Customer Reviews

The Qur'an: English translation and Parallel Arabic text

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I ordered this translation to read and compare it alongside other English translations. This translation was published in 2010 and because it is a recent translation, it is written in contemporary English for the English-speaking audience. Even though I also like Pickthal and Yusuf Ali's translation but because they use Old English words, their translation creates a barrier between the text and the reader.

In the Introduction, the author also provides a very brief history of Islam, how the Quran was revealed to the Seal of the Prophets, style or language of the Quran, and select bibliography for further reading and understanding of the Quran. This makes it a perfect gift for anyone who knows little about Islam and wants to learn about it through its most authoritative book - the Quran.

I do not like personal commentary on the Quran and mixing Hadiths with the Quranic text. That is why I try to avoid those translations that have half-page long footnotes, thus adding their own words to the Divine Text. Though this translation also provides footnotes, the main difference between this translator's approach and others (when it comes to footnotes) is that these footnotes only reference other similar verses from the Quran itself without mingling Hadiths and other opinions.

As with all other translations, this one does not completely substitute the original Arabic revealed 14 centuries ago. So it is important that anyone who seriously wants to study the Quran should learn the Arabic of the Quran. Therefore, I also recommend Quranic dictionaries.

This is my first time reading the Qur'an, but I wanted a nicely bound English edition to go along with my other leather Bibles and Tanach. This Qur'an by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem fit the bill.

It is wrapped in green leather with gold foil on the covers and gold edging on the pages. It includes a black ribbon marker to keep your place.

The translation itself is very modern and easy to read, which I appreciate. Mr. Haleem included footnotes to explain things in the text (some of which were more helpful than others), as well as including an introduction to each Sura to indicate whether it was a Meccan or Medinan Sura, as well as the general circumstances going on at the time of the revelation.

One prior reviewer commented that Mr. Haleem blunted the anti-western slant of some of the verses. It does seem that to some extent, he does in fact either avoid confrontational language or try to explain away some of the harshness due to circumstances. I don't read Arabic, so I have no idea whether this is legitimate or not.

At any rate, this is about the most beautiful English Qur'an I've seen and I am very glad to add it to my library.

[Edit] It's been a while now since I have posted this review, and feel I can further comment on the other reviewer's criticism of Mr. Haleem's pro-Western stance.

After studying and comparing multiple Qur'anic translations, it is apparent that even within the Islamic world, certain phrases in Arabic can convey multiple meanings due to the nature of the Arabic language. Some translators follow more Western friendly interpretations than others, but really, I think the issue is properly focused on what the likely intended meaning was - some interpretations are certainly more "noble" than others. In other words, I do not believe Mr. Haleem or any of the translations I have read set out with the idea of selling the Qur'an to the West - any differences appear to be legitimate theological/linguistic disagreements.

I have now read at least 6 different translations of the Qur'an, including some modern intentionally revisionist copies, and I still come back to Mr. Haleem's translation. It has some interpretations I disagree with, but is that any different than choosing the NKJV Bible over the NIV? Mr. Haleem has rendered the Qur'an in the most readable yet beautiful English translation and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

THIS HOLY BOOK IS BEAUTIFUL LOOKING...THE INSIDES PROVIDE THAT OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC WRITING SO WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE PRACTICEING ISLAM or just intrested in it,all reading it can understand...it arrived in one day time and was carefully wrapped....I ALREADY HAVE READ IT AND I'AM ALSO ENJOYING MY NEW LEARNING EXPERIENCE...THANKYOU!!

I bought the Qur'an translation so that I could find out first hand which paragraphs could lead to the violence being perpetrated by Muslim extremists in the name of their religion.

Strangely, after reading and examining carefully every paragraph of the book and finding not a single paragraph that could so misinterpreted, I determined that the translator, M.A.S.Abdel Haleem, must have made certain that those paragraphs were either omitted or translated in such a way as to make them totally innocuous.

If this is, in fact, a true translation of the Qur'an then the Muslim terrorists must be reading some other book.