Translation Of The Quran
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Translations of the Qurʻan are considered interpretations of the scripture of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
in languages other than Arabic. The Qurʻan was originally written in the Arabic language and has been translated into most major African, Asian and European languages.


Islamic theology

Translation of the Qurʻan from Arabic into other languages has always been a difficult issue in Islamic theology. Because Muslims revere the Qurʻan as miraculous and inimitable (''iʻjaz al-Qurʻan''), they argue that the Qurʻanic text should not be isolated from its true language or written form, at least not without keeping the Arabic text with it. Furthermore, an Arabic word, like a Hebrew or Aramaic word, may have a range of meanings depending on the context – a feature present in all Semitic languages, when compared to English, Latin, and Romance languages – making an accurate translation even more difficult. According to Islamic theology, the Qurʻan is a revelation very specifically in Arabic, and so it should only be recited in Quranic Arabic. Translations 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. Since these translations necessarily subtly change the meaning, they are often called "interpretations" or "translation of the meanings" (with "meanings" being ambiguous between the meanings of the various passages and the multiple possible meanings with which each word taken in isolation can be associated, and with the latter connotation amounting to an acknowledgement that the so-called translation is but one possible interpretation and is not claimed to be the full equivalent of the original). For instance,
Pickthall Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (born Marmaduke William Pickthall; 7 April 187519 May 1936) was an English Islamic scholar noted for his 1930 English translation of the Quran, called '' The Meaning of the Glorious Koran''. His translation of the Qu ...
called his translation ''
The Meaning of the Glorious Koran ''The Meaning of the Glorious Koran'' (1930) is an English Language translation of the Quran with brief introductions to the Surahs by Marmaduke Pickthall. In 1928, Pickthall took a two-year sabbatical to complete his translation of the meaning ...
'' rather than simply ''The Koran''. The task of translation of the Qurʻan is not an easy one; some native Arab speakers will confirm that some Qurʻanic passages are difficult to understand even in the original Arabic script. 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 Qurʻanic verses which seem perfectly clear to native Arab speakers accustomed to modern vocabulary and usage may not represent the original meaning of the verse. The original meaning of a Qurʻanic passage will also be dependent on the historical circumstances of the prophet Muhammad's life and the 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 that cannot be eliminated by any linguistic rules of translation.


History

The first translation of the Qurʻan was performed by Salman the Persian, who translated surah
al-Fatiha Al-Fatiha (alternatively transliterated Al-Fātiḥa or Al-Fātiḥah; ar, ألْفَاتِحَة, ; ), is the first ''surah'' (chapter) of the Quran. It consists of 7 '' ayah'' (verses) which are a prayer for guidance and mercy. Al-Fatiha i ...
into the Middle Persian in the early seventh century. According to Islamic tradition contained in the hadith, the Negus of the Ethiopian Empire and the Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
received letters from Muhammad containing verses from the Qurʻan. However, during Muhammad's lifetime, no passage from the Qurʻan was ever translated into these languages nor any other. The second known translation was into Greek and was used by
Nicetas Byzantius Nicetas or Niketas () is a Greek given name, meaning "victorious one" (from Nike "victory"). The veneration of martyr saint Nicetas the Goth in the medieval period gave rise to the Slavic forms: ''Nikita, Mykyta and Mikita'' People with the name N ...
, a scholar from Constantinople, in his 'Refutation of Qurʻan' written between 855 and 870. However, we know nothing about who and for what purpose had made this translation. It is that it was a complete translation. The first fully attested complete translations of the Qurʻan were done between the 10th and 12th centuries into Classical Persian. The Samanid emperor,
Mansur I Abu Salih Mansur ( fa, ابو صالح منصور, Abu Ṣāliḥ Manṣur; died 13 June 976), better known as Mansur I () was amir of the Samanids from 961 to 976. The son of Nuh I (), his reign was characterized by weak rule and perpetual financ ...
(961–976), ordered a group of scholars from
Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
to translate the '' Tafsir al-Tabari'', originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Qurʻan in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi translated the Qurʻan into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times. In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known.


