Translator’s Note

Any translation of the Qur’an is a human effort and cannot be a substitute for the ‘Arabic Qur’an’ - the spoken word of Allah – the One and Only God of everyone and everything.

Allah says: ‘Surely this is a Glorious Qur’an inscribed on the Preserved Tablet’ Q.85:21-22. He has taken the responsibility to guard it against the corruption of its Sacred Arabic Text - Q.15:09.

Millions of Muslims across all age groups have memorized the Qur’an and will continue to do so till the end of time. Its composition of 6,666 Ayat/Statements has distinguished it as the only book in human history to have been preserved in its original form. None of the other Divine Scriptures can claim that to be the case.

While translations in different languages can help in the expression of specific concepts, they fail to capture the essence of the Sacred Arabic Text. Hence, narrowing down the meaning of the Qur’an to specific concepts in a foreign language would mean missing out on certain important nuances in the language; a fact that must be kept in mind while reading any translation of the Qur’an.

Arabic is a Semitic language - the only language which has remained relevant and entirely unchanged during the last fifteen centuries.

The difference between the Arabic idiom from the English one is a matter of its syntactic cast and the mode in which it conveys ideas. It is exclusively due to the extreme flexibility of Arabic grammar, owing to the peculiar system of verbal ‘roots’ and the numerous stem forms which can be derived from them. Any translation, however meticulously written, can only provide an understanding of the meaning, with minimal substitution to the original ‘Arabic Qur’an.’

Words and conceptions function as the frame of Qur’anic meaning, such as ‘Allah’, usually rendered as ‘God’ – an expression which is understood differently in Judaism, Christianity and other religions. Allah is the actual/real name for the Almighty and Supreme Being: the One and Only God, singular, without gender, parents, siblings, spouse or progeny. Allah is above and beyond all description; there is no being like Him.

The other is ‘Rabb’ - usually rendered in English as ‘Lord’, which I consider too limited to convey the essence of the expression ‘Rabb.’ In fact, it conveys not only the idea of fostering, bringing up, and nourishing but also that of regulating, completing, accomplishing, sustaining and perfecting. It also means the originator of things and their combiner to create new forms. Thus, I have employed it as ‘Rabb - The Lord’.

Similarly, when The Prophet ’s contemporaries heard the words ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’ they understood them as denoting man’s ‘submission to the Will of Allah’ and ‘the one who submits himselftotheWillofAllah’without limitingthesetermstoany specific communityordenomination. Similarly in Q.03:67, where Prophet Abraham is spoken of as having ‘submitted himself unto Allah’ – ‘kana musliman.’Another example can be seen in Q.03:52, where the apostles of Prophet Jesus say: ‘Bear witness that we have submitted ourselves to Allah’ – ‘bi-anna muslimun.’ The original meanings have remained unimpaired and no scholar is oblivious of the wide-ranging connotations of these terms. However, ‘Islam’ usually bears a historically circumscribed significance, its teachings applying exclusively to the followers of Prophet Muhammad.

Similarly, the terms ‘kufr’ – ‘denial of the truth’ - and ‘kaafir’ – ‘the one who denies the truth’
- have become simplified into ‘disbelief’ and ‘disbeliever’ or even ‘infidel,’ in the conventional translations of the Qur’an, having been deprived of their wider spiritual meanings.

The word ‘kitaab’ is yet another example that does not qualify the conventional rendering. When the Qur’an was being revealed those who listened to its recitation did not conceive of it as a ‘book’ - since it was compiled in the present form, only sometime after the Prophet’s demise. The derivation of the noun ‘Kitab’ is from the verb kataba – which means ‘he wrote, a ‘divine writ’, or a ‘revelation.’

The same is true concerning the Qur’anic use of this term in its connotation of scriptures revealed earlier. The Qur’an often stresses the fact that those earlier instances of Divine Writ have largely been corrupted over time – and their followers do not dispute – and that the extant ‘holy books’ do not represent the original revelations. Consequently, the translation of ‘Ahl al-Kitab as ‘people of the book’ is not very meaningful; in my opinion, the term should be ‘Followers of Former Scriptures.’

