3
Note on the Text
In the use of the text of
Al-Qur’an al-Kareem
or the
Holy Qur’an
, I have taken theliberty of citing the English translation of verses from a number of editionsinterchangeably without stipulating the particular translated edition used. Thefollowing translations of the Koran were used:
The Meaning of the Holy Quran
, by Yusuf Ali, revised by Ismail al Faruqi, AmanaPublications, Beltsville, Maryland, 1996.
The Noble Qur’an in the English Language: A Summarised Version of At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, and Ibn Kathir with Comments from Sahih al-Bukhari
, by Muhammad Taqial-Din al-Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Darussalam Publ., Riyadh, 1996.
The Holy Qur’an
, by Muhammad Ali, Ahmadiyyah Anjuman Isha’at Islam LahoreInc. Columbus, 1991.
The Message of the Qur’an
, by Muhammad Asad, Andalus Press, Gibraltar, 1980.
Holy Qur’an
, by M.H. Shakir, Dar-U-Sseqafe, Qum, Iran (n.d.).
The Holy Qur’an
, by S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali, the Sterling Printing and Publishing Co.,Karachi, 1964.
The Koran Interpreted
, by A.J. Arberry, Oxford University Press, London, 1964.
The Qur’an, A New Translation
, by M.A. Abdel Haleem, Oxford University Press,New York, 2004.I have used all the above translations for cross-checking of the rendering of the Arabictext. I have quoted verses (or even sentences and parts of verses) from which ever of these translations I thought gave a closer rendering of the original Arabic, and wherethese translations seemed to me to be inappropriate, deficient, or incorrect eitherchanging the translator’s rendering or, more frequently, giving my own alternativerendering or explanation (interpretation) in parenthesis, as […]. Koranic terms areoften rendered by different English equivalents; Arabic words are constructed fromthree-letter roots to which prefixes, infixes, suffixes and vowels are added; thus intheir particular context and usage Koranic terms can lead to a wide range of meanings,resulting in translation difficulties in terms of English equivalents. In this essay I haveattempted to give the closest possible rendering by consulting a number of
Qur’an
andArabic dictionaries. However, in order to avoid confusion, where necessary I havegiven the Koranic-Arabic transliteration of the term, word, or sentence in parenthesis,as […]. The following Arabic dictionaries were used for cross-reference purposes:Edward William Lane’s
Arabic-English Lexicon
(originally in 8 vols., London, 1863-93, with Book I containing the Classical words, their derivatives and their usages)reproduced in 2 vols. by the Islamic Texts Society, UK, 1984.
Lugh’at-ul-Quran, Dictionary of the Words and Concepts of the Quran
, (4 vols.),Tolu-e-Islam Trust, Lahore, 1941.John Penrice,
A Dictionary and Glossary of the Quran
, Library of Islam, Des Plaines,Ill., 1988.Abdul M. Omar’s
The Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an: Arabic Words-English Meanings (with Notes)
, Noor Foundation-Int., India, 3
rd
ed., 2005.It remains to be said that in all works of translation, or even the use of existingtranslations for cross-reference and cross-checking purposes, the element of ‘interpretation’ is always present. This applies, of course, to the rendering and thechoice of English equivalents of Koranic ‘technical’ terms given in this essay which,no doubt, some may disagree with.
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thanks kiri joun