European languages


Latin

Robertus Ketenensis produced the first Latin translation of the Qurʻan in 1143. His version was entitled ''
Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete ''Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete'' ( en, Law of Muhammad the pseudo-prophet/false prophet) is the translation of the Qur'an into Medieval Latin by Robert of Ketton ( 1110 – 1160 AD). It is the earliest translation of the Qur'an into a Western langua ...
'' ("The law of Mahomet the false prophet"). The translation was made at the behest of
Peter the Venerable Peter the Venerable ( – 25 December 1156), also known as Peter of Montboissier, was the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny. He has been honored as a saint, though he was never canonized in the Middle Ages. Since in 1862 Pope Pius IX co ...
, abbot of Cluny, and currently exists in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris. According to modern scholars, the translation tended to "exaggerate harmless text to give it a nasty or licentious sting" and preferred improbable and unpleasant meanings over likely and decent ones. Ketenensis' work was republished in 1543 in three editions by
Theodore Bibliander Theodore (or Theodorus) Bibliander (german: Theodor Buchmann; 1509 in Bischofszell – 26 September 1564 in Zurich) was a Swiss orientalist, publisher, Protestant reformer and linguist. Born Theodor Buchmann (''Bibliander'' is a Greek translati ...
at Basel along with Cluni corpus and other Christian propaganda. All editions contained a preface by Martin Luther. Many later European "translations" of the Qurʻan merely translated Ketenensis' Latin version into their own language, as opposed to translating the Qurʻan directly from Arabic. As a result, early European translations of the Qurʻan were erroneous and distorted. In the early thirteenth century,
Mark of Toledo Mark of Toledo ( fl. 1193-1216) was a Spanish physician and a canon of Toledo. Biography He produced one of the earliest translations of the Qur'an into Latin while working at the Toledo School of Translators. He also translated Hippocrates' ''De a ...
made another, more literal, translation into Latin, which survives in several manuscripts. In the fifteenth century, Juan of Segovia produced another translation in collaboration with the Mudejar writer, Isa of Segovia. Only the prologue survives. In the sixteenth century, Juan Gabriel Terrolensis aided Cardenal Eguida da Viterbo in another translation into Latin. In the early seventeenth century, another translation was made, attributed to Cyril Lucaris.
Louis Maracci Ludovico Marracci (6 October 1612 – 5 February 1700), also known by Luigi Marracci, was an Italians, Italian Oriental studies, Oriental scholar and professor of Arabic in the Sapienza University of Rome, College of Wisdom at Rome. He is chiefly ...
(1612–1700), a teacher of Arabic at the Sapienza University of Rome and confessor to
Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Poli ...
, issued a second Latin translation in 1698 in Padua. His edition contains the Qurʻan's Arabic text with a Latin translation, annotations to further understanding and – embued by the time's spirit of controversy – an essay titled "Refutation of the Qurʻan", where Marracci disproves Islam from the then Catholic point of view. Despite the ''Refutation''s anti-Islamic tendency, Marracci's translation is accurate, suitably commented, and quotes many Islamic sources. Marracci's translation too became the source of other European translations (one in France by Savory, and one in German by Nerreter). These later translations were quite inauthentic, and one even claimed to be published in Mecca in 1165 AH.


Modern languages

The first translation in a modern European language was in Castilian Spanish or Aragonese by the convert Juan Andrés (or so he claims in his Confusión o Confutación de la secta mahomética y del alcorán) but this translation is lost. A few dozen Qurʻan verses into Castilian are found within the Confusión itself. There were lost translations in
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, one of them by Francesc Pons Saclota in 1382, the other appeared in
Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
in 1384. Another Romance translation was made into Italian, 1547 by Andrea Arrivabene, derived from Ketenensis'. The Italian translation was used to derive the first German translation
Salomon Schweigger Salomon Schweigger (also spelled Solomon Schweiger) (30 March 1551 – 21 June 1622) was a German Lutheran theologian, minister, anthropologist and orientalist of the 16th century. He provided a valuable insight during his travels in the Balka ...
in 1616 in Nuremberg, which in turn was used to derive the first Dutch translation in 1641. The first French translation came out in 1647, and again in 1775, issued by
André du Ryer André Du Ryer, Lord of La Garde-Malezair (b. Marcigny, Bourgogne, c. 1580; d. 1660 or 1672) was a French orientalist who produced the third western translation of the Qur'an. Biography Du Ryer was diplomatic envoy to Constantinople and Frenc ...
. The Du Ryer translation also fathered many re-translations, most notably an English version by Alexander Ross in 1649. Ross' version was used to derive several others: a Dutch version by Glazemaker, a German version by Lange.


Adyghe

*The first Adyghe translation of the Quran was done by
Ishak Mashbash Iskhak Shumafovich Mashbash (; russian: link=no, Исхак Шумафович Машбаш; ) is a Circassian poet, writer and translator. He is the author of more than 80 books in Adyghe and he has translated many works from Russian to Adyghe ...
. A Kabardian edition was also published. It was translated from Russian.


Modern Greek

The first Modern Greek translation was done by Gerasimos Pentakis in 1886, after receiving royal approval from George I of Greece. A second edition was published in 1928. Another three were published in 1958, 1980 and 2002, the most recent was done from Persa Koumoutsi. There is also an online translation. In Greek, there is also the 9th century translation of
Nicetas Byzantios Nicetas or Niketas () is a Greek given name, meaning "victorious one" (from Nike "victory"). The veneration of martyr saint Nicetas the Goth in the medieval period gave rise to the Slavic forms: ''Nikita, Mykyta and Mikita'' People with the name N ...
referred earlier in the article.


