The Koran in English
A monograph to be published from Princeton University Press in Fall 2016 as part of its series The Lives of Great Religious Books. It will explore the major ways in which translating the Qur’an has accelerated during the past 15 years. By what criteria, I ask, can scholars assess, judge, and provide commentary on the numerous translations of the Noble Book into English? How well or badly do translators produce a work which can be orally arresting while also eliciting an aroma of the original Arabic?
Cover of The Qur’an: A New Translation by Thomas Cleary, a noted translator of Chinese classics
Cover of the Saudi edition of Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qur’an, with calligraphy by Ahmed Mustafa
Abdullah Yusuf Ali: one of the of the most successful and widely read translator of the Holy Qur’an into English