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The Qur'an: A Translation for the 21st Century
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About the Author
Adil Salahi's writings include the acclaimed Muhammad: Man and Prophet and Pioneers of Islamic Scholarship, and the English translation of the 18-volume In the Shade of the Qur'an. His main career has been in radio and print journalism, and for over 30 years he was editor of 'Islam in Perspective', a twice-weekly full-page column in the Arab News, a Saudi daily newspaper.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction The Qur'an is God’s word which He revealed to Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel. God had earlier revealed scriptures to different prophets, including the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel. The Qur’an is clearly intended to be God’s final message to mankind, setting out the way of life God wants people to lead. It sets their lives on the right course and ensures their happiness in this world and the next. In this present life, they have through God’s message what gives them satisfaction of their physical and spiritual needs, as well as a sense of complete fulfilment. Implementation of the Qur'an in this present life ensures for them admittance into heaven in the life to come. This means a second life of perfect bliss and happiness, as well as enjoyment of what is even better, namely that God is pleased with them. The Qur’an was revealed in parts during the period from the beginning of Muhammad’s prophethood in 610 to shortly before he passed away in 632. Although the revelations given to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) included much more than the Qur’an. The Qur’an is given in God’s own word, while the rest of His revelation was expressed by Prophet Muhammad in his words and style. The two complement each other and together form the Islamic message. The Qur’an is God’s own word, and it has been preserved in its original form over the fourteen centuries of Islamic history. This is due, first and foremost, to the fact that God has guaranteed its preservation: ‘It is We Ourselves who have bestowed this reminder from on high, and it is We who shall preserve it intact’. (15: 9) When the Prophet received a surah or a passage of the Qur’an, he immediately dictated it to one or more of his scribes. Many of his companions memorised it. When he passed away, his successor as head of the Muslim state, Abu Bakr, ordered the collation of a complete copy of the Qur’an to serve as reference. This was a meticulous exercise completed during Abu Bakr’s reign which lasted less than two years. The task was entrusted to Zayd ibn Thabit who had learnt the complete Qur’an by heart under the Prophet’s own instruction and guidance. Zayd gathered the written parts together, requiring two independent witnesses to testify that they were present when the Prophet dictated it to the scribe who kept it. Thus, authenticity was perfectly assured through the four people involved up to that point: the scribe, the two witnesses and Zayd, plus the written copy. However, Abu Bakr, [Umar, [Uthman and [Ali, all of whom knew the full Qur’an by heart, further checked the complete copy. The whole exercise was repeated again less than fifteen years later, when reference copies were produced by a committee headed by Zayd himself and who was helped by three more of the Prophet’s companions who also knew the Qur’an by heart. These copies were checked against the original copy collated during Abu Bakr’s reign. A copy was then sent to each of the main cities of the Muslim state, with a reciter who memorised the Qur’an in full to teach people its proper recitation. The Qur’an is recited every day by every Muslim who keeps up his or her prayer. It is recited in prayer and at other times, because its recitation is an act of worship. Millions of people have learned its entirety by heart throughout every generation since it was first revealed 1,400 years ago. Nearly every Muslim memorises parts of it, and most recite a portion of it every day. Those who know it by heart read it in full once a week in order to retain it in their immediate memory. None feels this to be a demanding task, even though it takes at least an hour and a half every day. On the contrary, they approach it with the eagerness of one who feels it adds to their happiness. No religious book is read and recited or listened to as frequently as the Qur’an. Yet those who recite it are always eager to do more. The question is whether this is due only to the religious aspect or if there is something more about the Qur’an? The religious factor is undoubtedly very important, but what is there about the Qur’an that attracts non-Muslim Arabs to memorise some passages of it? Indeed, some of them read it in its entirety time after time. We need to remember that the Qur’an was revealed during a time when the Arabs were very proud of their language and used it so skilfully as to include fine forms of expressive speech. Moreover, they attached great importance to poetry. As they were largely unlettered people, poetry was the way they recorded their history, highlighted their bright moments, expressed their sorrows, extolled the merits of their departed elders, described their happiest events, reviled their enemies and recorded the lessons they learnt through hard experience. They chanted it in their social gatherings, and through poetry their news travelled from one part of Arabia to another. It also served as their formal and social media. What is special about Arabic poetry is that a poem may run into hundreds of lines, maintaining the same metre and rhyme, without giving even a hint of affectation or the rhyming word sounding laboured. In this they benefited by the fact that Arabic is a derivative language, which means that a three-consonant root can generate words in double figures in the forms of verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs bearing the same meaning as the root and adding varying connotations. For example, if we take the Arabic root h-d-th, meaning to do and to speak, we may derive the following fifteen words: happened, narrated, speaker, interlocutor, spokesman, spoken statement, converse, conversation, accident, recent, made something new, invented a new thing, event, innovated, recently, and the causer of an event.