The Qur'an »

Reading the Qur'an was once a difficult undertaking due to language translation challenges from Arabic to English. Now this complete and accurate translation--with clearer comprehension and free-flowing text--makes the study of this sacred text of Islam accessible to a broader English-speaking audience.

Library Journal

Translation of the Qur'an, the holy book of Muslims, from its original Arabic has been for a long time an issue of controversy in Muslim countries and a subject of serious discourse among Islamic scholars and theologians. It may be reasonably claimed that translations of the Qur'an are merely subjective attempts to render its meaning. Khan, a former Pakistani foreign minister and an international lawyer, presents a translation that is clear and simple to comprehend to a wide English-speaking audience. The Arabic text is included on the same page side by side with the English rendering. Divided into 114 chapters called "suras" and arranged in increasing order of length, the book contains the collected revelations of the Prophet Muhammad, transmitted to him by the Angel Gabriel. Khan's translation includes a lengthy introduction (about 50 pages) that sheds some light on what a lay reader should know about the Qur'an, according to the translator, and is meant in lieu of explanatory notes in single chapters. Recommended for all collections.Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.