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 Topic: Which Quran English translation is the best?

 (Read 19521 times)
  • 12 Next page « Previous thread | Next thread »
  • Which Quran English translation is the best?
     OP - August 27, 2011, 07:02 AM
    I don't care if it's from a muslim or a non-muslim. I want one that is completely unbiased and tells it like it is.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #1 - August 27, 2011, 08:27 AM
    I doubt if there're any. Pickthall/Yusuf Ali are the closest you can get imo.

    Also check Tafsirs if in doubt, gives you the context and the correct meaning (I prefer Ibn Kathir and Ibn Abbas)


    Youtube
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #2 - August 27, 2011, 08:54 AM
    Quote from: truth_seeker on August 27, 2011, 07:02 AM
    I don't care if it's from a muslim or a non-muslim. I want one that is completely unbiased and tells it like it is.


    Pickthall probably comes closest, Yusuf Ali is not bad - bit more poetic. Shakir is OK too.

    In the absence of being able to check the Arabic, just compare the 3 above at the USC site:

    http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #3 - August 27, 2011, 10:08 AM
    What about Sahih International? I feel it's really accurate most of the time.

    Yusuf Ali has been criticized for being a politicized, inaccurate translation.

    The one *I* particularly like, though not for accuracy, but for the poetry of the translation, is The Qur'an by Tarif Khalidi. I can't recommend it enough. Here's a review by the Angry Arab (an atheist):

    http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/01/tarif-khalidis-translation-of-quran.html

    ... and Ziauddin Sardar (whom I've actually met personally!):

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/21/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview26

    The best thing, though, to be honest, is to read the Arabic Tongue I'll be the first to admit that some parts are really really beautiful and probably cannot be reproduced in translation (but then again, this equally applies to Kitab-i-Aqdas).
    قل للمليحة في الخمار الأسود
    مـاذا فـعــلت بــناسـك مـتـعـبد

    قـد كـان شـمّر لــلـصلاة ثـيابه
    حتى خـطرت له بباب المسجد

    ردي عليـه صـلاتـه وصيـامــه
    لا تـقــتـلــيه بـحـق ديــن محمد
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #4 - August 27, 2011, 10:13 AM
    Also, check the translations (and other features) offered on these sites:

    http://quran.com/

    http://tanzil.net/

    (keep in mind that some translations -- like Shakir's -- are consider "Shi'ite translations")
    قل للمليحة في الخمار الأسود
    مـاذا فـعــلت بــناسـك مـتـعـبد

    قـد كـان شـمّر لــلـصلاة ثـيابه
    حتى خـطرت له بباب المسجد

    ردي عليـه صـلاتـه وصيـامــه
    لا تـقــتـلــيه بـحـق ديــن محمد
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #5 - August 27, 2011, 10:14 AM
    Ultimately, the best thing to do for a non-Arabic speaker would probably be to use as many translations as possible to get as good an idea as possible of how many interpretations of the verse there are.
    قل للمليحة في الخمار الأسود
    مـاذا فـعــلت بــناسـك مـتـعـبد

    قـد كـان شـمّر لــلـصلاة ثـيابه
    حتى خـطرت له بباب المسجد

    ردي عليـه صـلاتـه وصيـامــه
    لا تـقــتـلــيه بـحـق ديــن محمد
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #6 - August 27, 2011, 10:19 AM
    I personally think Aisha Bewley's translation is one of the best, both in terms of accuracy and it's very easy to read. The translation isn't completely literal at some points, instead using rather more idiomatic phrases, but it's very good nonetheless.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #7 - August 27, 2011, 10:23 AM
    Any transalation that translate Idroboohun (beat them) as it is, and doesn't sugar coat it.
    Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still.
    What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult to each other
    You are the music while the music lasts.
    T.S.Eliot
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #8 - August 27, 2011, 10:30 AM
    Anyone know J.M Rodwell's translation? First published 1909.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #9 - August 27, 2011, 10:37 AM
    Isn't Sahih international sugarcoated?  Roll Eyes

    Pickthall mostly says it as it is.


    Youtube
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #10 - August 27, 2011, 10:48 AM
    From my experience, it's accurate a lot of the time.