French

L'Alcoran de Mahomet / translaté d'Arabe François par le Sieur Du Ryer, Sieur de la Garde Malezair., 1647, 1649, 1672, 1683, 1719, 1734, 1770, 1775, by André Du Ryer, was the first French translation. This was followed two centuries later in Paris by the 1840 translation by Kasimirski who was an interpreter for the French Persian legation. Then in the mid-twentieth century, a new translation was done by
Régis Blachère Régis Blachère (30 June 1900 – 7 August 1973) was a French orientalist and translator of the Qur'an. Bibliography *1975: ''Analecta'', Institut français de Damas, Damas, 1975. *2002: ''Le Coran'', Presses universitaires de France, (Que s ...
a French Orientalist followed a few years later in 1959 by the first translation by a Muslim into the French Language from the original Arabic. This work of
Muhammad Hamidullah Muhammad Hamidullah ( ur, محمد حمیداللہ, translit=Muḥammad Ḥamīdullāh; 19 February 1908 – 17 December 2002) was a scholar of hadiths (''muhaddith)'' and Islamic law ( faqih) and a prolific academic author. A polymath with com ...
continues to be reprinted and published in Paris and Lebanon as it is regarded as the most linguistically accurate of all translations although critics may complain there is some loss of the spirit of the Arabic original.


Russian

In 1716, Pyotr Postinkov published the first translation of the Quran in Russian based in the french translation of André du Ryer.
Gordiy Sablukov Gordiy Semionovich Sablukov (1804–1880) was a Russian expert on Islam. With Dimitriy Boguslavsky he was responsible for the first Russian translation of the Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), al ...
published the first Russian translation of the Quran from the Arabic original text in 1873. Nearly 20 translations in Russian have been published.


Spanish

There are four complete translations of the Qurʻan in modern Spanish that are commonly available. * Julio Cortes translation 'El Coran' is widely available in North America, being published by New York-based ''Tahrike Tarsile Qurʻan'' publishing house. * Ahmed Abboud and Rafael Castellanos, two converts to Islam of Argentine origin, published 'El Sagrado Coran' (El Nilo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1953). * Kamel Mustafa Hallak fine deluxe hardback print 'El Coran Sagrado' is printed by Maryland-based ''Amana Publications''. * Abdel Ghani Melara Navio a Spaniard who converted to Islam in 1979, his 'Traduccion-Comentario Del Noble Coran' was originally published by ''Darussalam Publications'', Riyadh, in December 1997. The ''King Fahd Printing Complex'' has its own version of this translation, with editing by Omar Kaddoura and Isa Amer Quevedo.


