Customer Reviews

The Qur'an: Text, Translation & Commentary (English and Arabic Edition)

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Out of the several English translations of the Quran which I own, I most definitely consider this one to be the best one available on the market. It is also the best bilingual one that I have encountered. The translation is faithful, and never prone to flights of fancy. Students of Arabic can rely on being able to follow the English translation as being virtually literal, while still being literary; whatever confusion regarding meaning that there may be is virtually always explained clearly in the copious notes.

I am gratified to learn that this translation is highly thought of in the Muslim world, although I'm not surprised. The other great feature of the book is the commentary. It was obviously written with the Western, specifically Christian reader in mind, and while you may not agree with everything Yusuf Ali has to say (personally, I'm not so sure that Protestant Christianity is the Christian group closest in spirit to Islam!) you will certainly feel that his opinions are well-founded. In fact, one might consider this book as a great primer on the beliefs of Islam for the non-Muslim, and not just another translation.

The Yusuf Ali translation of the Qur'an has long been considered among the most precise and eloquent renderings of the holy book of Muslims into English. However, I would recommend purchasing the amana publications version of this work, due to its superior print quality and binding. amazon.com thankfully now sells it, its ISBN is 0915957760 . The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

As a Muslim who has owned this book for years, given to me by Ahmed Deedat himself, I must say that Abdullah Yusuf Ali has done a marvellous job making this fine translation. However, there are a few facts that non-Arabic speakers must be very well aware of:

First of all, despite the attempt to make the translation as accurate as possible, one must be aware of the PROFOUND differences between Arabic language and the English language. Arabic is much more complex and has an unequalled myriad of gramattical and linguistic tools, and it is that that makes the Quran so powerful and moving to anyone who knows Arabic well. When the Quran is translated into English, the beauty of the language is lost, hence the title 'Meanings of the Holy Quran in English' instead of 'The Holy Quran in English'.

Second, the translation allows for some misunderstandings that the anti-Muslims use to justify their prejudices against Islam.
So it must be pointed out that in the Arabic language, you must read all the verses for a sentence to make sense, and this does not necessarily come through in English, thus allowing for those misunderstandings. An example is a reviewer on this site who took the verse "And slay them wherever you catch them... " to try and say that Islam is violent. If you read the verse before it and the ones after it, you will find that this is purely self defense. The verses say " Fight in the cause of God THOSE WHO FIGHT YOU, but DO NOT TRANSGRESS LIMITS (as in killing civilians), For God loveth not transgressors. And Slay them Wherever ye catch them, ..... BUT IF THEY CEASE, GOD IS OFT-FORGIVING, MOST MERCIFUL. And fight them UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE TUMULT OR OPPRESSION ..... BUT IF THEY CEASE, LET THERE BE NO HOSTILITY EXCEPT TO THOSE WHO PRACTICE OPPRESSION (i.e. forgive them).
Such misunderstandings can be overcome by reading all the verses in a sura in order to understand the meaning, and also reading the helpful footnotes. If something is unclear, consult a Muslim.

Third, always consult a Muslim on passages that you may not understand, or have any trouble with. A 'regular' Muslim who practices the Quran everyday of his life would know much better than an armchair intellectual who read 3 books about Islam and became a self-proclaimed expert in the field of Islamic studies. In general, a Muslim would know much more about her or his own religion than a non-Muslim, so try to read books written by Muslims.

Fourth, and most importantly, for the non-Muslims reading the text, a very important piece of advice: read the Quran OBJECTIVELY, or dont bother reading it. Some people read the Quran to try and justify and hatered/misconception that they may have. If you read the Quran with this mindset, you might as well save yourself the trouble, and continue to believe whatever it is that you desparately want to believe. Otherwise, I am sure that you will have a lot to gain from reading the meanings of the Quran.

I wanted to read The Quran to gain a general, non-scholarly insight into the principle sacred text of one of the world's great religions that is Islam. This edition is a bi-lingual (Arabic-English) reprint of the 1934 original publication (1862 pages). While I cannot comment on the accurcacy of the English translation, or the soundness of the footnoted comments and elaborations (I don't read or write Arabic, I am non-Muslim), I was disappointed by the qualitative presentation of this reprint. The paper is very thin and of mediocre quality; therefore the text from the previous page shines distractingly through the open page in front of the reader. I found the footnotes to be too excessive (often more than half a page), for a general introduction. The font size (letter size) of the reproduced text (especially the footnotes) is too small, and too broken up for true reading enjoyment. Last but not least, I found it difficult to read the English text from back cover to front cover; true, it makes the Arabic text readable (since the language is written from right to left), but the English text is difficult to follow because you have to leave the bottom righ hand page and continue on the upper left hand page, skipping diagonally across two pages. The work was certainly a monumental task for the tranlator, and well worth it for the serious student of Islam. As a general introduction, I would probably choose a more basic version of higher print quality and better readability, with or without the Arabic text.

As a Muslim who has owned this book for years, given to me by Ahmed Deedat himself, I must say that Abdullah Yusuf Ali has done a marvellous job making this fine translation. However, there are a few facts that non-Arabic speakers must be very well aware of:

First of all, despite the attempt to make the translation as accurate as possible, one must be aware of the PROFOUND differences between Arabic language and the English language. Arabic is much more complex and has an unequalled myriad of gramattical and linguistic tools, and it is that that makes the Quran so powerful and moving to anyone who knows Arabic well. When the Quran is translated into English, the beauty of the language is lost, hence the title 'Meanings of the Holy Quran in English' instead of 'The Holy Quran in English'.

