Qur'an translations
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Translations of the Qur'án are interpretations of the holy book of Islam in languages other than Arabic. Translations of the Qur'án are popular in the English-speaking world, and are in general used by people who cannot understand the original Arabic text.
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[edit] Overview
For Muslims, the Qur'án is an Arabic revelation, and so Muslims always recite it in the Arabic language during ritual prayers (salah). Translations of its divine speech into other languages are necessarily the work of humans and so, according to Muslims, no longer possess the uniquely sacred character of the Arabic original. Scholars, purists and others regard these translations as necessarily falling short and thus dub them interpretations.
The task of translation is not an easy one; some native Arab-speakers will confirm that some Qur'anic passages are difficult to understand even in the original Arabic. A part of this is the innate difficulty of any translation; in Arabic, as in other languages, a single word can have a variety of meanings. There is always an element of human judgement involved in understanding and translating a text. This factor is made more complex by the fact that the usage of words has changed a great deal between classical and modern Arabic. As a result, even Qur'anic verses which seem perfectly clear to native speakers accustomed to modern vocabulary and usage may not represent the original meaning of the verse.
The original meaning of a Qur'anic passage will also be dependent on the historical circumstances of the prophet Muhammad's life and early community in which it originated. Investigating that context usually requires a detailed knowledge of Hadith and Sirah, which are themselves vast and complex texts. This introduces an additional element of uncertainty which can not be eliminated by any linguistic rules of translation.
[edit] History
Many individual English-speaking Muslims tend to have their own personal favorite translations. Indeed, those who read more than one translation often develop a fondness for different aspects of each. The Yusuf Ali translation is one of the most widely available and popular English-language translations of the Qur'an among Muslims. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Saudi Arabia has recently made a large-scale collaborative effort to produce an accurate translation of the Qur'án. This translation [1] is an updated version of the Abdullah Y. Ali translation.
The renowned scholar Annemarie Schimmel, author of dozens of books on Islam and formerly professor of Islam at Harvard University, favoured the translation of Arthur John Arberry for beauty of expression, and that of Marmaduke Pickthall for literal rendering of Arabic phrases. However, many Muslims consider these two to be the worst English-language translations of the Qur'an, with the Arberry edition being viewed as particularly inaccurate. [citation needed]
[edit] Translators of the Qur'an
English Translators include:
[edit] Translations of the Qur'an
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Khaleel Mohammed: Assessing English Translation of the Qu'ran, Middle East Quarterly, sectarian bias and political agendas mar most publications.
- The Koran Interpreted : A Translation by A. J. Arberry, Touchstone, 1996. ISBN 0-684-82507-4
- The Meaning of The Glorious Koran: an Explanatory Translation by Marmaduke Pickthall, Everyman's Library, 1992. ISBN 0-679-41736-2
- The translation of Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da‘wah and Guidance in Saudi Arabia [2]