[1] Furthermore, the root will also provide several more words delivering yet greater subtleties in each instance. In the tribal society of Arabia, with tribes often raiding each other for plunder or revenge, the rise of a poet was an occasion for great celebration, because he could always highlight the merits of his tribe and revile its opponents. The fact that poetry is easily memorised and survives for a considerable length of time added to its importance. When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) recited passages of the Qur’an to the Arabs, in his efforts to advocate his message, they could not place it in any form of speech they knew. For certain, they realised that, despite its use of rhyme at times and having rhythm, it was not poetry. The Prophet appreciated poetry and could distinguish what was fine and what was of low standard, and he listened to some recitals of fine poetry, but he never expressed himself in any form that could be described as akin to poetry. He did not even quote any line of poetry in his speech. Discerning Arabs were quick to recognise that the Qur’an was of a much superior quality than even the finest of their poetry. Hence, when anyone suggested that his opponents should describe Muhammad as a poet, the suggestion was rejected out of hand. Having listened to two passages of the Qur’an, al-Mafruq ibn [Amr, the head of the major Arabian tribe, the Shayban, said to the Prophet: ‘What you say is not the word of a human being. Had it been human speech we would have recognised it’.[2] One of the finest aspects of the Qur’an’s style is the combination of word economy and expansive expression. Many literary critics have expressed wonder at how the Qur’an presents its ideas with the number of words it uses: it is a case of full meaning with minimum words, and this is consistent throughout, even when it provides detailed legislation. One clear example is the system of inheritance which assigns shares to different heirs, covering all situations and relations that may arise in any family and leaving no room for dispute. The whole system is outlined in verses 11, 12 and 176 of the fourth surah, Women. Together these verses use no more than 209 words in 22 lines. The Qur’an tells stories of earlier prophets and their communities. Brevity is again a main feature of its style. In the story of the birth of Jesus in Surah 19, only seven words separate the angel’s announcement to Mary that he was to give her a son and her being in labour. Yet her trouble at her virgin pregnancy and the need to hide from curious eyes is perfectly accounted for. Surah 12 devotes 98 of its 111 verses to the story of Prophet Joseph, from his childhood to the reunion with his parents after he was appointed to a high position in the government of Egypt. The story runs in 28 scenes and there are gaps between some of them and at times the gap could stretch over several years. Yet at no point does the reciter or the listener feel that any part of the story is left out. On the contrary, they feel that they are given all necessary details. For example, one scene closes with Joseph’s brothers in Egypt finding themselves at a loss because of the arrest of their youngest brother when they had most solemnly pledged to their father that they would return him safely. Their eldest is telling them to go back and explain what happened to their father and give him all the necessary evidence confirming the truth of their report. The next scene opens immediately, with their father giving his reaction to their report. Thus, their journey from Egypt to Palestine, their feelings as they arrived, their reluctance to speak to their father as they were conscious of their guilt over Joseph’s disappearance are all left out, but the story is felt to be complete. Furthermore, the story identifies lessons to be learned and clearly illustrates concepts for believers to uphold. A unique feature of the Qur’an’s style is that outlined by Sayyid Qutb in his pioneering work Artistic Imagery in the Qur’an, published in 1945. Qutb says: Painting images is the Qur’an’s preferred method of expression. It presents abstract concepts, psychological feelings, real events, visible scenes, people’s types and human nature in clear images that we can mentally see before us. It then gives the painted image real life and successive movement. It thus gives the abstract idea shape or movement; presents a psychological feeling in a scene or a painting; shows human nature and types of people alive before our very eyes. Events, scenes and stories are all shown full of life and movement. When dialogue is added to these, all elements are completed for us to imagine what is on show. Once the Qur’an starts its presentation of these, the reciter and listeners become the audience watching the story unfold. They are transported to the stage where the story took place or where the event will happen. As one scene or movement follows another, listeners forget that they are merely listening to words being recited. Instead, they feel that they are actually watching those very scenes and events.[3] An excellent translator will be able to express the ideas and meanings of the author and put these in a way that enables the reader in the target language to fully understand the original text. However, each language has its own characteristics and what is easily manipulated in one language may not be achievable in another. This feature of the Qur’anic style is one of the difficulties that a translator of the Qur’an faces. Another aspect of the Qur’anic style is its rhythm. Rhythm runs throughout the Qur’an, and it varies to suit the nature of the surah and its subject matter. Indeed it varies within the same surah, even in shorter ones. Sometimes the beat is strong and fast, while at others it is soft and slow. At other times these two combinations are reversed. Yet there is no metre to adhere to anywhere. Arabic poetry has no less than 17 different metres, but none of them is employed in the Qur’an. Nevertheless, one only needs to listen to the Qur’an being recited by an expert reciter to realise that music runs throughout it. At least two translators of the Qur’an were largely motivated to undertake the task by their love of its music. These were the late Arthur Arberry and N.J. Dawood; neither of whom was a Muslim, and both tried to give rhythm to their texts, despite the fact that their approaches were fundamentally different. In several conversations with Mr Dawood, he spoke to me about his feelings when he listened to a good recitation of the Qur’an. Professor Arberry wrote in the Introduction to his translation: There is a repertory of familiar themes running through the whole Koran; each Sura elaborates or adumbrates one or more – often many – of these. Using the language of music, each Sura is a rhapsody composed