The central theme of the Qur’an is the Unshared Unity and Uniqueness of Allah as a deity without other beings sharing that status, for which the Arabic uses the expression ‘shoraka-ou/ shirk’ meaning ‘partner/partnership’ with Allah in His Unshared Unity, Uniqueness, Divinity, and Worship. Not believing such is the single, unforgivable sin in Islam. This scheme of things was perhaps limited to ‘statues’ usually rendered as ‘god’ or ‘deity.’ However, with time these symbols of worship, or ‘entities of worship’ have multiplied in whom people invest divine or quasi-divine qualities, supernatural power that they perceive may influence their lives and fortunes, and these may comprise idols (Q.02:257), statues (Q.13:16), sculptures, images, relics, deified forces/objects of nature, angels, jinn (Q.07:27; 18:50), satan, human beings (Q.04:139; 05:51; 09:23-24) and satan with his relationship with humans and devils (Q.07:30; 08:73; 16:100), etc. In an extended form, it also applies to ‘tombs’ of dead saintly persons, their relics, or their progeny being worshiped like idols. This points to the ‘pseudo polytheism’ of those who worship Allah ‘to be seen of men’ (Q.02:264; 04:38, 142; 08:47), for they have, in effect, taken ‘a worshipful entity’ - other than ‘Allah’ – the only entity to be worshiped.

Similarly, the term ʿIbadah’ is usually translated as ‘worship’ while it implies total obedience and submission to Allah, absolute surrender to the Will of Allah which, among other things, includes ‘worship.’ So I have used ‘submission’ instead of ‘worship.’

All Qur’anic references to Allah’s ‘letting a person go astray’ may be understood against the background of Q.02:26-27 – ‘…. He causes many to go astray from the truth on account of their disbelieving bond with Allah, and many He guides on account of their belief in it. However, He does not let anyone be confused by them, except the defiantly disobedient - that is to say, a person’s ‘going astray’ is a consequence of their attitudes and inclinations and not a result of an arbitrary ‘predestination’ in the popular sense of this word. Furthermore, considering the aspect of ‘free choice’ on the part of a person, and that ‘Allah does not cause anyone to go astray except one who, as He Knows, will never attain to faith; and He does not guide anyone aright except one who, as He Knows, will attain to faith. Hence, the expression ‘causing to go astray’ denotes Allah’s leaving one alone and depriving him of all favor, whereas the expression ‘guidance’ denotes His grant of fulfillment (tawfiq) and favor… Thus, He does not forsake anyone except those who deserve to be forsaken, and does not bestow His favor upon anyone except those who deserve to be favored.’

The term ‘taqwa’ – derived from the root w-q-y, evokes the sense of protecting oneself from mortal peril, preserving one’s virtue, and guarding oneself against evil and the displeasure of Allah. It is a central Qur’anic concept and a constant awareness of Allah’s presence and power. It is contrasted with evil, wrongdoing, sinfulness, and transgression. It is a kind of awareness or consciousness using which one protects oneself from delving into evil. It is also used in the context of fearing and obeying. It is the spiritual journey of life but it is not a meditative state which takes one away from worldly affairs. It is a way of finding one’s route through life, which in its social and political dimensions requires justice and fairness. This creates a cohesion between the spiritual activity of the believer, his conscience and consciousness, and the granting of mercy and blessings from Allah in the form of guidance that leads to increased awareness of His Presence. This cumulative process increases taqwa in the believer as they grow spiritually. Ubbayy bin Ka‘b, a distinguished companion of the Prophet says: ‘Muttaqi’ is a person who walks through thorny bushes, taking every care that his clothes are not caught in bushes and be torn by their branches and thorns.’

‘Kun’ of the Sacred Arabic Text is Allah’s exclusive Creative Command meaning ‘Be!’ – Q.02:117; 03:47, 59; 06:73; 16:40; 19:35; 40:68. ‘Fa-yakoon’ is usually translated as ‘And it is.’ I understand it in a manner where ‘Fa’ is linked to the time factor which I have rendered as ‘then,’ and ‘yakoon’ is translated as ‘it comes to be’ in due course. And in this context, it means that the process of occurrences will continue till completion with perfection. And Q.54:50 points to the fact that Allah’s Creative Power/Act is not dependent upon anything or anyone and it is ‘like the blinking of an eye.’ See also Q.02:117 (to Mary), 59 of Jesus and Adam); 03:47; 06:73; 16:40; 19:35; 36:82; 40:68. Razi adds: ‘Be! is meant to convey ease and power by which Allah creates requiring no preparation, practice, or effort.

Similarly, ‘As-Samawat’ (plural of As-Sama’) is normally translated as ‘the heavens.’ The expression is a metonym for all the stars, moon, sun, galaxies, nebulae, etc. It has been paraphrased as ‘the celestial realm’ or as the text may require, as rainwater coming from the ‘sky.’ ‘Al-Ard’ - a world of unlimited dimensions is rendered as ‘the terrestrial world.’ The terrestrial world and the celestial realms are specified because human sensory perception does not go beyond these.

