Customer Reviews

The Quran

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aan elegant translation of an elegant script. Although it is difficult to transfer the full sense of arabic to any other language because of depth and breadth of the language, author has done an excellent job. Good for English readers who want to know the sense of Quran. A must have.

Good points: The translation is a running translation so those who are foreign to Islam or Quran and Arabic idiom, should buy this one. Zafarulla Khan has done a fabulous job at translation and brining Quran to western readers. The translation has a brief introduction to the beliefs of Islam as supported from the Quran. This is what I like the best, especially for giving to my non-muslim friends, since in one book you can give them a synopsis of the teachings of Islam as well as its Sacred Text. The translation has a good index, for easy reference.

Other Considerations: The translation is in line with the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and the beliefs expressed therein are the more recent interpretations of the Sacred Text. Some people (especially those who dislike the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam) may not like that! But I believe that for these times, a modern interpretation is more important than classical ones, which obviously were more appropriate for the "classical" times. Zafrulla Khan's command on Arabic and English Language, as well as religion, is proven beyond doubt, so you can be certain that whatever he is writing does have its support in the language and faith.

Would not recommend for research purposes. The English translation goes paragraph by paragraph, so delineation between exact verse numbers is not so clear. This has been done (as explained in the preface as well) to better address the non-arabic western audience, so that they do not get lost in the technicalities of translation.

This is a great translation of the Holy Quran and is very, very accessible (though, at times, it seems that accessibility is preferred over closeness of meaning to the Arabic source).

Unfortunately, there's no navigable table of contents which makes navigating from chapter to chapter a real pain. If the publisher is reading this review, can they please update the book to provide a clickable TOC so that one can navigate to a chapter of his choice directly from the TOC.

I've taken out two stars because absence of a navigable TOC literally renders it useless unless you're planning on starting at the first page and reading your way through to the end.

This translation of the Koran is done by an international diplomat with a great deal of life experience. His life wisdom has helped him render the Koran into very direct, polished and meaningful English prose for those of us who cannot read the Arabic written on the other half of the pages. I really enjoy Zafrulla Khan's work, since his style is one admirable and worthy of emulation in one's own communications, rather than (like many other translations) a brutal attempt to hack English into Arabic-sized and shaped bits. Khan has written in paragraphs rather than verses, making it all very easy to follow, and lucidly clear.

It is no shame not to be able to read the Koran in the original Arabic, since the vast majority of Muslims cannot do so themselves, but it is certainly meaningful to have the Arabic next to the English. By having it there, it makes the book THE Koran, rather than ONLY a translation into English of it.

As Khan writes in his preface, there are a great deal of things to be learned from the Koran, and the book is a highly educational read, even if at the bare minimum we are only interested in its rhetorical techniques or its historical importance. Parts of it read like great mythology and others like stirring speeches. It is easy to see why this book was at the heart of such a great and wealthy civilization, inheritor of the classical civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia. It has also had a great impact on Western culture even if primarily indirectly, due to the massive influences of the culturally and technically advanced Islamic empires on Europe through the medieval centuries. Khan has done an excellent job of making this book available for us. I highly recommend this translation for your enjoyment and study.

Zafrulla Khan groups verses together by their relation to each other, which makes for an almost story book read. The introduction is profound and the index is incredibly helpful.

This book is an excellent resource for both Muslims and non-Muslims. It goes into line-by-line translation of the Quran in a very simple and easy to understand language. I highly recommend this book.

Sir Zafrullah Khan has done an excellent translation of Quran which is very readable with excellent choice of english prose. It represents the closest approximation to the arabic text. He clearly demonstrates an exceptional understanding of both languages and also of the Islamic faith which is necessary for a good a proper translation.