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Preface
Note on Translation
01 - The Opening
02 - The Heifer
03 - The House Of Imran
04 - Women
05 - The Table Spread
06 - Livestock
07 - The Heights
08 - Spoils Of War
09 - Repentance
10 - Jonah
11 - Hud
12 - Joseph
13 - Thunder
14 - Abraham
15 - Al Hijr (The Rocky Tract)
16 - The Bee
17 - The Night Journey (Al Isra)
18 - The Cave
19 - Mary
20 - Ta-Ha
21 - The Prophets
22 - The Pilgrimage
23 - The Faithful
24 - The Light
25 - The Standard
26 - The Poets
27 - The Ant
28 - Stories
29 - The Spider
30 - The Byzantines
31 - Luqman
32 - The Prostration (Sajadah)
33 - The Clans
34 - Sheba (Saba)
35 - The Originator
36 - Ya'-Seen
37 - Those Ranged in Ranks
38 - S'ad (arabic letter S)
39 - The Troops
40 - The Forgiver
41 - Spelled Out (Signs)
42 - Consultation
43 - Gold Adornments
44 - Smoke
45 - Crouching
46 - The Dunes
47 - Muhammad
48 - Conquest
49 - The Inner Rooms
50 - Qaaf (arabic letter q)
51 - The Dust Scattering Winds
52 - The Mount
53 - The Star
54 - The Moon
55 - The Beneficient
56 - The Inevitable
57 - Iron
58 - The Woman Who Pleads
59 - The Gathering
60 - The One To Be Examined
61 - The Ranks
62 - The Congregation (Friday)
63 - The Hypocrites
64 - Haggling
65 - Divorce
66 - Prohibition
67 - The Sovereignity
68 - The Pen
69 - The Reality
70 - The Ascending Stairways
71 - Noah
72 - The Jinn (Sprites)
73 - Enshrouded one
74 - The Cloaked one
75 - Resurrection
76 - Time / Man
77 - The Emissaries
78 - The Tidings
79 - Those That Rise
80 - He Frowned
81 - The Overthrowing
82 - The Cleaving
83 - Those Who Give Short Measure
84 - The Splitting Asunder
85 - Constellations
86 - The Morning Star
87 - The Most High
88 - The Overwhelming
89 - Daybreak
90 - The City
91 - The Sun
92 - The Night
93 - The Morning Hours
94 - Consolation
95 - The Fig
96 - The Clot
97 - The Night of Power
98 - The Clear Proof
99 - The Earthquake
100 - The Charger
101 - The Calamity
102 - Competition
103 - The Declining Day
104 - The Gossipmonger
105 - The Elephant
106 - The Quraysh / Winter
107 - Small Kindnesses
108 - Abundance
109 - The Disbelievers
110 - Divine Support
111 - The Palm Fibre / The Flame
112 - Purity (Of Faith)
113 - Daybreak
114 - Mankind
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The Qur'ân is a text that is deep in meaning but simple to
understand. The language of its revelation is Arabic, and in translations to
other languages, a lot of its original essence is lost due to language
differences. This loss could be explained in the way a poem written in English
would not retain its same intricacy or beauty when it is translated to Japanese.
It would depend on the tastes of the translator to choose the words of the poem
in Japanese, and therefore, the same poem when translated would be a version
that is not entirely comparable in value to the original text. Similarly, any
translations of the Qur'ân are solely for referential purposes, and if a
knowledge of the profound depth and beauty of the Qur'ân is required, it should
be read in its original language, Arabic.
Given the depth as well as the
sublimity of the Qur'ân text, a faithful translation of it into another language
is virtually impossible. The various translations that exist today, however
accurate they may be, cannot be designated as the Qur'ân, since they can never
hope to imitate the diction or the style of the Book of Allah. But as
translation is one of the few ways to export the message of the Qur'ân to allow
those lacking in knowledge of Arabic to share this priceless gift, it becomes a
duty for those in a position to fulfill this task.
A number of individuals have in the past ventured to
translate the Qur'ân, but their works have generally been private attempts,
greatly influenced by their own prejudices. In order to produce a reliable
translation free from personal bias, a Royal decree (No. 19888, dated 16/8/1400
AH) was issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Ibn Abdul
Aziz, at that time the deputy prime minister, authorizing the General Presidency
of the Departments of Islamic Researches, IFTA, Call and Guidance to undertake
the responsibility of revising and correcting a particular translation which
would be selected for this purpose and made publicly available later.
To accomplish this enormous task, a number of committees were
formed, comprising scholars well qualified both in Islamic Shari 'a and the
English language. Some of these scholars were associated with the General
Presidency of the Departments of Islamic Researches, IFTA, Call and Guidance.
The first committee was given the task of examining the
existing translations and choosing the most suitable one from among them. The
committee discovered that there was no translation free from defects and so
there were two options open for consideration : the first was to select the best
translation available and then adopt it as a base for further work as well as a
source of reference, with the objective of revising its contents and correcting
any faults in view of the objections raised against it; the second was to
prepare a fresh and independent translation, starting from scratch.
It became obvious from studying these translations that the
second option demanded much time and effort, neither of which were available at
the time. The first option was therefore considered to be more practical, since
it met the existing urgent requirements and helped to achieve the desired goal
in a comparatively short period of time. The translation by the late Abdullah
Yusuf Ali was consequently chosen for; its distinguishing characteristics, such
as a highly elegant style, a choice of words close to the meaning of the
original text, accompanied by scholarly notes and commentaries.
The committee began revising and correcting this translation
with the aid of other translations available, by comparing and then adopting
best expressions as well as by introducing fresh expressions where necessary.
The committee was fully aware of all the criticisms that had been directed
against this translation and which had been carefully brought to the notice of
the presidency by a number of academic bodies and other involved parties. In the
second stage, the entire work of this committee was referred to a number of
individuals and organizations who then augmented any deficiencies in the work of
the committee.
A third committee was set up to collate all their
suggestions. It then compared all such views regarding specific issues, selected
the appropriate one(s) and arrived at a text as authentic and defect-free as was
humanly possible.
Finally, a fourth committee was formed to look into the
findings of the second and third committees and to implement the recommendations
made by them. Furthermore, this committee had to finalize the text by adopting
the most accurate expression where needed, besides checking the notes vigilantly
so as to clear any misconceptions regarding the articles of faith, varying
juristic opinions and thoughts not in conformity with the sound Islamic point of
view.
In the course of its work, the committee came across some
Arabic words which could not be translated correctly, such as Zakât and Tâghût.
It was therefore decided to give a transliteration of these words in English
with a brief explanatory note for each one at its first occurrence in the text.
The reader will find a list of such words at the end of this preface, as well as
a list containing an English transliteration of Arabic letters. A list of the
abbreviations used in this work is also provided. Finally, the reader will find
at the end of the text a comprehensive list containing references to proper
names of people, places and important topics, dealt with either in the text or
in the accompanying notes.
According to the Royal decree (No. 12412, dated 27/10/1405
AH), this translation is printed at King Fahd Holy Qur'ân Printing Complex in
Al-Medina Al-Munawarah and also with coordination of the General Presidency of
the Departments of Islamic Researches, Ifta, Call and Guidance.
This website is an an attempt
to make the Koran available on the net in a readable and easily navigable
format. It is still a work in progress so if you come across any mistake, or
have any comments, email me on
swerve@mail.utexas.edu .
Saad W. Ansari
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