The expression ‘Ma Malakat Aymanukum’ needs to be understood in the context of the circumstances of the 7th Century. The participants of the battles that were fought were not paid by an establishment, the spoils of war being the source of income and funding, which included men and women that were taken as captives/ prisoners of wars and material riches. It is described as follows: ‘whom your right hands acquire in the qital’, which implies ‘whom you rightfully possess.’ While this phenomenon no longer exists, it may be understood as subordinates, domestic helpers, farm and factory labor, servants, etc.

‘Jahannam’ of the sacred Arabic Text - next to ‘the Fire’ is the most common name for ‘hell.’ The Qur’an states that ‘hell’ is a real place prepared by Allah for those who (i) do not believe in His unshared unity, divinity, and uniqueness, (ii) rebel against His laws, and (iii) reject His messengers. ‘Hell’ carries seven epithets, each describing the intensity of horror, pain, anguish, suffering, and punishment: (i) ‘al-Jaheem’ - blazing fire – Q. 26: 91, etc; (ii) ‘Jahannam’ - the depth of hell’s pit – Q. 78: 21, occurring 78 times; (iii) ‘Latha’ – fiery flames burning right into the skull - Q. 70:15-16, etc.; (iv) ‘Sa’eer’ - blazing flame that is kindled and ignited time and again – Q. 42: 07, etc.; (v) ‘Saqar’ – the extreme intensity of its heat darkening and changing the color of man – Q. 74: 26-29, etc.; (vi) ‘Hatamah’- it breaks and crushes everything that is thrown into it – Q. 104: 04-07, etc.; (vii) ‘Hawiyah’ - chasm or abyss blazing fiercely, the one who is thrown into it from top to bottom – Q. 101:08-11, etc.

‘Bani Israel’ is usually rendered as ‘Israelites.’ The term is frequently confused with the nationals of the State of Israel. I have translated it as ‘Descendants of Jacob’ whose title was ‘Israel.’

The Qur’an uses three terms while describing Prophet Musa/Moses’ staff miraculously turning into a snake: (i) Thu’ban - Q.07:107; its dictionary meaning is a bulky and fabulous snake; (ii) Hayyah - Q.20:20; derived from the root ‘hayyun’ meaning living, so when the staff was thrown, it appeared to be moving like a snake; and (iii) Jann - Q.27:10, 28:31 – meaning as if it were a big snake, slithering. Bible/Exodus mentions two different expressions in Hebrew – ‘naḥas’ and ‘tannin’ - for Moses’ snake. It appears that three terms in the Qur’an portray three different manifestations of a ‘snake’: the first time the staff miraculously turned into ‘a snake’, the second when it was being demonstrated to Pharaoh and his courtiers it turned into ‘a bigger snake’ that frightened them, and finally during the show-of-power in public when it was a supernaturally large-sized snake as it swallowed the ‘snakes’ of the magicians’. Thus, the staff was turning into a snake of different sizes and dimensions, as the circumstances demanded.

The Arabic particle ‘waw’ is usually translated as ‘and.’ The Qur’an makes frequent use of it, as does the Arabic language. It has force, not only that of ‘and’ but also of ‘however,’ ‘but,’ ‘when,’ ‘yet.’ To translate it only as ‘and’ would be to misrepresent the Sacred Arabic Text. Thus, I have translated the particle as the context/sense required and did not leave it untranslated.

The Arabic particle ‘idh’ should be taken to imply ‘udhkur.’ It often marks the beginning of a narrative, a story, a historical account and means something like ‘Once upon a time…’, ‘Remember when …..’, ‘There was a time when ….’ And also as ‘Lo!’ ‘Behold.’ etc.

The assortment of letters of the Arabic alphabet pronounced separately is a part of fourteen different permutations and combinations that appear at the beginning of twenty-nine Surahs. There are three Surahs (38, 50, 68) beginning only with one letter, nine surahs (20, 27, 36,
40, 41, 43, 44, 45,46) with two-letter combinations, thirteen surahs (02, 03, 29, 30, 31, 32,
10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 26, 27) with three-letter combinations, two surahs (07,13) with four-letter combinations, and two Surahs (19, 42) with five-letter combinations. In Arabic, they are called ‘al-Haruf al-Muquatta’at’ (i.e., the assorted or broken or disjointed or detached letters, without making a ‘word’ that could give meaning). It is generally accepted that their meaning is not known. It seems that neither anyone asked The Prophet about the meanings, nor did he offer any explanation.

