The Koran [Mass Market Paperback]

John Medows Rodwell (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 1993

An immensely important work for Muslims and anyone interested in studying world religions, THE KORAN, the holy scripture of Islam, is the record of Muhammad's teaching. Like the Bible, the influence of the Koran on the world is incalculable. But it is deep and ongoing. This accessible translation and convenient size is perfect for prayer or study.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

An immensely important work for Muslims and anyone interested in studying world religions, THE KORAN, the holy scripture of Islam, is the record of Muhammad's teaching. Like the Bible, the influence of the Koran on the world is incalculable. But it is deep and ongoing. This accessible translation and convenient size is perfect for prayer or study.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (February 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804111251
• ISBN-13: 978-0804111256
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,954,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tough work, July 19, 2008

By 

H. Schneider "Hamlet" (Pandistan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Koran (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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Learning Experience, July 19, 2008

By 

Ky. Col. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Koran (Everyman's Library (Paper)) (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.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacking in many ways, August 20, 2006

By 

kelsie - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Koran (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

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.