English

The earliest known translation of the Qurʻan in any European language was the Latin works by Robert of Ketton at the behest of the Abbot of Cluny in c. 1143. This translation remained the only one until 1649 when the first English language translation was done by Alexander Ross, chaplain to King Charles I, who translated from a French work ''L'Alcoran de Mahomet'' by du Ryer. In 1734,
George Sale George Sale (1697–1736) was a British Orientalist scholar and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Quran into English. In 1748, after having read Sale's translation, Voltaire wrote his own essay "De l'Alcoran ...
produced the first translation of the Qurʻan direct from Arabic into English but reflecting his missionary stance. Since then, there have been English translations by the clergyman
John Medows Rodwell John Medows Rodwell (1808–1900) was a friend of Charles Darwin while both matriculated at Cambridge. He became an English clergyman of the Church of England and an Islamic studies scholar. He served as Rector of St.Peter's, Saffron Hill, Londo ...
in 1861, and Edward Henry Palmer in 1880, both showing in their works several mistakes of mistranslation and misinterpretation, which brings into question their primary aim. These were followed by Richard Bell in 1937 and Arthur John Arberry in the 1950s. ''The Qurʻan'' (1910) by Dr. Mirza Abul Fazl (1865–1956), a native of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), later moved to
Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
, India. He was the first Muslim to present a translation of the Qurʻan into English along with the original Arabic text. Among the contemporary Muslim scholars, Dr. Abul Fazl was a pioneer who took interest in the study of the chronological order of the Qurʻan and drew the attention of Muslim scholars to its importance. With the increasing population of English-speaking Muslims around the start of the 20th century, three Muslim translations of the Qurʻan into English made their first appearance. The first was
Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
's 1917 translation, which is composed from an Ahmadiyya perspective, with some small parts being rejected as unorthodox by the vast majority of Muslims. This was followed in 1930 by the English convert to Islam Marmaduke Pickthall's more literalist translation. Soon thereafter in 1934, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, published his translation, featuring copious explanatory annotation – over 6000 notes, generally being around 95% of the text on a given page, to supplement the main text of the translation. This translation has gone through over 30 printings by several different publishing houses, and is one of the most popular amongst English-speaking Muslims, alongside the Pickthall and Saudi-sponsored Hilali-Khan translations. With few new English translations over the 1950–1980 period, these three Muslim translations were to flourish and cement reputations that were to ensure their survival into the 21st century, finding favor among readers often in newly revised updated editions. Orientalist Arthur Arberry's 1955 translation and native Iraqi Jew
N. J. Dawood Nessim Joseph Dawood (27 August 1927 – 20 November 2014) was an Iraqi Jewish translator, who is best known for his translation of the Quran. Life Nessim Joseph Dawood was born in Baghdad to a Jewish family. His family name was Yehuda, but in the ...
's unorthodox translation in 1956 were to be the only major works to appear in the post-war period. A. J. Arberry's ''
The Koran Interpreted ''The Koran Interpreted'' is a translation of the Qur'an (the Islamic religious text) by Arthur John Arberry. The translation is from the original Arabic into English. First published in 1955, it is one of the most prominent written by a non- Mu ...
'' remains the scholarly standard for English translations, and is widely used by academics. The English translation of
Kanzul Iman ''Kanzul Iman'' (Urdu and Arabic: کنزالایمان) meaning as 'Treasure of Faith ' is an Urdu paraphrase translation of the Qur'an by Ahmad Raza Khan produced in 1911. It is one of the translations of the Qur'an in Urdu language. Translatio ...
is called ''The Treasure of Faith'', which is translated by Farid Ul Haq. It is in simple, easy-to-understand modern-day English. Explanations are given in brackets to avoid ambiguity, provide better understanding and references to similar verses elsewhere. Dr. Syed Abdul Latif's translation published in 1967, is regarded highly by some. He was a professor of English at Osmania University, Hyderabad. It was nevertheless short-lived due to criticism of his foregoing accuracy for the price of fluency. ''The Message of the Qurʻan: Presented in Perspective'' (1974) was published by Hashim Amir Ali. He translated the Qurʻan into English and arranged it according to chronological order. Dr. Hashim Amir-Ali (1903-c. 1987) was a native of Salar Jung,
Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...
in the Deccan Plateau. In 1938, he came under the influence of Dr. Abul Fazl and took a deep interest in the study of the Qurʻan, and was aware of the significance of the chronological order of the passages contained in it. Another Jewish convert to Islam, Muhammad Asad's monumental work '' The Message of The Qur'an'' made its appearance for the first time in 1980. Professor Ahmed Ali's ''Al-Qurʻan: A Contemporary Translation'' (Akrash Publishing, Karachi, 1984, Reprinted by Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1987; Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1988, with 9th reprinting 2001). Fazlur Rahman Malik of the University of Chicago writes, "It brings out the original rhythms of the Qurʻanic language and the cadences. It also departs from traditional translations in that it gives more refined and differentiated shades of important concepts". According to
Francis Edward Peters Francis Edward Peters, SJ (June 23, 1927 – April 30, 2020), who generally published as F. E. Peters, was Professor Emeritus of History, Religion and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University (NYU). He died on April 30, 2020 in hosp ...
of New York University, "Ahmed Ali's work is clear, direct, and elegant – a combination of stylistic virtues seldom found in translations of the Qurʻan. His is the best I have read". At the cusp of the 1980s, the
1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
, the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, the
Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
and a new wave of cold-war generated Muslim immigrants to Europe and North America brought Islam squarely into the public limelight for the first time in Western Europe and North America. This resulted in a wave of translations as Western publishers tried to capitalize on the new demand for English translations of the Qurʻan. Oxford University Press and Penguin Books were all to release editions at this time, as did indeed the Saudi Government, which came out with its own re-tooled version of the original Yusuf Ali translation. Canadian Muslim Professor
T. B. Irving Thomas Ballantyne Irving (1914–2002), also known as Al-Hajj Ta'lim Ali Abu Nasr, was a Canadian- American Muslim author, professor, activist and scholar who produced the first American English translation of the Qur'an. Early life and educatio ...
