What is the Best English Translation of the Quran?
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- čas přidán 10. 01. 2018
- Which translation of the Quran should one read if they are interested in understanding the text and have limited or no knowledge of Arabic? In this video, Dr. Lumbard discusses four translations that are widely available today.
Muhammad Asad did a great service with his translation!! Love it
Agreed, it's ideal to anyone without specialised knowledge of the field and also provides very many opportunities to answer some of the more bigoted comments about the Quran that you come across on the internet.
This undeniably wonderful video has exceeded the pinnacle of all videos on this topic. Thank you Professor Lumbard.
Perhaps a bit over exuberant, but thank you.
The key to producing a good translation is to put aside one's prejudices and opinions about received 'wisdom' and simply get on with it. I've grown so weary of punditry, downright ignorance, and people trying to protect 'their' turf. Antidote? Videos like this. Nicely done sir😊
One the best videos I have seen on translations of the Quran
Thank you.
بارك الله فيك يا أخي
This was an excellent and enlightening discussion. For me accuracy of translation is very important, especially being that I am not a fluent Arabic speaker. I am most grateful that you offered other alternatives to that of the Yusuf Ali, which I have been reading from beginning to end and back again over the years. Thank you.
Thank you. Hope you enjoy the other videos as well.
Excellent and clear-headed presentation. An example of how logic, combined with respect for divinely inspired texts, can produce a lesson we can all benefit from in accordance with our capacity.
Nice to see thoughtful and high quality posts on Islamic subjects available on youtube, in this case, a gem in a cyber-wasteland of unreflective opinions, punditry, rabble-rousing, and outright xenophobia.
Unfortunately, there is indeed a cyber wasteland. One of the reasons I decided to make a view videos. I hope to help viewers think more about various aspects of Islam rather than tell them what to think, the latter being the direction taken by most YT channels.
Very impressive presentation of his views on various aspects of Quran's translation
Thank you very much. I would like to see more discussion of translations into contemporary English. Even if it is not your fav style, which of them is more accurate, more eloquent, etc.
Thanks. If I get more requests for that, I will consider doing a video. I have been examining "The Clear Quran" by Shaykh Mustafa Khattab lately, and it seems to avoid many problems that other translations have.
@@jelumbard I know I'm 3 years late but I wanted to ask about ur thoughts on the clear quran if you've finished it.
Really informative and insightful video, thank you very much! I was wondering, what your thoughts were on the translations by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and the one done by Muhsin Khan and Mohammad Al-Hilali? Many thanks again for the video.
Alhamdulillah. Wonderful presentation and explanation on translations.
Ali Qarai's "The Qur'an: With a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation" on Amazon led me here by the Grace of The Almighty (SWT).
I am definitely buying it now, in shaa Allah - right after submitting this comment!
Thank you, Professor Lumbard.
JazaakAllah Khayr.
Bless you.
Allah ya'tik al-khayr
Thank you so much at last someone is paying attention to the problem of translation , the Hadith need to be filtered .
The translations of Hadith into English are a complete mess.
thanks...may god reward..
May God reward you as well.
Thank you Prof...
Any time
Assalamo aleikom and thank you for this very useful video mashallah. Have you reviewed the translation version of Sarwar too anywhere ? I find it in many occasions very simple and clear to use especially when reading it or explaining it to young teens and non Arabic speakers although I am Sunni myself.
wa alaykum as-salaam Dalia. No. I am not very familiar with Sarwar's translation.
A really wonderful review of some of the most well known or best English interpretations of the Qur'an - well done Joseph Lumbard for your considerable insight afforded. One major translation not covered, however, is Yusuf Ali's.
Covering Yusuf Ali's translation is complicated because the one that people have access to now is one that has been altered by later publishers. I am not a fan of this new printing that has many theological positions added in brackets.
@@jelumbard Tampering by the Saudis?
Salam Dr Jospeh, very informative video, any chance of your thoughts on ‘Yahiya Emerick’ Quran translation ?
salaam. Thank you. The notes for Emerick's translation are great, except that there are limited citations, making them hard to follow up. For my taste the effort to make it sound like the Arabic ends up sounding like poor English. So I do not care for the translation itself.
Thank you. It would be interesting if you discuss non-native Arab speakers translating the Qur'an. Dr. Abdel Haleem was trained at Al Azhar and a Western university. Muhammad Asad, a non-native Arabic speaker, learned from the Bedouins he came to know and of course, his own independent study. His translation is beautiful and eloquent. So, please speak about the implications or not of being a native Arabic speaker and translating the Qur'an
The issue of not being a native speaker is often more important as regards the target language.
