by Tarif Khalidi (Translator)
Considered in Islam to be the infallible word of God, The Qur'an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a series of divine revelations over many years after his first vision in the cave. In 114 chapters, or surahs, it provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to Muslims today - most importantly the key Islamic values of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and absolute faith in God, with profound spiritual guidance on matters of kinship, marriage and family, crime and punishment, rituals, food, warfare and charity. Through its pages, a fascinating picture emerges of life in seventh-century Arabia, and from it we can learn much about how people felt about their relationship with God and their belief in the afterlife, as well as attitudes to loyalty, friendship, race, forgiveness and the natural world. It also tells of events and people familiar to Christian and Jewish readers, fellow 'People of the Book' whose stories are recorded in the Gospels and Torah. Here we find Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and John the Baptist, among others, who are regarded, like Muhammad, to be prophets of the Muslim faith.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 560
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 06 May 2010
ISBN 10: 0143105884
ISBN 13: 9780143105886
While being faithful to the original, [Khalidi] succeeds in conveying linguistic shifts, from narrative to mnemonic, sermons to parables. And there is an innovative component: it is the first translation that tries to capture both the rhythms and the structure of the Qur'an. . . . This translation manages to give a glimpse of the grandeur of the original. . . . A magnificent achievement.
-Ziauddin Sardar, The Guardian (London)
What sets Khalidi apart from his predecessors is his sensitivity to the sounds and many layers of meaning of the original as well as his skill in conveying them to an anglophone audience...Khalidi's introduction and bibliographic note are marvelously succinct, explaining the textual nature and structure of the Qur'an, its place in Muslim life, and providing a very useful summary of recent research and further reading...a landmark in the history of English translations of the Qur'an.
--Ziad Elmarsafy, Times Literary Supplement