's 'modern English' translation (1985) was a major Muslim effort during that time. ''Qurʻan: The Final Testament'', Islamic Productions, Tucson, Arizona, (1989) was published by Rashad Khalifa (; 19 November 1935 – 31 January 1990) Khalifa wrote that he was a messenger of God and that the archangel Gabriel 'most assertively' told him that chapter 36, verse 3, of the Qurʻan, 'specifically' referred to him. He is referred to as God's Messenger of the Covenant by his followers. He wrote that the Qurʻan contains a mathematical structure based on the number 19. He made the controversial claim that the last two verses of chapter nine in the Qurʻan were not canonical, telling his followers to reject them. He reasoned that the verses disrupted an otherwise flawless nineteen-based pattern and were sacrilegious since they appeared to endorse worship of Muhammad. Khalifa's research received little attention in the West. In 1980, Martin Gardner mentioned it in '' Scientific American''. Gardner later wrote a more extensive and critical review of Khalifa and his work. The arrival of the 1990s ushered in the phenomenon of an extensive English-speaking Muslim population well-settled in Western Europe and North America. As a result, several major Muslim translations emerged to meet the ensuing demand. One of them was published in 1990, and it is by the first woman to translate the Qurʻan into English, Amatul Rahman Omar, together with her husband, Abdul Mannan Omar. In 1991 appeared an English translation under the title: ''The Clarion Call Of The Eternal Qur-aan'', by Muhammad Khalilur Rahman (b. 1906–1988), Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was the eldest son of Shamsul Ulama Moulana Muhammad Ishaque of Burdwan, West Bengal, India, – a former lecturer of Dhaka University. In 1996 the Saudi government financed a new translation "the Hilali-Khan Qurʻan" which was distributed free worldwide by the Saudi government. It has been criticized for being in line with their particular interpretation. The '' Saheeh International'' Qurʻan translation was published in 1997 in Sa'udi Arabia by three women converts. It remains extremely popular. In 1999, a fresh translation of the Qurʻan into English entitled ''The Noble Qurʻan – A New Rendering of its Meaning in English'' by Abdalhaqq and the American Aisha Bewley was published by Bookwork, with revised editions being published in 2005 and 2011. In 2000, '' The Majestic Qur'an: An English Rendition of Its Meanings'' was published by a committee of four Turkish
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
scholars who have divided the work as follows:
Nureddin Uzunoğlu Nureddin may refer to: *Nur al-Din (disambiguation), Nur al-Din, a given name *Nureddin, Iran, a village in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran {{dab ...
translated
Surahs 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 ...
(chapters) 1 to 8; Tevfik Rüştü Topuzoğlu: 9 to 20;
Ali Özek ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
: 21 to 39; Mehmet Maksutoğlu: 40 to 114. The translation comes with an extensive commentary and annotations in modern
standard English In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications, such as public service a ...
, makes it easier to understand than the older translations. ''The Qurʻan in Persian and English'' (Bilingual Edition, 2001) features an English translation by the Iranian poet and author
Tahereh Saffarzadeh Tahereh Saffarzadeh ( fa, طاهره صفارزاده , 1936 in Sirjan, Kerman Province, Iran – October 25, 2008 in Tehran, Iran) was an Iranian poet, writer, translator and prominent university professor. Education She received her BA in E ...
. This was the third translation of the Qurʻan into English by a woman, after Amatul Rahman Omar, and Aisha Bewley – and the first bilingual translation of the Qurʻan. In 2003, the English translation of the 8-volume ''
Ma'ariful Qur'an ''Ma'ariful Qur'an'' ( ur, ) is an eight-volume ''tafsir'' (exegesis) of the Quran written by Islamic scholar Mufti Muhammad Shafi (1897–1976). Originally written in Urdu, it is the most prominent work of its author. Background About the ...
'' was completed and the translation of the Qurʻan used for it was newly done by Muhammad Taqi Usmani in collaboration with his brother Wali Raazi Usmani and his teachers, Professors Hasan Askari and Muhammad Shameem. In 2004, a new translation of the Qurʻan by Muhammad Abdel-Haleem was also published, with revised editions being published in 2005 and 2008. In 2006, ''
The Qur'an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English The Qur'an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English is an English translation of the meanings of Qur'an written by Turkish Sunni Muslim scholar Ali Ünal. First published in 2006. The translation comes with interpretation and exposition ...
'' by
Ali Ünal Ali Ünal (born 19 January 1955) is a Turkish author and former chief writer at Zaman newspaper, which was closed following the failed 2016 Turkish Coup D'état. Biography Ünal was born on 19 January 1955 in Uşak, Turkey. He is often associat ...
was published. The work is more like a simplified tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) than a translation. He uses modern English, and adds short notes between brackets amidst the translation when needed. In 2007, ''Qurʻan: a Reformist Translation'' by Edip Yüksel, Layth Saleh al-Shaiban, and Martha Schulte-Nafeh, was published. In 2007, ''The Meanings of the Noble Qurʻan with Explanatory Notes'' by Muhammad Taqi Usmani was published. It has been published in 2 volumes at first and later, in a single volume. He also translated the Qurʻan in simple Urdu, making him a translator of the Qurʻan in dual languages. In 2007 ''The Sublime Qurʻan'' appeared by
Laleh Bakhtiar Laleh Mehree Bakhtiar (born Mary Nell Bakhtiar; July 29, 1938 – October 18, 2020) was an Iranian-American Islamic and Sufi scholar, author, translator, and clinical psychologist. Bakhtiar was the first American woman to translate the Quran i ...
; it is the second translation of the Qurʻan by an American woman. In 2009,
Wahiduddin Khan Wahiduddin Khan (1 January 1925 – 21 April 2021), known with the honorific "Maulana", was an Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist and author known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary E ...
translated the Qurʻan in English, which was published by Goodword Books entitled ''The Qurʻan: Translation and Commentary with Parallel Arabic Text''. This translation is considered as the easiest to understand due to simple and modern English. The pocket-size version of this translation with only English text is widely distributed as part of dawah work. A rhymed verse edition of the entire Qurʻan rendered in English by Thomas McElwain in 2010 includes rhymed commentary under the hardback title ''The Beloved and I, Volume Five'', and the paperback title ''The Beloved and I: Contemplations on the Qurʻan''. In 2015, Mustafa Khattab of Al-Azhar University completed ''The Clear Qurʻan: A Thematic English Translation'', after three years of collaboration with a team of scholars, editors, and proof-readers. Noted for its clarity, accuracy, and flow, this work is believed to be the first English translation done in Canada. A Turkish Scholar Hakkı Yılmaz worked on the Qurʻan through the root meanings of the Arabic words and published a study called ''Tebyin-ül Qurʻan'', and he also published a Division by Division Interpretation in the Order of Revelation in Turkish. His work was translated into English. In 2018,
Musharraf Hussain Musharraf Hussain is a British Pakistanis, British-Pakistani born scientist, educator and religious scholar in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom. Biography Musharraf Hussain is the Chief executive officer, Chief Executive of the Karimia instit ...
released ''The Majestic Quran: A Plain English Translation'', a reader-friendly presentation of the translation of the Qurʻan aiming to help readers understand the topic being read, and learn the moving and transformative message of the Qurʻan. There are 1500 sections with headings. Approved by Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyya (Egyptian institute of Fatwas). In 2021, Talal Itani released ''Quran in English: Super-easy to read. For ages 9 to 99.'' A Quran translation for children and adults. In 2022
QuranSage English Translation & Interpretation


