Author Description

Of all published works, the Qur’an is perhaps the least translatable. Arabic is not at all easy to translate into a language so widely and radically differing from it in structure and genius as English, unless it be with the aid of loose periphrasis and lax paraphrase. Even so the fire of the original is quenched, its vivacious perspicuity is lost, and the so-called literal translation looks rugged and dreary. That the language of the Arabs abounds in nuances and both the noun and the verb are extremely flexible, is a fact well known to every student of that tongue. The difficulty is increased hundredfold when one has to render into English, with any degree of accuracy and precision, a work so rich in meaning, so pithy in expression, so vigorous in style and so subtle in implications as the Qur’an. To reproduce even partially its exotic beauty, wonderful grandeur and magical vivacity without sacrificing the requirements of the English idiom and usage, is the despair of the translator and an ideal impossible of attainment. The result is that every fresh attempt at translating the Holy Writ brings home, in varying degrees, the truth of the old saying that nothing is so unlike an original as its copy. Nevertheless, as difficult a task as it was, over twenty-three translations of the Qur’an were consulted in an attempt to render the words of the Qur’an into the English language and the result is, God-willing, a translation read easily by most. The reader should take note that there exists a number of other translations of the Qur’an which are more eloquent and richer in language and whilst the current translation may be suitable for some, it may not be ideal for others.