Read more
Published on November 28, 1999 by Sushma Kaur
4.0 out of 5 stars
Among the best out there.
To translate the Quran is an almost impossible task. The beauty of the Arabic language and the complexity of the text makes it very difficult to convey in english. Read more
Published on March 23, 1999 by C. Bishop
