The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an - Text and Explanatory Translation By Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

Excellent commentary.

A very nice edition of this classic translation of the meaning of the Quran. I was surprised at how excellent the condition was of this 43 year old book. I haven't found any Mark's, tears, scratches or anything else negative.As to the translation itself, there are today perhaps superior ones (the one I currently most frequently consult is Abdel Haleem, bought on Amazon both in Kindle and paper form). But despite archaic language, it is still pretty solid. There are few footnotes, which improves the reading flow, but this may not be helpful to the new reader of the Quran.

The description of the copy I brought was accurate and I got what I expected when I ordered the copy of my Quran. It was delivered a week ahead of the schedule. Overall the service was superb. I recommend it to anyone who wants to order a book, but first look at all the options available before ordering your copy.

I remember the first time I thought of getting a copy of the Qur'an and I got it. It is in my hands written in Arabic and English, full of footnotes and an excellent glossary.

Marmaduke Pickthall, son of an Anglican clergyman, was an Englishman who converted to Islam in 1917. He was highly regarded as a scholar by his contemporaries (such as D.H.Lawrence), and made his translation of the Qur'an while in India, some time between 1920 and 1935. The period in which he lived is reflected in his translation because it was done in a quaint old-fashioned English, with thee's and thou's, and feels stilted and clumsy.More importantly, it is regarded by Muslims as an acceptable translation. It should be noted here that Muslims only regard the Qur'an in Arabic as the word of God; all those which are translated into other languages are interpretations, and not the word of God. So, in any dialogue or communication with Muslims, they will accept it when you use Pickthall's translation/interpretation. I received my first Qur'an, the one by Pickthall, from the Imam in the mosque in my neighbourhood. I now much prefer the translation by Wahiduddin Khan - the English is clear and crisp and very easy to read, and it is also authorised by Muslims.Pickthall's translation has an introduction to each chapter in which he gives the background for it, and is quite helpful. So if you use this translation, you won't be getting any theology that is unorthodox Islamic teaching. It is readable but dated, and since its publication, there have been several translations that are more readable and still orthodox. I speak as an evangelical Christian with only an academic interest in Islam; but I do like to read the Qur'an. Pickthall's is not my favourite.

I purchased this, and even though it's a beautiful book considering it's from 1977 and it's got the Arabic-English text, it upsets me a tad that I don't remember reading that this beautiful book had the first page of Surah al-Baqarah ripped out and re-taped back in. I know considering the book's age, it should have a LOT worse damage, but it would have been good to know that it had several damaged pages.Alhamdulillah, I do love it, and I cherish this, especially since the book is 16 years older than me, but it'd have been good to know that this book was damaged.

First the good news. Mr. Pickthall has provided an introduction that satisfies the questions a semi-casual reader such as myself has as to the origins of Islam. The more important chapters ("Surahs") also have additional notes that explain their historical context, which is appreciated.Now the bad news: the translation overall has serious problems and some of Mr. Pickthall's commentary on Islam is laughable. The most glaring problem is his insistence on using archaic grammar forms, such as "thee," "thou," "ye" and so forth in the text, as well as uncommon or archaic words -- such as "troth" and "aught" -- when modern and normal ones like "faithfulness" and "anything" would have been appropriate. A few years ago I read a modern English translation of the Apocrypha, and found it significantly easier to read than my trusty King James translation of the Bible. I think I would have had a similarly easier experience if Mr. Pickthall had provided a modern version of the Koran.Mr. Pickthall also has an annoying habit of translating the past participle as "used to," instead of using the straight past tense or the pluperfect. So, where a normal translation might read: "We make them taste a dreadful doom because they disbelieved" or "had disbelieved," Mr. Pickthall renders it "We make them taste a dreadful doom because they used to disbelieve." That may be a literal translation from the Arabic, but in English it's jarring, and after seeing this oddball verb form dozens if not hundreds of times, it really grates.The revisionism. I actually laughed out loud at Mr. Pickthall's statement that Mohammed "raised women from the status of chattel to complete legal equality with man" (p. xxvi). That's nonsense. For crying out loud, in the birthplace of Mohammed, women aren't even allowed to drive cars. And the Koran itself doesn't place women on anywhere near an equal level to men. For example, men can divorce their wives by saying "I divorce you" three times, but women have no such equal right (Surah 2:229). Men also receive greater inheritances than women. Surah 4:177. See also generally Surah 2:226-7; 4:34. Mohammed gets props for condemning female infanticide (Surah 16:58-9) but that's hardly the same thing as gender equality, I think you'd agree.As for the Koran itself -- well, it has an intellectual consistency and vigor that Christians are unaccustomed to, since the Bible has numerous authors and styles, and clashing views of comportment, nature of God, justice, duty, salvation and mercy. The biblical author that comes closet to style and substance to Mohammed is probably Jeremiah. The Koran is fanatically monotheistic in its outlook, and the book's requirements to worship Allah could best be summarized as carrot-and-stick: worship Allah and follow His directions and be rewarded; if you don't, you'll be severely punished. The book is moreover extremely repetitive, dour, utterly humorless and, despite its energy, much more tedious than other scriptures I have read.One more thing. Let's dispense with the political correctness and admit that the truth: the Koran provides ample justification for and/or endorsement of those who perpetrated the atrocities of 9-11. But you don't need to believe me. Read the Koran and believe it for yourself. See, e.g., Surahs 2:190-1, 193, 246; 3:157-8, 169, 195; 4:74, 76-7; 8:39, 65; 9:5, 29, 36, 111, 123; 22:39; 47:4; 61:4.

This is a very beautiful, almost poetic, translation of the Qur'an. The language is a bit archaic, but it just works. Best if read aloud, I feel. I'm glad I bought it, even though I don't regard it as THE authoritative translation of the Qur'an -- even assuming such a thing were possible.

Fast delivery and it was just a newer version to replace my older version - the writing is better and updated : ) but of coarse the best book for guidance in this hectic questionable life

Easy to read

iteresting read

great