I like Ali Quli Qara'i because the Arabic is printed quite clearly next to the English, and as someone (struggling to) studying Arabic, this is super awesome. (Honestly, why is the printing of Arabic text in Qur'an translations treated as an afterthought so often?) EDIT: Or am I just unable to read tiny, tiny Arabic text? Perhaps I should go get my peepers checked out.
NO. You are right. It is often the case that there does not seem to be much thought put into the printing of the Arabic. It takes alot to do it right. That is one of the reasons we did not include it in The Study Quran.
A good survey of translated Qurans. Many thanks. I have been using Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation with footnotes and recently acquired Abridged Koran by Bill Warner. Any thoughts on Abridged or Short Qurans for beginners? Seen in London on 20th May 2020 during Covid-19 lockdown.
Bill Warner is a former physics professor. If you would take your knowledge of physics from a a religious studies scholar who has never studied physics formally, you are not likely to understand physics very well, and vice-versa.
Great video! I had a question. What are your thoughts on the translation by Khalidi? I think it gets less attention than it should. I think he tries to convey the poetic nature of the Quran, but he does it in a more recent style of English (just for reference I also have read Arberry and Haleem, and do like Arberry quite a bit). I say recent because his style is somewhere in between Arberry which is slightly antiquated (which I think makes it no way worse) and contemporary English. For example, he tends to use 'whoso' instead of 'whoever', but he doesn't use the thee and thou. His translation, also like Arberry, has very few notes and brackets. I haven't finished reading it, but I would say his is probably the smoothest I have read. I think one critique of Arberry is that sometimes the poetic language can be used in a way that is jarring: not really changing what it says, but saying it in a way I could argue is a bit weird. This I feel can make passages that might already be obscure more so in a strange way. I haven't had this problem with Khalidi. The way he writes, even the passages that are meant to be obscure naturally still "make sense"; they are communicated in a way that I can understand their sort mysteriousness. Whereas whith Arberry it will be a mysterious passage that is sometimes conveyed Inna weird way. I sometimes had to reread because the way it came off was just strange. I hope you have some idea of what I am saying, lol. But I have respect for all three mentioned translations. I feel consulting each gives an idea the others may not.
Very helpful and illuminative. I'll be revisiting Arberry and questioning Abdel-Haleem (whose prose style my students find accessible, maybe for the worong reasons?)
Plus: I've ordered the Ali Quli Qara'i. I love the phrase by phrase accompaniment.
@@huallah1 How have you been finding the Ali Quli Qara'i translation?
@@jelumbard Mashallah, I haven't read enough of it to say. I'll let you know, inshallah.
@@huallah1 now have u read enough
@@yooshatarique019 nah he hasn't. He's a fake Muslim.
Salam and thank you Dr. Lumbard for your hard work to make the Qur'an better understood. I still believe that other languages cannot relate to the soul of the Qur'an since all translation is made by human, while the Qur'an is not a human's word. Translation is only an interpretation of one understanding, while the words of Allah are oceans of meaning and of understanding. Thank you and may Allah Subhanah bless you and everybody.
Translations never convey the full depth of the original.
Recommend:
1.Arberry Quran Translation.
(Exploring Quran)
2.Ali quri qara.
A wonderful and useful clarification. There are translations that did not cover it, such as Yusuf Ali's translation, International's translation, Mohsin Khan's translation, and Wahid Khan's translation.
There are over 80 translations into English. So cannot cover them all.
Thank you for the video. What about the Alan Jones translation?
It's alright. Nothing spectacular. There are many translations in the past 30 years or so that don't add much. His falls into that category.
Thanks
Nice to see you here... :)
وعليكم السلام ✋🏻0:10
Mr. Lumbard, i don't know if commenting on this old video will reach you, but i was wondering if there were any plans of ever publishing your translation of the Quaran, removed from its commentary, with possibly a print of the Arabic next to it?
We have discussed it with the publisher, but they do not seem to be interested
As this video is 6 years old . We need a new video on the same topic updated. Is the answer still the same?
Whats your overall opinion on pickthall's translation? JazakAllah for your videos!
I love it.
