Product Description

'Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful one who taught by the pen, who taught man what he did not know.' The Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be the word of God, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad 1400 years ago. It is the supreme authority in Islam and the living source of all Islamic teaching; it is a sacred text and a book of guidance, that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. It has been one of the most influential books in the history of literature. Recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, it has nevertheless remained difficult to understand in its English translations. This new translation is written in a contemporary idiom that remains faithful to the original, making it easy to read while retaining its powers of eloquence. Archaisms and cryptic language are avoided, and the Arabic meaning preserved by respecting the context of the discourse. The message of the Qur'an was directly addressed to all people regardless of class, gender, or age, and this translation is equally accessible to everyone.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1766 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 502 pages

Tim Winter, Times Literary Supplement
"Haleem knows the text by heart. His intimacy with it shows in the brevity and intuitive intelligence of his solutions."

Review
Haleem knows the text by heart. His intimacy with it shows in the brevity and intuitive intelligence of his solutions. (Tim Winter, Times Literary Supplement )

About the Author
Muhammad Abdel Haleem was born in Egypt, and learned the Qur'an by heart from childhood. Educated at al-Azhar, Cairo, and Cambridge Universities, he has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at Cambridge and London Universities since 1966, including courses in advanced translation and the Qur'an. He is now Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is also working on An Introduction to the Qur'an and English
Translations of the Qur'an: The Making of An Image. He is the Editor of the Journal of Qur'anic Studies and the London Qur'an Studies series.

Customer Reviews

Very Straight Translation
Most of the translations of the Qur'an are very choppy; translating the Arabic text as prose. However, this edition is very good for English speakers because it allows one to follow the stories and the arguments therein. Therefore, instead of it being difficult to comprehend due to lingustic difficulties for English speaker, it is an excellent read allowing one to understand the meanings with better understanding. I would recommend this book as a strarting point for non-Muslims as an intorduction to the Qur'an and Islam in English.

Best of the Modern Translations.
I own many of the major translations (Yusuf Ali, Pikthall etc) and find this to be the best all round translation into modern English.

Whilst a short commentary exists, it doesn't take up half the page and the focus always remains on the word of God. Each surah is introduced with a few lines to outline the basic principles and happenings. The text isn't presented in seperate verses and instead appears as continuous prose with each verse numbered.

The aim of every new translation nowadays is to render the meaning in an easy to understand way and this particular translation succeeds in doing that very well. The actual book is bound beautifully and presented nicely.

This is the translation I use most now; it is very complete.

Long Overdue !! A great Piece of Work
Finally, a translation of the Quraan that is both readable and accurate! This is long overdue. As an Arabic/English billingual speaker, I have long been frustrated by old fashioned inaccurate translations. I stumbled across this one by chance, and all I can say to the author is - Thank you so much for your effort. I hope your book takes over as the most widely accepted translation of the Quran.