    Also, just because a translation is "less offensive" doesn't mean it's less accurate or sugercoated.
    قل للمليحة في الخمار الأسود
    مـاذا فـعــلت بــناسـك مـتـعـبد

    قـد كـان شـمّر لــلـصلاة ثـيابه
    حتى خـطرت له بباب المسجد

    ردي عليـه صـلاتـه وصيـامــه
    لا تـقــتـلــيه بـحـق ديــن محمد
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #11 - August 27, 2011, 10:56 AM
    This site probably has every major translation in many different languages:

    http://al-quran.info/?x=y#&&sura=24&aya=1&trans=en-yusuf_ali&show=both&ver=2.00
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #12 - August 27, 2011, 12:19 PM
    Quote from: Zebedee on August 27, 2011, 10:56 AM
    This site probably has every major translation in many different languages:

    http://al-quran.info/?x=y#&&sura=24&aya=1&trans=en-yusuf_ali&show=both&ver=2.00

    Bingo. John Meadows Rodwell, 1861, not 1909.

    Neither sugar-coated nor sensationalist:

    "Forbidden to you also are married women, except those who are in your hands as slaves..."

    "But chide those whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear, remove them into beds apart, and scourge them..."
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #13 - August 27, 2011, 12:43 PM
    As stated, Pickthal
    Although to be honest 15/20 translations are near identical anyway; Just avoid crap like Khalifa or Freeminds.

    Also the Ibn Abbas and Ibn Kathir Tafsirs should be referenced after looking at any particular verse (most of the time)
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #14 - August 27, 2011, 12:53 PM
    Quote from: Zebedee on August 27, 2011, 10:56 AM
    This site probably has every major translation in many different languages:

    http://al-quran.info/?x=y#&&sura=24&aya=1&trans=en-yusuf_ali&show=both&ver=2.00


    Wow, this is incredibly useful.

    But how come N J Dawood not in it?  Huh?
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #15 - August 27, 2011, 03:32 PM
    Dunno. It doesn't have Abdul Haleem's or Tarif Khalidi's either, but I guess those ones are easy enough to find elsewhere, and it does have a fair number of the rarer translations.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #16 - August 27, 2011, 03:40 PM
    Aisha Bewley has done a summarised translation of Tafsir of Al-Qurtubi, apparently it's still keeps it "authentic" integrity as well as being readable, unlike say the Muhammad Muhsin Khan translation, which is just a chore to read.
    I make it rain - apparently?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh_I19_mKkU&list=SP1665576E7498BAB7&index=2&feature=plcp
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #17 - August 27, 2011, 03:43 PM
    I’ve actually found Tarif Khalidi’s version to be very accurate! What problem do you have with its accuracy, harakaat? Of course, not every interpretation will be accurate 100%, but does it give extensive misreadings?! Huh?
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #18 - August 27, 2011, 05:15 PM
    Quote from: Kodanshi on August 27, 2011, 03:43 PM
    I’ve actually found Tarif Khalidi’s version to be very accurate! What problem do you have with its accuracy, harakaat? Of course, not every interpretation will be accurate 100%, but does it give extensive misreadings?! Huh?


    I just pointed out that I liked it for its poetry. I read from it ages ago so I can't remember how accurate it was, but it was so poignant it drove me to tears.

    Also, the reason some translations aren't available on that site is possibly because they're copyrighted?
    قل للمليحة في الخمار الأسود
    مـاذا فـعــلت بــناسـك مـتـعـبد

    قـد كـان شـمّر لــلـصلاة ثـيابه
    حتى خـطرت له بباب المسجد

    ردي عليـه صـلاتـه وصيـامــه
    لا تـقــتـلــيه بـحـق ديــن محمد
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #19 - August 27, 2011, 05:53 PM
    Quote from: Hassan on August 27, 2011, 08:54 AM
    Pickthall probably comes closest, Yusuf Ali is not bad - bit more poetic. Shakir is OK too.

    In the absence of being able to check the Arabic, just compare the 3 above at the USC site:

    http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/

    I have read the sanitized translation of the Quran, titled Al-Quran, by Ahmed Ali, a Pakistani scholar, diplomat, poet, novelist etc.  He was born in Delhi, Hindustan in 1910.