BTW, JL, I bought the Study Qur'an for myself and found my daughter engrossed in it more so than me - she had not shown any interest in my impressive Yusuf Ali translation by contrast. One aspect which I found disappointing about the Study Qur'an though were the accompanying notes which seem not to cover the Asbab-e-Nuzul to my mind, or the lack of accompanying Arabic. Any views on this?
Hi Stephen, For the verse on which I wrote the commentary, Sūrah 1 and sūrahs 29 through 114, my methodology was to assess all of the available asbāb al-nuzūl and incorporate those which were definitely ṣaḥiḥ or ḥasan, which is the minority. Among those which were not ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan, I included some which would give contextualization to the verse. Most verses do not have asbāb and many of the asbāb are not corroborated by firm chains of transmission.
After we purchased The Study Quran, immediately after it was published followed by so many fatwas (scholarly opinions) against it, then suddenly a few days ago CZcams suggested videos of Professor Joseph Lumbard. That was a great surprise to us. So, we are now catching up with all his scholarly lectures, videos and explanation on best English Translation(s) of Holy Qur'aan. We grew up with Yusuf Ali 's translation and most of our English speaking students of Quran still read it widely. And what about Mawdidi & Sayid Qutb? We have found these 3 translations + Sahih International published by Darussalam of Saudi Arabia of excellent quality for our study of the scripture. So any reasons for His Holiness ( "-:)" ) Lumbard not to mention these ones? We noticed his choice are mainly from revert scholars. Nothing against this choice. We are sure it is done on merit (?).
Seyyed Qutb does not have a translation. The original Yusuf Ali is very good, but the version that is distributed now is one that was changed and still published with his name. So I try to avoid it. Note that the translation by Ali Quli Qara'i that I recommend was not done by a "revert scholar." Yes. My evaluation is done strictly on merit. It would be better to argue for why you think one translation is better than to cast aspersions. Ad hominem arguments are rather useless.
﷽ماشاءاللہ وَعَلَيْكُم السَّلَام وَرَحْمَةُ اَللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ ان شاء اللہ خير الحمد لله
Professor,
What is your opinion of 'The Clear Quran' by Dr. Mustafa Khattab
and the Saheeh International english translation of the Quran?
How does Mustafa Khattab's endeavor hold up against the array of translations? I am still trying to decide between Abdel Haleem or The Clear Quran or The Study Quran (I don't mind any commentary, as long as the english translation is there).
Assalam w alaikum Dr. What abt the translation and commentary of Maududi "Towards understanding Quran"
Very useful. My teacher of Islam in London introduced me to Addullah Yusuf Ali's translation and excellent notes (Amana Publications, 2006). I am looking forward to reading your Study Quran in the near future.
The Aman publications is not actually Yusuf Ali's translation. It is Yusuf Ali's translation refashioned by later editors.
I would recommend 'The Glorious Qur'an' by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, it has a beautiful style, its scientific & contemporary 💚
The translation by Sam Gerrans is based on a consistent system wherein he translates words by looking at their usage throughout the Qur’an. It is a very literal and direct rendering which I greatly appreciated.
he does not use simple language though.
What’s your opinion on The Gracious Quran by Ahmad ZaKi Hammad - I really like iT
Way way way way way too many bracketed inclusions. Many of these inclusions are obvious, others are interpretive inclusions that limit the scope of the text to one possible interpretation.
Joseph Lumbard Jazakallah for Replying
As-salaamu alaykum Shaykh,
Do you know which mushaf/s A.J. Arberry based his translation on? I ask as the Oxford World’s Classics 2008 edition that I possess uses an ayah numbering scheme that differs with the different masahif I have - the ‘Madinah Mushaf’, an Indo-Pak print and a Moroccan print (Warsh).
As a further question, to rule out this not being a publishing error, do you know if other editions of Arberry’s translation use this same ayah numbering scheme?
An example with the ayah beginning ( الذي جعل لكم ):
Arberry - 2:20
Madinah Mushaf - 2:22
Moroccan (Warsh) - 2:21
Indo-Pak - 2:22
The verse numbering with that printing is a mess.
Arbery's numbering scheme had problems due to errors in it.
Assalamualaikum Dr Joseph
I have an issue of trafseer of verse 110 surah Al Maidah
I have been reading christian Bible, and I understood that Holy Spirit entered prophet Isa pbuh and strengthened prophet Isa pbuh teachibg..whereby message of Allah were brought forward on the tongue of prophet Isa pbuh
I am looking forward if you can help me to understand verse 100 surah Al Maidah
Thank you
Abdul Aziz Jaafar
Thank you professor. How would you rate Abdullah Yousuf Ali translation?
