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The Koran Interpreted: A Translation | 
 enlarge | Creator: A. J. Arberry
Publisher: Touchstone
List Price: $20.00
Buy New: $14.60
You Save: $5.40 (27%)
New (41) Used (54) Collectible (1) from $5.75
Rating:  13 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 708
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.4
ISBN: 0684825074
Dewey Decimal Number: 297.122521
EAN: 9780684825076
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Muslim holy book, presented in Arberry's forty-year-old authoritative and lyrical translation, brings the fundamental principles and concepts of the Muslim religion to the English language. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 The best translatin of Al-Quran in English to-date December 25, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I feel honored to state that this, in my opinion, is the best English translation of Al-Quran. Especilly, though, by a non-Muslim.
Any body who reads this translation, please also (try to) read between the lines (within the translation) as well.
Aman
Possibly the best and most faithful August 28, 2006
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
A.J. Arberry's translation of the Koran has taken pre-eminence among religious and world literature scholars. Although Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation of the Koran has pride of place in many English-speaking Islamic households, Arberry's work above all others renders the Koranic language in suitably appropriate, easily-comprehended, English.
Unlike any other translation before or since, Arberry's work adheres closely to the original Arabic syntax, meaning that this translation can easily be used in tandem with a recitation in Arabic of the Koran. Arberry's language is striking and beautiful, comparable to more recent offerings from N.J. Dawood and Thomas Cleary. Note, for example, the striking immediacy and rhythmic flow of this passage:
"He is God;
the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper.
To Him belong the Names Most Beautiful.
All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Him;
He is the All-mighty, the All-wise."
(Surah 59 'Hashr' v. 24)
Arberry eschews the Elizabethan intricacies of Abdullah Y. Ali and the reader will not find themselves fighting a river of parenthetical entries, as are found in Muhammad Asad and the infamous "Wahhabi Koran" of Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
All that being said, there are problems with the presentation of the translation. The verses are not numbered individually, although the paragraphing on each page helps in determining where verse divisions are. Arberry opts to adjust the layout of the text in accordance with the action or commands in the words themselves. This is a unique approach, but does tend to make difficulties for the reader hunting down a particular verse. Also, especially in the longer chapters ('Baqara' and 'Imran'), the numbering of the verses is off by about four.
The introductions to the two sections of the volume are fine discourses from the translator on the actual act of translating this book, but don't offer the first-time reader any introduction to the Koran itself--what it is, the purpose it serves, etc. There are also no footnotes at all in the text.
Overall, Arberry's work is a magnificent achievement, but one that is more suitable to the scholar than the casual reader. He is especially useful as a second Koran (with Oxford's Abdel Haleem offering being the first) or as a reference in English for one studying either the original text itself or the recitation of the Koran. For sure, Arberry's work belongs on the bookshelf of all who are interested in digging deeper into Islam, the Koran, or the great works of world literature.
TO AMAZON.COM moderators! June 27, 2006
19 out of 41 found this review helpful
I look through the reviews of the Qurans available on amazon and I see many hatemongering diatribes. I want to read reviews that tell me the quality of the book, not to read peoples religious fanaticism and political viewpoints. I see waaaay too much hatemongering in these reviews. Please clean it up or I will take my business elsewhere. Please people, don't take the bait and respond to them, instead report the posts, give them a no rating for 'helpfulness' and call and complain to Amazon customer service.
Answer to 'mistake in Quran' May 13, 2006
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
This interpretation of the Quran is quite good- however much is lost in terms of meaning as a result of the translation, which is often the case when translating a book like the Quran. For instance, one word in Arabic may have multiple meanings. Much is also lost in terms of the sounds of the Quran and it's beautiful rhetoric. This is even what A.J Arberry said himself:
In making the present attempt... to produce something which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which-apart from the message itself-constitute the Koran's undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind... This very haracteristic feature-"that inimitable symphony," as the believing Pickthall described his Holy Book...-has been almost totally ignored by previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what they have wrought sounds dull and flat indeed in comparison with the splendidly decorated original.(17) (From Arthur J. Arberry's book, The Koran Interpreted)
I would suggest another translation along with this one for comparative analysis.
In answer to `The Mistake in the Quran' comment, I would like to suggest that Amazon is not a place for polemics, so that should be left for the appropriate websites. Nonetheless I will say a quick word- on analysis of the verse you will see the word `Wajd' is used, which means to perceive something- in other words it appeared to Zul Qarnayn that the sun was setting in water. This is similar when you go to the beach- you PERCEIVE (it appears to you) that the sun is setting in the water, but obviously it isn't. Furthermore, the word used is `balagha' is used in this verse, which is used metaphorically and not literally throughout the Quran. The alternative words are `yudrik' and `tudrik', which are used literally, but aren't used in this verse of the Quran; this is the same throughout the Quran. See books on Arabic grammar and Arabic dictionaries (a good one in the Hans Wehr dictionary of Modern written Arabic). It is clear from this that there is no suggestion that the sun literally went into the water nor is there a suggestion that the earth is flat.
Mistake in the Koran!!! February 13, 2006
11 out of 40 found this review helpful
One of the questions which puzzled the ancient Arabs was, "Where did the sun go when night time came?" The Qur'an gave them Allah's answer.
He [i.e. Zul-qarnain] followed, until he reached the setting of the sun. He found it set in a spring of murky water.
(Surah XVIII ( Kahf) vs. 85-86)
We agree with Muslim scholars that Zul-qarnain refers to Alexander the Great (see Yusuf Ali's appendix on this subject in his translation of the Qur'an). According to this surah, Alexander the Great traveled west until he found out what happened to the sun. It went down into and under the murky waters of a pond. When it was completely covered by the water, darkness fell upon the earth.
To the early Muslims, this surah gave the divine answer as to why darkness fell when the sun set in the West. They assumed that the sun, like the moon, was the size perceived by the human eye, about the size of a basketball. Darkness came when with a mighty hissing roar it went down under the dark waters of a pond. They boldly and proudly proclaimed that this marvelous answer proved that the Qur'an was indeed the Word of God.
Today, modern Muslims are quite embarrassed by this passage and try to ignore it or to quickly dismiss it as poetry. But the passage is not part of a poem. Thus it cannot be dismissed as figurative language or poetic license. In the context, it is part of a historical narrative which relates several historical incidences in the life of Alexander the Great.
The mistake was based on the erroneous assumption that the earth was flat. The authors of the Qur'an did not know that the earth was a sphere which revolved around the sun.
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