Asian languages


Sindhi

Sindhi was the first language to translate the Quran into Arabic language later also Sindhi script was changed to Arabic Script Akhund Azaz Allah Muttalawi (Urdu: آخوند أعزاز الله) (Sindhi: مولانا اعزاز اللہ )was a Muslim theologian from Sindh. Akhund Azaz is considered to be the first person who translated the Qurʻan from Arabic to Sindhi. According to Sindhi tradition the first translation was made by in 270 AH / 883 CE by an Arab scholar. later it was translated into the Sindhi language by Imam Abul Hassan bin Mohammad Sadiq Al-Sindhi Al-Ma


Urdu

Shah Abdul Qadir, son of Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi, produced the first Urdu translation in 1826. A wide accepted translation of Quran was done by Imam Ahmed Raza Khan in 1911 named as Kanzul Iman. One of the authentic translations of the Qurʻan in Urdu was done by Abul A'la Maududi and was named Tafhimu'l-Qur'an. Molana Ashiq Elahi Merathi also translated the Qurʻan in Urdu.
Tafseer e Merathi Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, ...
is a renowned translation of Qurʻan along with tarsier and Shan e Nazool in Urdu by
Ashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri Muḥammad ‘Āshiq Ilāhī Bulandshahrī Muhājir Madanī (''Muḥammad ‘Āshiq Ilāhī al-Baranī al-Madanī'') was a prominent Indian Islamic scholar. He was a disciple of Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi. Biography Ashiq Ilahi was born in B ...
, In 1961 ''Mafhoom-ul-Quran'' was written by
Ghulam Ahmed Perwez Ghulam Ahmad Parwez ( pa, ; 1903–1985), widely known as Allama Parwez, was a pioneer of Quranic doctrine from pre-Independence India and later Pakistan. He attempted to rationally interpret Quranic themes, by challenging the established Sun ...
. In 1985,
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Wahiduddin Khan (1 January 1925 – 21 April 2021), known with the honorific "Maulana", was an Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist and author known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary ...
wrote the Urdu commentary titled
Tazkirul Quran ''Tazkirul Quran'' is an Urdu translation and commentary on the Qur'an, written by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, in 1985. First published in Arabic in 2008 from Cairo as ''al-Tadhkir al-Qawim fi Tafsir al-Quran al-Hakim'', the work has also been trans ...
. Irfan-ul-Qurʻan is an Urdu translation by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. utalaeh Qurʻan مطالعہ قرآنby ABDULLAH, 2014, is an Urdu Translation .


Bengali

Girish Chandra Sen Girish Chandra Sen ( – 15 August 1910) was a Bengali religious scholar and translator. He was a Brahmo Samaj missionary and known for being the first publisher of the '' Qur’an'' into Bengali language in 1886. Early life Sen was born in a ...
, a Brahmo Samaj missionary, was the first person to produce a complete translation of the Qurʻan into the Bengali language in 1886, although an incomplete translation was made by Amiruddin Basunia in 1808. Abbas Ali of Candipur, West Bengal was the first Muslim to translate the entire Qurʻan into the Bengali language. It is also said that Mohammad Noymuddin of Tangail translated the first ten chapters of the Qurʻan into Bengali. Besides many translated Qurʻanic exegesis are available in Bengali language.
Mohammad Akram Khan Mohammad Akram Khan ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আকরম খাঁ; 1868 – 18 August 1968) was a Bengali journalist, politician and Islamic scholar. He was the founder of Dhaka's first Bengali newspaper, ''The Azad''. He was among the ...
translated the 30th chapter of the Quran with commentary in 1926. In 1938, Muhammad Naqibullah Khan published a Bengali translation. Muhiuddin Khan was also a known Bangladeshi who translated the Maʻarif al-Qurʻan into Bengali.


Hindi and Gujarati

Kanzul Iman ''Kanzul Iman'' (Urdu and Arabic: کنزالایمان) meaning as 'Treasure of Faith ' is an Urdu paraphrase translation of the Qur'an by Ahmad Raza Khan produced in 1911. It is one of the translations of the Qur'an in Urdu language. Translatio ...
was also translated into the Hindi, followed by
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
.
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Wahiduddin Khan (1 January 1925 – 21 April 2021), known with the honorific "Maulana", was an Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist and author known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary ...
has also translated the Quran into Hindi.


