The Qur'an: A Translation [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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The Qur'an brought me closer to the mystical nature of human kind, and Abdullah Yousef Ali did a wonderful job in shedding light on the mystic and poetic nature of Islam. Only those who are natural, who love this Earth and are also willing to believe in miracles will see the true nature of this book.
Qur'an comes from the Arabic word Iqra'=read(verb). Therefore, Qur'an=that which is read upon you. The texts in the Qur'an carry symbols and signs that fall upon believers everyday to guide them onto righteous and noble paths.
I was raised a muslim, so thankfully I didn't have to break through all the obsantites that the unbelievers spewed about Islam. I am a firm believer of the Day of Judgement, and a firm believer that Islam has unfolded the true histories of humanity's struggles on Earth from the creation of Adam and Eve up untill the last prophet Muhammed (PBUH). Unfortunately, the Bible's texts aren't accurate because they've been ill-treated after Jesus's ressurection, and they were also changed and handed down from one corrupt authority to the next.
This case isn't true for the Qura'an because the prophet recited the Qura'an once a year during the month of Ramadan with the Angel Gabriel in order to protect the verses from being distorted, and then he recited them from memory and muslims wrote it down to preserve the symbolic words of Allah. Don't be alarmed, there are thousands of muslim children today who know this book off by heart.
The Qura'an carries symbolic texts which reveal the true sacrifices and hardships that all the prophets went though to pass on God's message. Jesus is not the son of God he was only his prophet, endowed with the knowledge of healing and magic. God has his own singular nature and owns a kingdom. The Qur'an reveals that every creature on this Earth crawled out from the water except Adam and Eve who decended from the heavens. This was written almost 1400 years ago, and yet it compiles with Darwin's theory. The Qura'an also reveals that this earth will be replaced by another one, after it's purified from evil. It will be replaced by the Lord of the Worlds,Allah,which justifies that Earth is not the only World that God/Allah created. Those who are good will stay and enjoy Earth's nature to its fullest i.e. absolute bliss and happiness. But the unbelievers will be fuel for hell, because the Qura'an defines this case as the harsh reality of nature's truth.
Moreover, God chose to reveal his true holy scriptures through the Arabic language because the Arabic alphabet represents the rythmic beats of our souls. In the Qura'an God reveals that he made humans out of clay and then gave it a soul from his breath. Therefore, the name Allah came to light because the last letter 'h: haa' represents the giving of breath. The first letter 'A' represents the beginning of life, because it's the first letter in the Arabic alphabet as well as the English one. However, the letter 'L'or'lam' in Arabic remains mysterious but might symbolize pain and the giving of life. In the Qura'an singular letters are often introduced in certain verses and they carry mystical and symbolic meanings that the translator of this book tried his best to explain. Moreover, this book carries both the English translation on one side, and the Arabic on the other so it will also be interesting to admire the beautiful calligraphy of this ancient semitic language.
One of Islam's major revelations is the return of Jesus. Muslims believe that Jesus was saved by God and wasn't crucifed on the cross. Instead, the Jewish diciple that deceived him was turned by God to look like Jesus in order to deceive his enemies, because The Lord of the Worlds has mercy on his prophets and obediant servants and will never let harm come their way. True Muslims also beleive that Jesus will return soon, because the signs of the revelations have appeared. Metals will fly and speak: radios and planes; arab nomads will build towers in their deserts: the booming of the oil industry in the middle-east.
The Qura'an made me a strong symbolic interactionist. It made me understand people's thought process, so it offered me the power to catch on swiftly to what others want to say. In other words, it offered me a unique sense of wit and besides, this life is meaningless without signs and symbols. This only became possible after carefully studying the Qura'an by the aid of this translation and I also used additional texts that include the prophets teachings/'ahadith'.
As a muslim, who lives in the US, I do admit that many muslims today don't recognise the beauty and the truth that this book has to offer. Prime examples are Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. They misinterpreted the term jihad in the Qura'an because they weren't true believers. They were greedy for control and power. There are many arenas of Jihad nowadays such as the media, so they will have no excuses for what they've done.If they were true believers then they would have loved their faith enough to safeguard it from heresay and in return they would have thought of safer and effective options/mediums to make a noble difference in the world. The pen is mightier than the sword, but they weren't patient for that because Allah's love wasn't enough for them.
If you don't beleive in One God, in his Angels, his Holy Books, in Heaven and in Hell and in the Last Day of Judgement, then don't waste your time reading this book.
I definitely, most definitely, recommend this translation.
Just passing on the love,
Sara