Second, the translation allows for some misunderstandings that the anti-Muslims use to justify their prejudices against Islam.
So it must be pointed out that in the Arabic language, you must read all the verses for a sentence to make sense, and this does not necessarily come through in English, thus allowing for those misunderstandings. (...)
Such misunderstandings can be overcome by reading all the verses in a sura in order to understand the meaning, and also reading the helpful footnotes. (...)

Third, always consult a Muslim on passages that you may not understand, or have any trouble with. A 'regular' Muslim who practices the Quran everyday of his life would know much better than an armchair intellectual who read 3 books about Islam and became a self-proclaimed expert in the field of Islamic studies. In general, a Muslim would know much more about her or his own religion than a non-Muslim, so try to read books written by Muslims.

Fourth, and most importantly, for the non-Muslims reading the text, a very important piece of advice: read the Quran OBJECTIVELY, or dont bother reading it. Some people read the Quran to try and justify and hatered/misconception that they may have. If you read the Quran with this mindset, you might as well save yourself the trouble, and continue to believe whatever it is that you desparately want to believe. Otherwise, I am sure that you will have a lot to gain from reading the meanings of the Quran.

(...)

Don't get impressed with the publicity and advertisement of other versions especially Amana version. This (Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an version) is the best available and minimally adulterated version of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's work in the market. As far as I can check from the 3rd edition published in 1937 (I have one copy), only one phrase is missing in the commentary of Chapter 33 verse 59 in note 3764 where the following phrase is missed out "The times were those of insecurity (See next verse No. 60)".
I have purchased other versions of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's work by other publishers including Ammana USA, IPCI UK & the original publisher Sh Muhammad Ashraf of Lahore Pakistan. I have earlier printed copies of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's Quran text translation and commentary published by the original publisher Sh Muhammad Ashraf of Lahore. One copy is published in 1937, second printed before 9/11 and I bought another one recently. I am extremely disappointed that all recent versions published after 9/11 have many changes in the translation and commentary, all made in the name of modernization and revision. But unfortunately these changes are in such key topics e.g. women dress code and usury that do not do justice with the open mindedness of the Quranic Arabic text. Abdullah Yusuf Ali's commentary was already very modern, comprehensive and open minded and hence there was no reason for his commentaries to be revised or modernized by any publisher. There was no reason to add the cultural and Muslim native land's influence into these revised editions by the publishers after 9/11.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali had benefited from the Muslim historians and Quran commentators from 8th till 14th century CE and written an exceptionally versatile translation and commentary that tries to match the Superior Quranic Arabic text and its wider meaning. Unfortunately new publishers have revised and deleted the portions in the commentary where Abdullah Yusuf Ali had mentioned key facts of the historical background for better understanding of the context of verses. These versions misguide the new generation by brain washing them into cultural influence and neglecting the original historical background. These historical backgrounds mentioned by Abdullah Yusuf Ali are the context of verses which were often revealed in response to a crisis or a question that had arisen in the community of Prophet at that time. Abdullah Yusuf Ali had laid the principle of extracting the understanding of Quran from these historical incidences. This was practiced by the himself and various first and second generation Muslim scholars.
These revisions are pure dishonesty with the work of this great scholar who has translated Arabic Quran into English keeping the universal nature of message in mind regarding people of different nations, cultures and faiths.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali died in 1952. Until his death, none of the publisher changed anything in his manuscript until his death. Fortunately This Quranic translation and commentary is free of such adulterations and I congratulate the company for keeping the originality of the work. The above mentioned omission has been reported to the company.

For most English-speaking Muslims, Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation is _the_ standard. His language is ornate in the Elizabethan style, but not pretentious to the point of being incomprehensible. Ali lends the Qur'an a dignity and refinement that has seldom been reached by any subsequent English translation since.

Part of what makes his work even more appealing is the inclusion of over a dozen appendices discussing a wide range of topics, and the addition of 6,311 explanatory footnotes keyed directly into the text beneath the relevant passages. This Qur'an is an excellent way to meet the Muslim book for the first time, especially if one is a Christian, as Ali's appendices and many of the notes address topics of particular importance to Christians.

The presentation of the book is generally beautiful, with a large calligraphaic inscription - "In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful" - filling the endpapers. The Arabic text is clearly readable (not an issue for most English-only readers!) and Ali includes a number of small embellishments to ornament the text. The book reads from right to left, in the manner of genuinely Arabic Qur'ans.

In short, this is justifiably the cornerstone of English translations of the Qur'an, and makes a fine addition to the library of any person interested in Islam or world literature.

An excellent source for everyone. This translation, although not a perfect one, is probably the best one out there. This is the source where you can find answers to the most difficult questions (i.e. What is the meaning of life and why are we here?) A great way to find out the truth about Islam rather than seeing it through a biased perspective (as generally portrayed by non-Muslims and the media). A great source to investigate if you want to analyze the major religions before making a decision (as we all know that at most, only one can be the right one). Recommended for anyone who wants to follow a faith after having reflected on other faiths as well.

The best method to study the Qur'an is of course to study the Arabic language since it is a complex language. However, reading Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation is a very good place to start. I have the translation of the Qur'an by other authors, none came close to the excellent work by this author.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an comes with the Arabic text alongside with the English translation. It is faithful to the text, and the commentary accompanying the text is well written and balanced.

This translation is long regarded as the best book to consult by most Muslims.

Yusuf Ali has done an excellent job of translating the Holy Qur'an. He has also, and perhaps more importantly, done a wonderful job of helping to explain the text to Westerners through the use of extensive and immensely helpful footnotes. A great book for those seeking to read the Qur'an but who do not have much of a background in the history of the Arabian people or lands.