In short, I have tried to consistently observe two fundamental rules of interpretation to make the Message of the Qur’an truly comprehensible in the English language. First, the Qur’an must not be viewed as a compilation of individual injunctions and exhortations but as one integral whole
– i.e., as an exposition of an ethical doctrine in which every Ayah/Statement and translation helps in the understanding without substituting the original ‘Arabic Qur’an.’ Secondly, the Qur’anic Ayat/Statements interpret one another. To understand the exact and complete meaning of an Ayah/Statement, we should consider the Ayat particularly related to it. For example, Q.02: 42, should be interpreted by taking into consideration Q.02: 71, 79, 140, 174, 179; 03: 167; 04: 13 and 05: 106. The overriding principle apart from these linguistic considerations is the message of the Qur’an which must be rendered in such a way as to reproduce the sense that it had for the people who were as yet unburdened by the conceptual images of later Islamic developments, as closely as possible.

In both the paraphrasing and translation, I have tried to elucidate the message of the Qur’an and have, to that end, drawn amply on the works of the great classical and contemporary commentators. If, on occasion, I have found myself constrained to differ from the interpretations

offered by the latter, let the reader remember that the very uniqueness of the Qur’an is owed to the fact that the more our worldly knowledge and historical experience increase, the more meanings, hitherto unsuspected, reveal themselves in its pages.

The great thinkers of our past understood this complexity fully. In their commentaries, they approached the Qur’an with their reason: that is to say, they tried to explain the purport of each Ayah in the light of their superior knowledge of the Arabic language and of the Prophet’s teachings from his Sunnah, from the store of general knowledge available to them and by the historical and cultural experiences which had shaped human society until their time.

Hence, it was only natural that commentators occasionally differed in their understanding of a particular Ayah/Statement or expression - and sometimes very incisively - from the meaning attributed to it by their predecessors. Their contradictions did not lead to, nor were the product of animosity and they were fully aware of the element of relativity inherent in all human reasoning and integrity. They were also cognizant of the Prophet’s profound saying, ‘The differences of opinion – ikhtilaf - among the learned men of my community are [an outcome] of divine grace
- rahmah - which implies that such differences of opinion are the basis of all progress in human thinking and, therefore, a most potent factor in man’s acquisition of knowledge.

But although none of the Qur’an commentators ever made any claim to ‘finality’ concerning their interpretations, it cannot be stressed enough that without the work of those incomparably great scholars of past centuries, no modern translation of the Qur’an - my own included - could ever be undertaken with any hope of success; even where my interpretation differs from theirs, I am immeasurably indebted to their learning for the impetus it has given to my search for truth.

With regards to the style of my translation, I have consciously avoided using unnecessary jargon to avoid obscuring the meaning of the Qur’an for the contemporary reader. On the other hand, I did not see any necessity of rendering the Qur’anic phrases into a deliberately ‘modern’ idiom, which would conflict with the spirit of the original Sacred Arabic Text. However, the straight type script suggests the closest meaning of the Sacred Text; the script in italics adds wording to explain the meaning and links between and within the Ayat where it is not mentioned within the Ayah. Translation helps understanding but cannot substitute the original ‘Arabic Qur’an.’

When a translation is liberated from these traditions, the Qur’an conveys a message that proclaims freedom of faith, promotes gender equality, encourages critical thought and the pursuit of knowledge calls for accountability and repudiation of false authority, as well as the replacement of political tyranny and oppression through representation in government.

Above all, it is Allah’s Command for the realization of justice for every man, woman, and child irrespective of ethnic origin or religion. By presenting the peaceful and unifying message of the Qur’an, I have tried to make the meaning as clear as possible either through annotations or by putting explanations in italics.

The tenses used, the passing from one tense to another, the nouns being definite or indefinite, the kinds of clauses (noun or verb – a clause beginning with a verb is a verb clause), and the addressee being in the second or the third person (the person in absence) – all of these make important contributions to the meaning. For example, from Q.02: 30 onward, Allah addresses Adam directly, but later in Q.02: 37, after the Ayah talks about his approaching the forbidden tree, He addresses him in the third person.

Another point to mention is that some of the precepts or practices in Islam – such as slavery, jihad (strife in the Cause of Allah), permission to go to war, and women’s rights/share in inheritance
– have been made the subject of biased criticism and hot debate by both, friends and defenders. I have tried to clarify these points as appropriately as possible in this study.

It is a good practice to prostrate (only once) when this Ayah is recited/completed as indicated by gray shade. Imam Malik maintains that this is an ‘obligatory’ prostration. However, Qurtubi suggests it to be ‘optional’. Alusi suggests that this may have been a ‘supererogatory custom’ rather than an obligation. It appears that The Prophet(P) would usually prostrate upon completing the recitation of such an Ayah.

Let it be a reminder that The Qur'an is the Spoken Word of Allah - the One and Only God of everyone and everything. Thus, this Book must be viewed and handled with the utmost reverence and respect.