Asalamalikum, what about ( sahih international) translation compiled in Madina ?
It's horrible. Keeps inserting interpretation in brackets.
For those translations that have extensive brackets, don’t you think they are working under the premise that tarjamah is an extension of tafsir?
Yes. There is, however, a line. One is intentionally limiting the implications of the texts and removing the possibilities of interpretations that have been known for over 1000 years when one enters the brackets.
Hay quá
Thank you Mr Lumbard, I've recently bought" the study Quran". While going through the initial passage of surah baqarah , I've got so many questions as to why did God say this and say that, for example Why does God seal the hearts of disbelieves, isn't it against free will, why is Quran a guidance only for those who pray and give, and so on. I couldn't find the answers in the text although the answers may be ahead in the text. Was this intentionally left unsaid?
Read Muhammad Assad’s notes this. They are online. Essentially the believers seal their own hearts by not believing in God and that is part of His Law.
And what about translation of abul ala modudi and javed ahmad ghamdi?
Problem with the book study Quran is that it is almost unreadable since it is printed in so small text.
Whatre your thoughts on Allama Sayyid Muhammad Husayn al-Tabatabai with translation by Salam Judy. Just the Quran, not the tafseer. Called Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Quran. I have the abridged version
Have not seen it.
What is the most accurate Arabic to English translation word for word?
I want the English version of the Arabic Quran.
For word for word, Ali Quli Qara'i
We must bear in mind that in Arabic, when in the Quran the verse starts with إياك it not only emphasises to you, but rather has an inner meaning, which is it is only you. Take for example:عليه توكلت. It means only on him I depend. If we say:توكلت عليه. It means depend on him or other. Take for example:آمنت بالله. You don't find in the whole Quran a single verse in which you find:بالله آمنت. Why? Because it means I only believe in him, which is not correct. We believe in Angels, the prophets. Etc.
In my English translated quran, the word قانتات in surah النساء 34 is translated as : obedient.
I think it doesn't capture the meaning of the word, and maybe even deceiving.
(يا مريم اقنتي لربك واسجدي واركعي مع الراكعين) here the word doesn't mean obedient, as Maryam is not married
It has more a sense of "devout" or "devoutly obedient" to God. That is why some sense of "devout" should be in there, so it is clear that it is not simply towards men. Men must also be "devoutly obedient" insofar as the recognize the rights of their wives.
Peace
I know Asad was Mutazilait.
You did impartially
What about Dr Rashad's translation?
I do not know about Dr. Rashad's translation.
@@jelumbard
Thanks for responding
Greetings, kindly help me finding in the Quran SPECIFIC ARABIC Quranic WORDS that Jesus was born WITHOUT FATHER. I shall be obliged.
Awaiting reply and kind regards
The philosophy energizing contemporary English is flattened, simplistic, utilitarian, reductionistic, anti-hieratic, clever (in a reductive sense), populist, etc; in a word, Disney/Pixar. It would be difficult to translate a sense of majesty or reverence into contemporary English. One of my questions about translation efforts, in addition to knowledge of the original language, is whether the translator has an intimate knowledge of the destination language, in this case English.
To translate a sacred text into English, I would think it would be essential to have facility with the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the King James Bible, Shakespeare, John Donne, etc. And because Western Civilization is declining more and more rapidly, knowledge of and facility in contemporary English is imo deeply inadequate to translate a sacred text.
The "approachability" of a translation means different things to different people, is measured differently and according to different embedded philosophies, whether utilitarian, pragmatist, classical, spiritual, reverential, democratic, hieratic, populist, communitarian, etc.
I have read over 30 translations in English, the worst 1 is Reza Ahmed Berailwi, that's why it's banned in all Arab countries, Medina University is top 👍
Please say me sir, what about Muhammad Shakir's translation
It is alright. But nothing particularly new in Quran translation. Seems mostly based upon previous translations.
I can see many differences in the translation as I'm English and Arabic speaker. So, if the original is available, why are people still looking for translation? Get the original one and read it.
What about Yusuf Ali's translation.
What most of us are able to get our hands on is not the original Yusuf Ali translation. There is a significant difference between his original translation and the one that now has many brackets added.
Sam Gerrans' translation is the best.
Why?
@@jelumbardHe uses pan textual analysis to translate thus using the Quran as its own dictionary. He also doesn’t reinterpret the Quran and colour it with reported Hadith.