Tamil

Translated as Fathhur-Rahma Fi Tarjimati Tafsir al-Qurʻan (Qurʻan translation) By Sheikh Mustafa (1836 – 25 July 1888)Beruwala Sri Lanka; Later on Abdul Hameed Bhakavi Tamil Nadu- India


Turkish

The earliest Quranic translation in the Turkish or Turkic language dates back to the 11th century. One of his later translation works is the copy written in the Khorezmian Turkic language in 1363, which is registered in Istanbul's Suleymaniye Library, Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa mosque No:2. This translation in Khorezmian Turkic, like other translations of the Qur'an, is important for language studies. Because the sanctity of the text that is subject to translation will cause the translator to behave more carefully, the errors encountered in the text are not included in such works. Besides, attention was paid to the religious terminology to be understood by the public and that is why Turkic words are given weight. G. Sağol worked on the translation in question. Muhammed Hamdi Yazır worked on tafsir (Qurʻanic exegesis) in the Maturidi context, and published his '' Hakk Dīni Kur'an
Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
'' in
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
in 1935. In 1999, the Turkish translation of the Qurʻan, MESAJ by Edip Yüksel was published, about seven years after the publication of his book, ''Türkçe Kuran Çevirilerindeki Hatalar'' ("Errors in Turkish Translations of the Qurʻan"). The translation is a
Quranist Quranism ( ar, القرآنية, translit=al-Qurʾāniyya'';'' also known as Quran-only Islam) Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42 is a movement within Islam. It holds the belief that traditional religious cl ...
translation, similar to the translation by
Yaşar Nuri Öztürk Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (February 5, 1951 – June 22, 2016) was a Turkish Islamic scholar, university professor of Islamic theology, lawyer, columnist and a former member of Turkish parliament. He has been described as a Quranist and has given many ...
, and does not consider hadith and sectarian traditional jurisprudence as an authority in understanding the Qurʻan. It differs greatly from Sunni and Shia traditions in the translation of numerous crucial words and verses. Hakkı Yılmaz worked on the Qurʻan through the root meanings of the Arabic words and published a study called Tebyin-ül Qurʻan. And he also published a Division by Division Interpretation in the Order of Revelation.


Hebrew

The translation of the Qur'an to Hebrew by Oz Yona and his staff was published by Goodword books in 2019.


Japanese

The first translation into Japanese was done by
Sakamoto Ken-ichi Sakamoto (written: ) is the 40th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is . Notable people with the surname include: *Chika Sakamoto (born 1959), voice actor and singer *Fuyumi Sakamoto (born 1967), enka singer *, Japanese professio ...
in 1920. Sakamoto worked from Rodwell's English translation.
Takahashi Goro is the third most common Japanese surname. Less common variants include , , , , , , , and . Notable people with the surname include: * Aaron Takahashi, American actor * , Japanese singer and actress * , Japanese kickboxer * , Japanese classica ...
, Bunpachiro (Ahmad) Ariga and
Mizuho Yamaguchi Mizuho () literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an Names of Japan#Other names, ancient name of Japan. It might refer to: Places * Mizuho, Gifu, a city in Gifu * Mizuho, Tokyo, a town in Tok ...
produced Japan's second translation in 1938. The first translation from the Arabic was done by
Toshihiko Izutsu was a Japanese scholar who specialized in Islamic studies and comparative religion. He took an interest in linguistics at a young age, and came to know more than thirty languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, Pali, Hind ...
in 1945. In 1950, another translation appeared by Shūmei Ōkawa. Other translations have appeared more recently by
Ban Yasunari Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...
and
Osamu Ikeda is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Osamu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *治 "reign" *修 "discipline" *理 "logic" *収 "obtain" *紀 "chronicle" *統 "rule" The name can also be written in hir ...
in 1970 and by Umar
Ryoichi Mita , also known as Umar Mita, was a Japan, Japanese Muslims, Muslim who is considered the first-ever Muslim to translate the Quran into the Japanese language. Biography Mita moved to China at the age of 24 and lived there for almost three decades ...
in 1972.