of whole or fragmentary leitmotivs; the analogy is reinforced by the subtly varied rhythmical flow of the discourse… During the long months, the dark and light months, of labouring at this interpretation… I have been reliving those Ramadan nights of long ago, when I would sit on the veranda of my Gezira[4] house and listen entranced to the old, white-bearded Sheykh who chanted the Koran for the pious delectation of my neighbour. We may say that the superior literary excellence of the Qur’anic style, its brevity, music and other unique aspects make the Qur’an very hard to translate, or even ‘untranslatable’. Yet there has been no shortage of attempts to translate the Qur’an. The first English translation by George Sale was published in 1734, followed in 1861 by Rodwell’s and in 1880 by Palmer’s. English translations by Muslims started to appear early in the 20th century, followed by two widely circulated versions; one by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and the other by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. Both appeared in the 1930s. Then Arberry’s and Dawood’s appeared in the 1950s. The later part of the 20th century saw the publication of several other translations, perhaps reaching double figures, and the trend continues in the present century. At least two have already appeared and I know of two more currently being prepared. Most of these are by Muslim scholars. Each of these translations, as well as the ones I have not mentioned, has its merits, particularly when we take their dates into consideration. However, this multiplicity of rendering the same original text begs the question: why should anyone redo what has already been done? The answer is the feeling everyone who is familiar with both Arabic and English experiences: the product falls far short of what the original is like. How can it be otherwise when the text of the translation is the word of a human being while the original is the word of God? Should a person who undertakes the task of producing a new translation of the Qur’an consult the work of those who preceded him in this endeavour? Undoubtedly he should, just as he looks through the commentaries produced by Muslim scholars over the centuries. There is no harm in using similar words. Indeed this is inevitable, because the original text is the same. Yet the method and style may be remarkably different. * * * Many years ago, a student who was preparing a Ph.D. thesis on Qur’anic translations asked me if I wished to produce a new translation of the Qur’an. My answer was definitely in the negative. Yet at the time I was heavily committed to the translation of In the Shade of the Qur’an, an 18-volume translation of Sayyid Qutb’s priceless commentary on the Qur’an. Needless to say, the work involved rendering the meaning of the Qur’an into English. Even when I finished that work, at the end of 2007, I had no intention of producing the translation of the Qur’an separately. However, many friends have encouraged me to do so, and this despite the reluctance I expressed given the great gulf between the Arabic text and the work I did. I have now, however, yielded to these requests, accepting the counter argument that the Qur’an does its work and addresses people’s hearts even when it speaks to them only through the poor language of feeble humans. Its message comes across despite the many shortcomings of human expression. Even in the original, its address touches the hearts of Arabs who never went to school or learnt to read and write, despite the fact that their language is far removed from that of the people of Arabia at the time the Qur’an was revealed. Therefore, it is right to express the meaning of the Qur’an in today’s language, so that its message is more readily available to English readers. Therefore, I have now reappraised my earlier work and introduced some changes which, I hope, improve upon it. I have endeavoured to put the meanings of the Qur’anic verses and surahs in simple and straightforward form, so that the 21st century reader may find it easy to access. I hope that in this way, my contribution is worthwhile. I am indebted to many of my predecessors and I hope that their work has helped me to avoid the pitfalls this task presents. No one can or may translate the Qur’an without consulting the commentaries and interpretations written by renowned scholars over the fourteen centuries of Islamic history. As many sentences in the Qur’an are understood in more than one way, these commentaries may highlight meanings that are seen to be secondary in others. Translators may take one or the other, and as a result there will be differences in the way they render their meanings. On the other hand, translators themselves may read verses differently, or highlight certain shades of meaning more than others. All these are factors that have led to great variations in the way the meanings of the Qur’an are rendered in different translations. However, the overriding difficulty is that the power and richness of expression provided in the original Arabic text, as revealed by God Himself, cannot then be matched in human language. * * * I have kept footnotes to the minimum, so as to allow the text to deliver its own core message. I realise that some verses and surahs must be understood against the background of the events they relate to, but as the Qur’an is a book for all time, I have not sought to give such explanations following our scholars’ agreed view that Qur’anic texts should be taken in their general meanings, rather than with the peculiarity of relevant events. The event only helps to understand the reason for revelation, but the message is everlasting. In my short introductions to the surahs I point out the events to which they relate, so that readers who wish to delve further into these can easily find their references. [1] These Arabic words are: hadatha, haddatha, muhaddith, muhadith, mutahaddith, hadith, hadatha, muhadathah, hadeth, hadeeth, ahdatha, istahdath, hadath, mustahdath, hadeethan, and muhdith. [2] The two passages the Prophet recited to the Shayban group of pilgrims were verses 151-153 of Surah 6, and verse 90 of Surah 16. [3] Sayyid Qutb, Artistic Imagery in the Qur’an, p. 34. (Publisher, place and date are not mentioned.) [4] At the time, Gezira was one of the most prestigious areas of Cairo.
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Product details
Paperback: 640 pages
Publisher: The Islamic Foundation (June 18, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0860377253
ISBN-13: 978-0860377252
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