Institute Al Islam - Translations of the Quran

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Translations of the Quran
The Holy Quran's Translation in English by Abdullah Yousuf Ali

Almost all languages spoken by Muslims have translations of the Quran in them. Usually the Text is printed with the Translation. If the language is undeveloped many of the Arabic woords of the Quran are taken over bodily into it for want of corresponding words in the language. Even in cultivated languages like Persian or Turkish, the introduction of religious terms from Arabic gave a body of words which were common to the whole Islamic world, and thus cemented that unity of the Muslim Brotherhood which is typified by the Qibla. Where the notion itself is new to the speakers of polished languages, they are glad to borrow the Arabic word expressing that notion and all the associations connected with it. Such a word is Qibla. Where the language is undeveloped, the translation is nothing more than a rough explanation of the Arabic Text. The translation has nither grammatical finish nor a form which can stand independently by itself. That is what happened with the earlier Urdu translations. They were really rough explanations. The ambition of every learned Muslim is to read the Quran in Arabic. The ambition of every Muslim is to read the sounds of the Arabic Text. I wish that his or her ambition were also to understand the Quran, either in Arabic or in the mother tongue or some well developed tongue which he or she understands. Hence the need for good and accurate translations.

The translations into non-European languages known to me are : Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Tamil (used by Moplas), Pashto (for Afghans) , Bengali, Malay, some of the languages of the Eastern Archipelago, and some of the African languages. I believe there is also a Chinese (dialectical translation.

The earliest Urdu translation was by Shah 'Abdul Qadir of Delhi (d 1826) He has already been mentioned among the indian Commentators. Since then numerous Urdu translations have followed, some of which have been left incomplete. Among the complete ones, much used at the present day, may be mentioned those of Shah Rafi'-ud-din of Delhi, Shah Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi and Maulvi Nazir Ahmad (d. 1912). Personally I prefer the last. The projected Urdu translation by Hakim
Ahmad Shuja' has not yet been published.

Before the development of the modern European vernaculars, the cultivated language of Europe was Latin. A Latin translation was made for the Monastery of Clugny about 1143 (in the sixth century of the Hijra') but not published till 1543. The place of publication was BasIe and the publisher Bibliander. This was translated into Italian, German, and Dutch. Schweigger's German translation was published at Nurenburg (Bavaria) in 1616. A French translation by Du Ryer was published at Paris in 1647, and a Russian one at St. Petersburg in 1776. Savary's French translation appeared in 1783, and Kasimirski's French translation (which has passed through several editions) first appeared in 1840, the French interest in islam having been stimulated by French conquests in Algeria and North Africa. The Germans have followed up Schweigger with Boysen's translation in 1773, WahI's in 1828, and Ullmann's (first edition in 1840). I believe the Ahmad-iya Association of Lahore have in hand a fresh translation into German and Dutch.

Meanwhile Maracci had produced in 1689 a Latin version of the Quran with the Arabic Text and quotations from various Arabic Commentaries, carefully selected and garbled, so as to give the worst possible impression of Islam to Europe. Maracci was a learned man, and there is no pretence about the object he had in view viz.. to discredit Islam by an elaborate show of quotations from Muslim authorities themselves. Maracci was himself a Confessor to Pope Innocent XI; his work is dedicated to the holy Roman Emperor Leopold I; and he introduces it by an introductory volume containing what he calls a Refutation of the Quran.

The first English translation by Aros was but a translation of the first French translation of Du Ryer of 1647, and was published a few years after Du Ryer's. George Sale's translation (l734) was based on Maracci's Latin version, and even his notes and, his Preliminary Discorse are based mainly on Maracci. Considering that Maracci's object was to discredit Islam in the eyes of Europe, it is remarkable that Sale's translation should be looked upon as a standard translation in the English speaking world, and should pass through edition after edition, being even included in 'the series called the Chandos Classics and receiving the benediction of Sir E. Denison Ross. The Rev. J M. Rodwell arranged the Surahs in a rough chronological order. His translation was first published in 1861. Though he tries to render the idiom fairly, his notes show the mind of a Christian clergyman, who was more concerned to show up "the book than to appreciate or expound its beauties". Prof. E. H. Palmer's translation (first published in 1876) suffers from the idea that the Quran ought to be
translated into colloquial language. He failed to realise the beauty and grandeur of style in the original ArabIc. To him that style was "rude and rugged" we may more justifiably call his translation careless and slipshod.

The amount of mischief done by these versions of non.Mtislim and anti Muslim writers has led Muslim writers to venture into the field of English translation. The first Muslim to undertake an English translation was Dr. Muhammad 'Abdul Hakim Khan, of Patiala, 1905. Mirza Hairat of Delhi also published a translation, (Delhi 1919): the Commentary which he intended to publish in a
separate volume of introduction was, as fat as I know, never published. My dear friend, the late Nawwab 'Imad ul-Mulk Saiyid Husain Bilgrami of Hyderabad, Deccan, translated a portion, but he did not live to complete his work. The Ahmadiya Sect has also been active in the field. Its Qadiyan Anjuman published a verson of the first Sipara in 1915. Apparently no more was published. Its Lahore Anjuman has published Maulvi Mubammad 'Ali's translation (first edition in 1917, which has
passed through more than one edition. It is a scholarly work, and is equipped with adequate explanatory matter in the notes and the Preface, and a fairly full Index. But the English of the Text is decidedly weak, and is not likely to appeal to those who know no Arabic. There are two other Muslim translations of great merit. But they have been published without the Arabic Text. Hafiz Gulsim Sarwar's translation (published in 1930 or 1929) deserves to be better known than it is. He
has provided fairly full summarys of the Surahs, section by section, but he has practically no notes to his Text. I think such notes are necessary for a full understanding of the Text. In many cases the Arabic words and phrases are so pregnant of meaning that a Translator would be in despair unless he were allowed to explain all that he understands by them. Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall's translation was published in 1930. He is an English Muslirn, a literary man of standing, and an Arabic scholar. But he has added very few notes to elucidate the Text. His rendering is "almost literal" : it can hardly be expected that it can give an adequate idea of a Book which (in his own words) can be described as "that inimitable symphony the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy." Perhaps the attempt to catch something of that symphony in another language is impossible. Greatly daring, I have made that attempt. We do not blame an artist who tries to
catch in his picture something of the glorious light of a spring landscape.

The English Ianguage being widely spread over the world, many people interested in lslam will get their ideas of the Quran from English translations. It is good that qualified Muslims should make the attempt to present the picture which their own mental and spiritual vision presents to themselves. The lndian educational system has enthroned English as the common language of culture for a population of 350 millions. The most educated of its 80 millions of Muslims -- unless they know Arabic -- look to English as the most cultivated medium of expression. Their non-Muslim fellow countrymen judge -- usually misjudge -- their religion by the material which is available to them in English. We should improve and.increase this material as much as we can and from as many points of view as we can. Some Muslim nations -- like the Turks --have now determined to provide their religious literature (including the Holy Book) in their own national language. In order to keep them in touch with the thought and points of view of their brethren in faith, the English language would under present conditions be the most convenient medium. These are the considerations which have moved me to undertake the stupendous task of providing an English interpretation of the Quran. I pray for strength and light, so that I may be enabled to succeed in this service to Islam.