I want to read the Qu'ran...

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Hans35
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I want to read the Qu'ran...

Post #1

Post by Hans35 »

Which English translation should I opt for? I've heard good and bad things about Yusuf Ali. Khan should be pretty inaccurate. But which is the MOST accurate and easiest to understand?

Thanks

hti
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Location: Iraq

Re: I want to read the Qu'ran...

Post #2

Post by hti »

[Replying to post 1 by Hans35]

I use this website to quote Qur'an Ayah to english speakers it seems good, but to be quite honest with you I didn't read it whole just some Ayah.

http://quran.com/

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jamesyaqub
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Re: I want to read the Qu'ran...

Post #3

Post by jamesyaqub »

Hans35 wrote: Which English translation should I opt for? I've heard good and bad things about Yusuf Ali. Khan should be pretty inaccurate. But which is the MOST accurate and easiest to understand?

Thanks


The is only one Koran but many translations. Arabic is a very different language from English. Arabic is pure, having evolved and changed very little over the thousands of years of it's use. English is a bastard tongue which came into common use in the early years of the 12th century. It's very complex.

I use the translation given by Yusuf Ali. This man seems more adept than most others at thinking in both Arabic and English.

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Pazuzu bin Hanbi
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Re: I want to read the Qu'ran...

Post #4

Post by Pazuzu bin Hanbi »

jamesyaqub wrote:Arabic is pure, having evolved and changed very little over the thousands of years of it's use.
That’s clearly a myth considering so many words of the qur’anic age now mean something different. Also note how many fluent ‘Arabi speakers have difficulty in comprehending the qur’an.

Hans35: it depends on what you want out of your reading. If you want islamic propaganda then sure, go ahead and pick up any number of different translations, including the Yusuf Ali one.

If you want poetic and fiery beauty at the expense of comprehensibility, then try for EH Palmer’s eminently readable version (though I must stress again that it can prove hard to understand at times).

If you want accuracy which doesn’t pay lip service to Islamic doxology and legends then go for my personal preference by Tarif Khalidi.
لا إلـــــــــــــــــــــــــــه

NoApology10
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Re: I want to read the Qu'ran...

Post #5

Post by NoApology10 »

[Replying to post 1 by Hans35]

I personally use "The Generous Qur'an" by Usama Dakdok. He is a native Arabic speaker and Christian Apologist who's pretty passionate about exposing Islam for what he believes is a violent religion. It reads almost like a study Bible in that he inserts (very clearly) his commentary on contradictions and comparisons to the Bible before certain passages. I won't say it's the only version you should have but I think a required companion of at least one other version.

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Pazuzu bin Hanbi
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Post #6

Post by Pazuzu bin Hanbi »

Some of the key verses in the qur'an are translated technically correctly by Dakdok, such as 5:117. Like Khalidi's version, he translates 'caused me to die' properly, whereas muslim interpreters routinely mistranslate it as 'raised me up' in order to shore up their claim that Jesus didn't die on the cross.
لا إلـــــــــــــــــــــــــــه

paarsurrey1
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Post #7

Post by paarsurrey1 »

I will recommend on-line English translation of Quran by Sher Ali (also it includes translation in German and Urdu) with the Arabic original Text, sample :


[1:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
[1:1] الل� کے نام کے ساتھ جو بے انت�ا رحم کرنے والا، ب�ن مانگے دینے والا (اور) بار بار رحم کرنے والا �ے۔
[1:1] Im Namen Allahs, des Gnädigen, des Barmherzigen.
Read: Short English Commentary | Detailed English Commentary | Urdu Tafaseer اردو ت�اسیر

https://www.alislam.org/quran/search2/s ... r.php?ch=1
Regards

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