Chinese

It is claimed that Yusuf Ma Dexin (1794–1874) is the first translator of the Qurʻan into Chinese. However, the first complete translations into Chinese did not appear until 1927, although Islam had been present in China since the Tang dynasty (618–907). Wang Jingzhai was one of the first Chinese Muslims to translate the Qurʻan. His translation, the Gǔlánjīng yìjiě, appeared in either 1927 or 1932, with new revised versions being issued in 1943 and 1946. The translation by
Lǐ Tiězhēng Lǐ is a transliteration from Chinese and may refer to: * Li (surname 李) * Li (unit) See also * Li (disambiguation) Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape ar ...
, a non-Muslim, was not from the original Arabic, but from
John Medows Rodwell John Medows Rodwell (1808–1900) was a friend of Charles Darwin while both matriculated at Cambridge. He became an English clergyman of the Church of England and an Islamic studies scholar. He served as Rector of St.Peter's, Saffron Hill, Londo ...
's English via
Sakamoto Ken-ichi Sakamoto (written: ) is the 40th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is . Notable people with the surname include: *Chika Sakamoto (born 1959), voice actor and singer *Fuyumi Sakamoto (born 1967), enka singer *, Japanese professio ...
's Japanese. A second non-Muslim translation appeared in 1931, edited by Jī Juémí. Other translations appeared in 1943, by
Liú Jǐnbiāo / ( or ) is an East Asia, East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the c ...
, and 1947, by Yáng Zhòngmíng. The most popular version today is the Gǔlánjīng, translated by Mǎ Jiān, parts of which appeared between 1949 and 1951, with the full edition being published posthumously only in 1981. Tóng Dàozhāng, a Muslim Chinese American, produced a modern translation, entitled Gǔlánjīng, in 1989. The most recent translation appeared in Taipei in 1996, the Qīngzhēn xīliú – Gǔlánjīng xīnyì, translated by Shěn Xiázhǔn, but it has not found favor with Muslims. The latest translation 古兰经暨 中文译注 was translated and published by Yunus Chiao Shien Ma in 2016 in Taipei .


Indonesian languages

The Qurʻan has also been translated to Acehnese, Buginese, Gorontalo, Javanese,
Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
, and
Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...
of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. Translation into Acehnese was done by Mahijiddin Yusuf in 1995; into Buginese by Daude Ismaile and Nuh Daeng Manompo in 1982; into Gorontalo by Lukman Katili in 2008; into Javanese by Ngarpah (1913), Kyai Bisyri Mustafa Rembang (1964), and K. H. R. Muhamad Adnan; in Sundanese by A.A. Dallan, H. Qamaruddin Shaleh, Jus Rusamsi in 1965; and in Indonesian at least in three versions: A Dt. Madjoindo, H.M Kasim Bakery, Imam M. Nur Idris, A. Hassan,
Mahmud Yunus Mahmud Yunus (Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: Mahmoed Joenoes) (February 10, 1899 – January 16, 1982) was an Indonesian Minangkabau people, Minangkabau Islamic preacher and teacher. He authored over seventy-five books, including '' ...
, H.S. Fachruddin, H., Hamidy (all in the 1960s), Mohammad Diponegoro, Bachtiar Surin (all in the 1970s), and Departemen Agama Republik Indonesia (Indonesian Department of Religious Affair).


Nuclear Malayo-Polynesian languages

William Shellabear William Girdlestone Shellabear (1862–1947) was a "pioneer" scholar and missionary in British Malaya (today, part of Malaysia). He was known for both his appreciation of Muslim society and also his translation of the Bible into the Malay langua ...
(1862–1948) a British scholar and missionary in Malaysia, after translating the Bible into the Malay language began a translation of the Qurʻan, but died in 1948 without finishing it.


Tagalog

In 1982, Abdul Rakman H. Bruce translated the quran in
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
which is locally known as "Ang Banal na Kuran".


African languages

*Translation of the Qurʻan to
Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...
by Sheikh Ali Muhsin al-Barwani. *Translation of the Qurʻan to Hausa by Sheikh Muhamud Gumi. *Translation of the Qurʻan to
Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
by Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory. *Translation of the Qurʻan to Dagbanli by Sheikh M. Baba Gbetobu.


Esperanto

After the fall of the Shah,
Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
of Iran called on Muslims to learn
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
. Shortly thereafter, an official Esperanto translation of the Qurʻan was produced by the state.
Muztar Abbasi Allama Muztar Abbasi (1931 – 26 February 2004) was a Pakistani Muslim scholar who belonged to the Dhund Abbasi tribe of Murree Hills in the Rawalpindi District. He was a supporter of the Esperanto language in Pakistan. He was patron in chief ...
also translated the Qurʻan into Esperanto and wrote a biography of Muhammad and several other books in Esperanto and Urdu. In 1970, Professor Italo Chiussi, an Ahmadi, translated the Qurʻan into Esperanto.


See also

* List of translations of the Quran * History of the Qur'an * Literary translation * Tafsir


References


Further reading

* Muhammad Mohar Ali, Ali, Muhammad Mohar (2004).
The Qurʻan and the Orientalists
'. Jamiat Ihyaa Minhaaj al-Sunnah (JIMAS), Ipswich, United Kingdom. . * * Pearson, J.D., ‟Bibliography of Translations of the Qur'ān into European Languages", in: A.F.L. Beeston et al. (eds), ''Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 502–520. * * *


External links


English Quran translations
Quran Archive - Texts and Studies on the Quran.
Gujarati Quran Ashanul Bayan અહસનુલ બયાન

Clear Audio Translations of the Qurʻan

English Qurʻan translations side-by-side with audio

Al-Quran
Quran translation project
IslamAwakened
English Qurʻan translations compared verse-by-verse
Learn Quran Online with Tajweed
* George Grigore
Les contraires – al-aDdad – dans le Coran et leur equivalence dans les traductions, Bucarest, 2004

Bangla Quran

English Qurʻan with Audio

Learn Quran translation in English
{{Authority control Quran translations, Quranic translation,