The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics) | 
| Creator: M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $7.25
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Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 2213
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reissue
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 502
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0199535957
Dewey Decimal Number: 297.122521
EAN: 9780199535958
ASIN: 0199535957
Publication Date: June 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
One of the most influential books in the history of literature, recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, the Qur'an is the supreme authority and living source of all Islamic teaching, the sacred text that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of Islam. Yet despite the growing interest in Islamic teachings and culture, there has never been a truly satisfactory English translation of the Qur'an, until now.
This superb new translation of the Qur'an is written in contemporary language that remains faithful to the meaning and spirit of the original, making the text crystal clear while retaining all of this great work's eloquence. The translation is accurate and completely free from the archaisms, incoherence, and alien structures that mar existing translations. Thus, for the first time, English-speaking readers will have a text of the Qur'an which is easy to use and comprehensible. Furthermore, Haleem includes notes that explain geographical, historical, and personal allusions as well as an index in which Qur'anic material is arranged into topics for easy reference. His introduction traces the history of the Qur'an, examines its structure and stylistic features, and considers issues related to militancy, intolerance, and the subjection of women.
Clearly written and filled with helpful information and guidance, this brilliant translation of the Qur'an is the best available introduction to the faith of Moslems around the world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
The Qu'ran September 28, 2008
This is an excellent translation of the Qu'ran. It is easy to read and comprehend. It explains about the previous messengers and makes clear the message that Muhammad brought to the world.
An excellent translation September 15, 2008
The Qur'an can be daunting for those unfamiliar with its style, construction, and language. And truly no translation can convey either the poetic beauty of the original Arabic or the complex meanings embedded in the Arabic grammar. However, Haleem has succeeded in making a very comprehensible and flowing English translation.
The language is contemporary, eliminating the need to puzzle over awkwardly translated idioms or outdated English phrasing. For all its accessibility, Haleem does not skimp on poetics; the language moves easily and wonderfully, retaining some of the grace of the Arabic original. Moreover, concise footnotes regarding matters of context, translation, and grammar illuminate aspects of the text that might not be obvious to those unfamiliar with the Qur'an. The number and verse system also make it easy to find a given piece of the text, provided you know what you're looking for beforehand.
I would also recommend this as a companion to Arberry's The Koran Interpreted. Arberry's English, while not contemporary, is truly masterful, and his translations accurate. However, his translation lacks grammatical/contextual notes, and somewhat cryptic at times. A reading and understanding of Haleem's translation does much to clarify some of the cloudier bits of Arberry's translation, making it seem a fuller text.
Superb Modern English Translation August 31, 2008
Several features of this translation make it unique. First, the text is broken into useful paragraphs rather than a complete run-on as is the case in the original Arabic. Second, numbering has been assigned to make references much simpler to find. In other words, it reads much like the standard English Bible. Abdel Haleem is an expert in Arabic and Islamic studies. It is obvious that he has taken great care with a heartfelt effort to make this translation as true to the original as possible while still being understandable by an average English reader. Further, he has published a book titled Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style, which tackles significant areas of the Qur'an versus Biblical episodes and attempts to explain the beauty of the rhyming Arabic in the original Qur'an. Together, these two books with a biography of Muhammad will give any non-Muslim a very good knowledge of Islam.
Nicely done July 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This translation shows literary polish and is very pleasant to read. It uses brackets in the text to clarify who is being addressed by "you" and imperative verbs. This is important since standard English does not distinguish between singular and plural in the second person.
There are a judicious number of footnotes to explain certain interpretive issues, but they do not try to present a particular sectarian understanding of the text. They aim to present uncontroversial interpretations to help non-Muslims such as myself understand what any native Arabic-speaking Muslim would already know about the background of certain words and statements.
I have run across a pair of cases in which the repeated literary polishing (referred to in the introduction) evidently got ahead of the note editing. On p. 38, Sura 3:46 begins, "He will speak to people in his infancy..." and there is a footnote reference after "infancy." The note says, "Cf. 19: 29-30. The word _mahd_ means a place smoothed out for a small child to sleep in. It is not a piece of furniture like a cradle." Very good, but the translation as it stands has no word for either a smoothed place or a cradle. Looking in the Arabic (with the aid of a bilingual edition), I see that it has a clause that can be literally translated something like, "He will speak to people from the sleeping place," where 'sleeping place' is my rendering of _mahd_ intended to avoid the translation "cradle" to which Mr. Haleem objects. The point is that the English word "infancy" implies nothing about a sleeping place; it refers to the earliest stage of life. Thus the note here (and in the cross-referenced passage) is confusing. It only makes sense if a more literal translation is given. In Haleem's translation, it should simply be omitted.
Other than this, though, I find the translation quite good. I recommend it to all English speakers who wish to acquaint themselves with the contents of the Qur'an without having to suffer through the archaisms of some earlier translations. However, if you want a version that is more formally similar to the Arabic, you will probably need to get one of these older translations and endure the "thees" and "thous". Even better, learn Arabic, as I am trying to do, and see how the originally _really_ goes.
decent and clear July 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This translation is among the best translations of the Qur'an i have read... The verses of the noble Qur'an are translated in a very clear and easy to understand vocabularies that anyone with an adequate background in english can benefit from it.. Most of the translation of the Qur'an are very hard to get the concept due the the translators' usage of obscure and archaic english but this translation is quite clear and manifest for anyone wanting to get the most out of it... I strongly recommend this translation..
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