Haleem - The Qur’an: A New Translation

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M. A. S. Abdel Haleem 2004, 2005

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Database right Oxford University Press (maker)
First published 2004

First published, with corrections, as an Oxford Worlds Classics paperback 2005

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Koran. English.

The Quran / a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem.
p. cm. (Oxford worlds classics)
Originally published: 2004.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

I. Abdel Haleem, M. A. II. Title. III. Oxford worlds classics (Oxford University Press)

BP109 2005 297.122521dc22 2004030574

ISBN 0192831933
1
Typeset in Ehrhardt
by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain by
Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

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OXFORD WORLDS CLASSICS

A new translation by
M. A. S. ABDEL HALEEM

OXFORD WORLDS CLASSICS

THE QURAN is the supreme authority in Islam. It is the fundamental and paramount source of the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. This supreme status stems from the belief that the Quran is the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places.

The Quran was the starting point for all the Islamic sciences, which were developed in order to study its grammar, pronunciation, and style, and it is the basis of Islamic law and theology; indeed, as the celebrated fifteenth-century scholar and author Suyuti said, Everything is based on the Quran. The entire religious life of the Muslim world is built around the text of the Quran. As a consequence of the Quran, the Arabic language moved far beyond the Arabian peninsula, deeply penetrating many other languages within the Muslim landsPersian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, and others. The first sura (or section) of the Quran, al-Fatiha, which is an essential part of the ritual prayers, is learned and read in Arabic by Muslims in all parts of the world, and many other verses and phrases in Arabic are also incorporated into the lives of non-Arabic-speaking Muslims.

M. A. S. ABDEL HALEEM was born in Egypt, and learned the Quran by heart from childhood. Educated at al-Azhar, Cairo, and Cambridge Universities, he has taught Arabic at Cambridge and London Universities since 1966, including courses in advanced practical translation and the Quran. He is now Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His most recent publications are Understanding the Quran: Themes and Style (2001) and English Translations of the Quran: The Making of an Image (2004). He is also working on An Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, with El-Said Badawi. He is the editor of the Journal of Quranic Studies and the London Quranic Studies series.

THE QURAN is the supreme authority in Islam. It is the fundamental and paramount source of the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. It is the book that differentiates between right and wrong, so that nowadays, when the Muslim world is dealing with such universal issues as globalization, the environment, combating terrorism and drugs, issues of medical ethics, and feminism, evidence to support the various arguments is sought in the Quran. This supreme status stems from the belief that the Quran is the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places.

The Quran was the starting point for all the Islamic sciences: Arabic grammar was developed to serve the Quran, the study of Arabic phonetics was pursued in order to determine the exact pronunciation of Quranic words, the science of Arabic rhetoric was developed in order to describe the features of the inimitable style of the Quran, the art of Arabic calligraphy was cultivated through writing down the Quran, the Quran is the basis of Islamic law and theology; indeed, as the celebrated fifteenth-century scholar and author Suyuti said, Everything is based on the Quran. The entire religious life of the Muslim world is built around the text of the Quran. As a consequence of the Quran, the Arabic language moved far beyond the Arabian peninsula, deeply penetrating many other languages within the Muslim landsPersian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, and others. The first sura (or section) of the Quran, al-Fatiha, which is an essential part of the ritual prayers, is learned and read in Arabic by Muslims in all parts of the world, and many other verses and phrases in Arabic are also incorporated into the lives of non-Arabic-speaking Muslims.

Muslim children start to learn portions of the Quran by heart in their normal schooling: the tradition of learning the entire Quran by heart started during the lifetime of the Prophet and continues to the present day. A person attaining this distinction becomes known as a