    I want to read a translation which is not sanitized, which conveys exactly what Islam is.
    वासुदैव कुटुम्बकम्
    Entire World is One Family
    سارا سنسار ايک پريوار ہے
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #20 - August 27, 2011, 06:32 PM
    Quote from: Ram on August 27, 2011, 05:53 PM
    I have read the sanitized translation of the Quran, titled Al-Quran, by Ahmed Ali, a Pakistani scholar, diplomat, poet, novelist etc.  He was born in Delhi, Hindustan in 1910.

    I want to read a translation which is not sanitized, which conveys exactly what Islam is.



    You'll need to learn Arabic then, I'm afraid, as all the one's I've read are not perfect. Translation by it's very nature is a process of interpretation by the author.

    Having said that I think using a combination of the ones I mentioned can get one pretty close and as MC says, you can always check the tafseers like Ibn Katheer - the classical ones usually tell it like it is.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #21 - August 28, 2011, 12:10 AM
    Or they interpret it according to their retarded, recycled, literalistic dogmas. They may not sanitise things as such but I still find that many of these 'scholars' portray the text in a worse light than it deserves.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #22 - August 28, 2011, 12:43 AM
    Quote from: truth_seeker on August 27, 2011, 07:02 AM
    I don't care if it's from a muslim or a non-muslim. I want one that is completely unbiased and tells it like it is.

    the closest to Arabic  and possibly  the best is   from that Egyptian Shakir  and it is available online. On top of that,  you can compare verse to verse with YUSUFALI & PICKTHAL translations. If there is some controversy on a given verse  in these three translations then go for others.

    More importantly.,  it is useless to look at a single verse from Quran and get some sense out of it. One must read either whole surah or at least 5 verses below and above the verse of interest to understand it.
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #23 - August 28, 2011, 12:44 AM
    This is my and my family's favorite. It's the most accurate interpretation, in my opinion. I'm Saudi Wahhabi Arab, so I understand both Arabic. Not only is from Medinah, but this book tells it exactly like is:

    Interpretaion of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an
    In the English language
    A summarized version of At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir with comments by Sahih Al-Bukhari

    By:
    Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-din Al-Hilali (Ph.D) Formerly Professor of Islamic Faith and Teachings
    Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, formerly Director, University Hospital, Islamic University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah

    Darussalam
    Publishers and Distributors
    Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


    I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star
    In somebody else's sky, but why, why, why
    Can't it be, can't it be mine

    https://twitter.com/AlharbiMoe
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #24 - August 28, 2011, 01:01 AM
    I haven't been able to take that translation seriously since I came upon this gem:

    Q. 3:200

    O you who believe! Endure and be more patient (than your enemy), and guard your territory by stationing army units permanently at the places from where the enemy can attack you, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful.

    يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱصْبِرُوا۟ وَصَابِرُوا۟ وَرَابِطُوا۟ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

     Shocked
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #25 - August 28, 2011, 02:11 AM
     Cheesy
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #26 - August 28, 2011, 09:48 AM
    Raabitoo basically means that.
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #27 - August 28, 2011, 10:06 AM
     grin12
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #28 - August 28, 2011, 10:12 AM
    Quote from: Hassan on August 28, 2011, 09:48 AM
    Raabitoo basically means that.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rabbito

    Quote
    rabbitoh or rabbito  (ˈr?bɪtˌəʊ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
     
    ? n
       informal  ( Austral ) (formerly) an itinerant seller of rabbits for eating
     
    [C20: from such a seller's cry]
     
    rabbito or rabbito

    dance
    Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny
  • Re: Which Quran English translation is the best?
     Reply #29 - August 28, 2011, 11:14 AM
    Quote from: Zebedee on August 28, 2011, 01:01 AM
    I haven't been able to take that translation seriously since I came upon this gem:

    Q. 3:200

    O you who believe! Endure and be more patient (than your enemy), and guard your territory by stationing army units permanently at the places from where the enemy can attack you, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful.

    يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱصْبِرُوا۟ وَصَابِرُوا۟ وَرَابِطُوا۟ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

     Shocked

    WTH??? how is that transaltion??
    Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still.
    What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult to each other
    You are the music while the music lasts.
    T.S.Eliot
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