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Plotinus
Growing Lion
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 894
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:50 am Post subject: Qu'ran translations |
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This is just a general query to those who are interested in the relationship between Christianity, the Bible and the Qu'ran. I am wondering what translations people prefer or are familiar with.
The reason I raise this is that I recently worked through the Dawood translation and found it much easier to work with than some of the more traditional translations. The Qu'ran is famous for its compact elliptical remarks which are very difficult to understand. Translation scholarship on the Qu'ran tends to lean to the conservative because of the belief of Muslims that the Qu'ran is only inspired in its original version as Arabic poetry.
So most translations read like Young's literal translation or the NASB. Dawood's translation is much more readable and is more like the CEV in style.
_________________
One would never discover the limits of soul, should one traverse every road -- so deep a measure does it possess.
Heraclitus, fragment 45, quoted in Diogenes Laertius 9.7. |
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Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1521
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:28 am Post subject: |
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At my request, a Muslim friend gave me a copy of the Koran. The book he gave me as a gift is called, The meaning of the GLORIOUS QURAN: An explanatory translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall.
He was delighted when I read it and we've had many interesting conversations ever since. However, my friend was quick to correct me when I inadvertently said that I had read the Koran. He gently informed me that I had only read an English translation of the Koran. To truly read the Koran (according to him) it must be read in Arabic. (But I have seen some Muslim web sites that say otherwise.)
Last edited by Mattathias on Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1521
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:51 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Muslim law dictates that the Koran must always be read in Arabic, which is basically Classical Arabic. |
http://www.6thcolumnagainstjihad.com/Commentary_P1.htm
I don't know if this is true or not. I haven't been able to find a specific reference to substantiate the claim. |
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Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1521
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:53 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Is reading the Quran in Arabic an absolute necessity?
The answer is no, the Quran can be read in any language:
The Quran was revealed in Arabic, but God promised to be its teacher (55:1-4) and the One to explain it (75:18-19). God told us in the verse (41:44) that language is irrelevant, and that only the sincere ones are going to understand the Quran irrespective of their language; while those who are not sincere or failed to worship Him alone will fail to understand it, even if they speak, read, and write Arabic (56:79).
In a lot of non-Arabic speaking countries Muslims are forced as children to read the Quran in Arabic and still as adults read the Quran in Arabic but they do not understand a single word of what they read. What good is it to read the Quran like a parrot without understanding its meanings or like a donkey carrying valuable books (62:5)? It does not make any sense. The blessing of the Quran does not come by just reading it, but it comes by understanding it and accepting its message. The majority of those who learn Arabic to study the Quran do not excel enough to understand the implications or interpretations of certain words when used in a special way in the Arabic language. Therefore, if you wait until you become a good Arabic speaking person, you may waste a lot of precious time of your life before being able to read the Quran.
Of course, if you insist in reading the Quran in Arabic you can do so by studying the Arabic language and reading the Quran in English at the same time. The Quran is a message, not just another beautiful language book. We have to trust God and know that He is the teacher of the Quran. He will teach it in any language and to any nationality, He created all things. |
http://www.submission.org/quran/read.html |
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Ryck
Lion King
Joined: 05 Dec 2002
Posts: 1083
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:16 am Post subject: |
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| Mattathias wrote: | At my request, a Muslim friend gave me a copy of the Koran. The book he gave me as a gift is called, The meaning of the GLORIOUS QURAN: An explanatory translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall.
He was delighted when I read it and we've had many interesting conversations ever since. However, my friend was quick to correct me when I inadvertently said that I had read the Koran. He gently informed me that I had only read an English translation of the Koran. To truly read the Koran (according to him) it must be read in Arabic. (But I have seen some Muslim web sites that say otherwise.) |
I've heard from non-Arabic Muslim friends that they tend to be a bit annoyed with Arab Muslims with their Arab centric, Arab sense of superiority, and Arab chauvinism when it comes to Islam. This is not generally shown in front of non-Muslims but the static is there among the non-Arabic Muslims.
Non-Arab Muslims tend to believe that Allah is an accepting international God while Arab Muslims tend to insist that Allah is an Arabic God and everyone needs to unite, read, pray, and submit in Arabic.
By the way, is there a online Koran website that has several versions of the Koran that one can view? Which English version of the Koran is best? |
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Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1521
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| Ryck wrote: | | By the way, is there a online Koran website that has several versions of the Koran that one can view? Which English version of the Koran is best? |
I don't know of a website containing multiple English translations. (I'll try to look around this afternoon.) There are many sites that have an English translation. The one I have bookmarked on my computer is:
http://www.readthequran.org/
A pretty thorough article (Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an) on the various English translations is located at:
http://www.meforum.org/article/717 |
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Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1521
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:53 am Post subject: |
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Ryck.
So far I've been able to locate one site that contains three English translations (YUSUFALI; PICKTHAL; SHAKIR). Just click on any sura that you're interested in. All three translations are placed side by side for easy comparison.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ |
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Ryck
Lion King
Joined: 05 Dec 2002
Posts: 1083
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:56 am Post subject: |
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| Mattathias wrote: | Ryck.
So far I've been able to locate one site that contains three English translations (YUSUFALI; PICKTHAL; SHAKIR). Just click on any sura that you're interested in. All three translations are placed side by side for easy comparison.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ |
Thanks for looking that up! |
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Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1521
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:12 am Post subject: |
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| Ryck wrote: | | Thanks for looking that up! |
You're welcome. (And thanks for prompting me to search.) The site will be my new bookmark for the Koran, unless/until I come across one that contains more English translations.  |
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Plotinus
Growing Lion
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 894
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:05 am Post subject: |
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I am glad to see that this thread has picked up steam.
The motivation behind my original post was that the Koran in any form is a very hard book to read. So it is helpful to have different English versions -- which are correctly seen as interpretations -- with differing translation philosophies. I have a copy of the Yusuf Ali version. But to be honest I find it less useful than other versions.
Versions of the Bible such as the CEV and The Message are often too free for their own good. But they help put the bible in a language that is not too technical for people who are just starting out reading it. If you are a Christianity 101 person, then reading words like "propitiation" in the Bible may make the sense of the text very obscure. Similarly, being told that we are redeemed by the blood of Christ may lead to bafflement. Many of us are at this stage with the Koran. So having a nontechnical version is also helpful for understanding what Muslims believe. Too often the issue that is discussed is accuracy of the English version. To this I would only say that if the English is incomprehensible, the issue of accuracy is irrelevant.
The only objection I have to the Pickthall version is that the word God is written as Allah there. I see no reason for this. It makes it look as if Muslims worship a different god from Christians. Of course Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. I like the Pickthall version more than the Arberry version, because--although less scholarly--it has useful notes on the text.
_________________
One would never discover the limits of soul, should one traverse every road -- so deep a measure does it possess.
Heraclitus, fragment 45, quoted in Diogenes Laertius 9.7. |
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