''The Koran Interpreted'' is a

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

(the Islamic

religious text Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pr ...

) by

Arthur John Arberry Arthur John Arberry (12 May 1905, in Portsmouth – 2 October 1969, in Cambridge) FBA was a British scholar of Arabic literature, Persian studies, and Islamic studies. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambri ...

. The translation is from the original

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. First published in 1955, it is one of the most prominent written by a non- Muslim scholar. The title acknowledges the orthodox Islamic view that the Qur'an cannot be translated, and can merely be interpreted.Khaleel Mohammed
''Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an''
/ref>

Khaleel Mohammed Khaleel Mohammed (1955 – January 2022) was a Guyanese-born professor of Religion at San Diego State University (SDSU), in San Diego, California, a member of Homeland Security Master's Program, and, as of January 2021, Director of SDSU's Center f ...

writes that "the translation is without prejudice and is probably the best around," while

M. A. S. Abdel Haleem Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem (, born 1930), , is an Egyptian Islamic studies scholar and the King Fahd Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS)SOAS StaffMuhammad Abdel Haleem/ref> i ...

, himself a translator of the Qur'an, writes that: :''Arberry shows great respect towards the language of the Qur'an, particularly its musical effects. His careful observation of Arabic sentence structure and phraseology makes his translation very close to the Arabic original in grammatical terms ... oweverthis feature, along with the lack of any notes or comments, can make the text seem difficult to understand and confusingly unidiomatic.''M. A. S. Abdel Haleem: ''The Qur'an - a new translation'' (introduction) Originally published in two volumes, the first containing

Quranic chapter A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah (''Al-Ka ...

s (''

suwar A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

'') 1-20, the second containing 21-114, the text continues to be printed to this day, normally in one single volume.

External links

The text at Archive.org
*
with verses numbered

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koran Interpreted English translations of the Quran 1955 non-fiction books