I am, as my title says, not a Muslim. Actually, I am a Wiccan. But I find in the Qur'an, more so than in any other holy script, a call for us to care for ourselves and others equally.

Many believe that the Qur'an is the source of the hatred that some Muslims have for the West. I do not feel this is true. The text calls, not for the (lesser) ... (holy war) on the Western world, as it is currently being practiced by some misguided folks, but to cleanse one's own heart of hatred and impurity first. ...

Every passage I have read calls for love. Love of Allah, and love of your fellow man. How can people turn such a loving book into their (proclaimed) guidebook for hatred? There are things I will never understand. That, perhaps, is first amongst them.

Again I say, I am not a Muslim; I am a Witch. But nonetheless, I think, were the Qur'an practiced as the law of our land, this would be a great nation....

This translation is considered the most authentic by Muslim scholars. It is the one that is supported by the government of Saudi Arabia and is most widely read by English-speaking Muslims. A translation of the Qur'an can never fully transmit the meaning or reflect the beauty of the original text. But the reality is that many people who seek to understand the message of the Qur'an will not be able to learn Arabic. It should be kept in mind that though the Arabic word may have multiple meanings, only one of those meanings gets translated to English (imagine what would happen to one of Shakespeare's puns if it was traslated to Arabic). But for English-speakers, this is the best option (though Mohammad Asad's translation is also very respected). The caveat is that to truly understand the Qur'an, it is important to read not only the text itself, but to understand it in context of the time it was revealed. Though Muslims consider the Qur'an to be timeless, many passages relate specifically to events occuring in the prophet's life or in the young Muslim community.

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5.0 out of 5 stars My divine book
It is not up to the minor and humble opinion of human beings to judge a divine book. You can express your own opinions but it does not matter at all, and it won't discount the... Read more

Published on Aug 6 2005 by Mahdad Zarafshan

1.0 out of 5 stars Only one god and Allah isnt his name.....
Allah is the name of the only God in Islam. Allah is a pre-Islamic name coming from the compound Arabic word Al-ilah which means the God, which is derived from al (the) ilah... Read more

Published on July 16 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars The best book in the world?
If you're considering purchase of this book, you are either 1)a Muslim, 2)someone who wants to understand a perceived enemy, or 3)just curious. Read more

Published on Oct 17 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Very happy
All i have to say is trust this person, they were very nice and sent my book right away. im happy with them.

Published on April 23 2003 by Jeremy Brimer

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Informative, Necessary to know WHY!
After the constant ruckus with terrorist I decided to read the Qur'an for the simple reason that Sun Tzu taught in his Art of War writings... Read more

Published on Aug 2 2002 by J. P. Ledbetter

3.0 out of 5 stars Not very similar to the Bible
First off, let me say that I am a Christian who read this book out of curiousity, in other words to see how similar the religions are. Read more

Published on July 14 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars Polygamy and exploitation of slaves
Many Westerners are aware of the grant of the right of polygamy to men by the Koran, few are aware that in the same text, the Koran grants male Muslims the "right" to sexually... Read more

Published on July 4 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Indescribable!
Ah, the Holy Qu'ran. There is nothing, absolutely NOTHING that compares to it's magnificence, it's glory, it's simple message that humanity's creator is ONE. Read more

Published on Jan 7 2002 by James Oberwein

1.0 out of 5 stars mediocre as literature
I bought this book as literature and out of curiosity. It was very repetitive and lacked cohesion in some areas. Read more

Published on Dec 19 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent commentary.
As a western convert to Islam through Sufism who is not fluent in Arabic I cannot speak about the translation. Read more

Published on Nov 14 2001

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