Maybe I missed it but there was no mentioning of why you do not prefer "Allah" as translation for "God."
It makes it seem like a foreign text. Even the Quran acknowledges that the the pre-Islamic Arabs and used the word "Allah" and that the God of the Jews and Christians is the same God as that spoken of in the Quran. So the argument that "God" in English is too different to be used for Allah just falls flat in the face of how the Quran itself employs the term.
@@jelumbard as a translator if you don’t understand the essence of the word Allah and you think it is easily replaceable with God than your understanding is flawed you’re taking away the meaning that the Holy book intended and where did Christians/Jews use the God in Aramaic/Greek language but you’re bent on using today’s word to explain who we are talking about because it’s is easily understandable or relatable.
@@jelumbard Thank you for the explanation. I don't disagree with you. If I remember correctly, you mentioned how you prefer the word "God" instead of "Allah" in the video but I just could not see where you explained the reasoning behind it in the video.
I think Dr Lumbard really needs to have a deeper understanding of the Qur'aan before attacking Muhammad Asad at 21:00. The verse of the splitting of the moon has nothing to do with the events described in the ahadith. As Muhammad Asad explains, it is a linguistic vehicle to use the past tense to describe a future event, namely the signs of the day of judgment.
If Dr Lumbard believes the moon was split 1400 years ago, why did the rest of the world not report this? why only a small number of individuals living in Arabia?
Of all the translations available, none of them match the explanatory power of Muhammad Asad's 'The Message of the Qur'aan'. It's as simple as that.
Couldn’t have said it better myself
Saheeh international Quran translation is easy,simple and best.
It is a horrible translation and should be avoided.
Are the ones out of Saudi Arabia,authentic ?
Not sure what you mean by "authentic". They tend to have many bracketed insertions, which is really putting interpretation into the translation
he looks like roger moore...............
Salaam Dr. Lumbard, i am from India and i am searching for an English translation of the Quran for my Non-Muslim friend from India only, who is interested in understanding it.
Any suggestions please..!
Also, is there any book having translation as well as transliteration both?
I can't understand how a person who is not hindered by own heritage, who studies Quran for many years, and not see the serious problems Quran is highlighting and condemning the position of some Prophet's close associates who disobey the Prophet .
Where Associates continue their high valuation, (like, praise secret support) the heads of the atheist Qureish.
This is the policy before and after Liberation of Mecca, and Before Prophets death and after it.
Aisha & Abdul Haq Bewley translation is good, as is Marmaduke Pickthall - if you don't mind old English. The study Quran is inaccurate in meanings - senior Muslim scholars of the East (Muslim world) have openly condemned it because it actually contains statements of kufr. Furthermore, it does not make clear the Islamic belief that Islam is the only true religion accepted by God. Even furthermore, it is based on sources (Shiite, Sufi) that are not accepted by the overwhelming majority of orthodox Sunni Islam.
A Q where can i see the refutation?
I'd like to hear as to why you don't prefer Allah in the translation for God
The pre-Islamic pagan Arabs used Allah. Christian Arabs used Allāh. It has the same cultural function as "God" in English. I have not heard a good argument against using Allāh when speaking about the Quran and Islam in English.
@@jelumbardThank goodness. It makes non Muslims think that Allah is different than God and is an Arabic god. Such a missed opportunity.
“You shell not forget” on this ayah you are totally incorrect why are you separating previously ayah “quran” and stating there shouldn’t be [any of it] written by translator , how can it mean God what you said is misinterpreting the meaning; it clearly means what the translator wrote but you are explaining an incorrect understanding of your thought to fit whatever you like if you understand Arabic than why do you think same meaning of word translated should be used all across the quran what absurd justification is this to keep the flow for the reader tell this to any Arabic speaker and he will reprimand you for changing meanings of the Quranic verses.
The Mohsin Khan translation is just ridiculous, in my view. The brackets are just way too much, it takes any majesty or spiritual experience out of reading the text. For example, look at how he translates 3:110.
*You [true believers in Islamic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad SAW and his Sunnah (legal ways, etc.)] are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden), and you believe in Allah. And had the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) believed, it would have been better for them; among them are some who have faith, but most of them are Al-Fasiqun (disobedient to Allah - and rebellious against Allah's Command).*
Personally, I have never been a fan of this style of translation either, as mentioned in the video.
What about translation by Yousuf Ali.