ALIGARH JOURNAL OF QURANIC STUDIES (original) (raw)
Related papers
2014
It is a universally established fact that effective speech and writing comprise some basic and interconnected components such as preface, central theme, contextual flow, and conclusion. Absence of any of these elements may mar the beauty and effect of speech and writing. There is unanimity among Muslims, masses as well as scholars, over the Qur'an as the most effective speech revealed by Allah. The main reason for this quality of the Qur'an, as agreed by all Muslim scholars, is its inimitability (i'jaz al-Qur'an). Yet, it is unbelievably surprising that most of the mufassirun (commentators of the Qur'an) right from the early periods of Islamic history until today ignored the task of identifying various components of Qur'anic Surahs and establishing link among them. Some commentators like Qazi Abd al-Jabbar, al-Haralliyy, al-Razi, al-Biqa'i, Syed Qutb, Syed Mawdudi, al-Farahi, and Islahi did attempt in their commentaries of the Qur'an to interpret the Surahs as thematically coherent by identifying link among various components of each and every single Surah. Some of them simply tried to show the link among all the verses of Qur'anic Surahs; and some others identified various themes in a Surah and suggested possible link among them. It appears that no commentator paid attention to identifying preface in Qur'anic Surahs, particularly large ones. It may not be imaginable that the Qur'anic Surahs do not have introductory part. The claim that preface does not exist in Qur'anic Surahs controverts the belief that the Qur'an is the most effective speech. This paper represents a humble attempt to research that each and every single surah, short or large, contains one or the other preface, at times, spreading over several verses in the beginning and, at times, covering only the first one or two verses. With the identification of preface in a Surah, the task of interpretation may become easier than ever before. This paper is divided into two main parts: (1) framework and role of preface in the interpretation of the Qur'an, and (2) identification of preface in some Surahs and its link to the rest of the verses in the particular Surah.
THE LUMINOUS QUR’AN, 2019
No translator will ever embark on such a momentous project as translating the Qur’an, without realizing the magnitude of his undertaking, his position in the history of humanity viz-a-viz their most pressing need for Divine guidance, and where to make a well-calculated stand in the ceaseless flow of previous and concurrent translations of the Qur’an. By translating the untranslatable Qur’an we are at once engaging in an impossible mission that we fully realise is not going to be carried out to a satisfactory completion even before we set about it! But this needs not hold us back from engaging in a quest to explore the limits of the “translatability” of the Qur’an and the possibility of compensating for the degrees of loss, great as they are. What one can hope for is to get across the purport of the Qur’anic message so that people can pay heed to it. This is a legitimate attempt indeed. The current translation (along with an extensive introduction to the Qur'an): • Represents a safe, mainstream yet non-restrictive understanding of the Message of the Grand Qur’an. • Relies on the most authentic time-honored sources of tafsir and Hadith. • The introduction to the translation provides a broad coverage of essential topics for those seeking to read the Qur’an in Arabic and in translation. • This translation is marked by its “faithfulness”. It is neither too literal nor too free. • Each sura is preceded by a brief introduction, which is indispensable for anyone who wants to unlock some of the meaning potential of the sura. • Every care was taken to make each aya rendition read as a composite whole, i.e. understood independently of its notes. • Uses extensive annotations to provide a holistic reading experience. • Highlights and underlines the connectivity and thematic unity of the suras and ayas.
A Reflection on Surah Al Isra' Pakistan Journal of Qur'anic Studies 3 (1)
Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 2024
The reflection on Surah al-Isra’ (The Night Journey) is an attempt to show how the surah (chapter) is an integral whole of meaning. Each ayah (verse) of the surah connects with the two main themes of the surah – Meccan polytheists objections to the Prophet’s message and God’s responses, and the believers’ impatience asking for the punishment of the polytheists in the eleventh year of the Prophet’s teaching in Mecca. The example of the Children of Isra’il in the surah serves the purpose of informing the polytheists of their coming reward or punishment based on accepting or rejecting the Prophet’s message. When we study the surah as a unity of meaning, i.e., all ayat (verses) connect in meaning with each other, the discontinuity in the narrative disappears. For example, ayah 1 is about Isra’ (night journey) but then connected with a wa (and) in ayah 2 with the story of Moses. The two subjects have no connection, but a deep connection exists. The difficult circumstance in the eleventh year of the Prophet’s preaching required to show the Prophet God’s great signs that God was in full control. Therefore, the believers shall remain patient. Whereas the ayah 2 poses a threat to the polytheists by narrating the story of Moses and his followers when they disobeyed. The surah is full of such discontinuities. For each discontinuity, the paper will show the hidden connection. The reflection on the Qur’an then becomes a process of discovering hidden meaning threads among the ayat of the surah. The beauty of a narrative is in its flow of ideas without discontinuities. Further, it fulfills the idea of a surah as a boundary within which certain ideas exist and others excluded based on the principle of making certain key points. Reading a surah as disjointed subjects or unity of subjects drastically impacts its correct understanding.
“The European Qur’an” n. 2, Berlin – Boston, De Gruyter, 2023, x + 287 p.
Passages of the Qur'an accompany the work and offer a rapid reference to the themes that are discussed. The Qur'an, in these parts of the text, is cited according to the translation by Alan Jones (The Qur'ān, [Cambridge]: Gibb Memorial Trust, 2007). A number of the passages cited have prompted me to modify the translation, something I tried to do as little as possible, since the coherence of a complete translation of the Qur'an must take precedence, in my opinion, over possible choices for specific passages. To distinguish the second person singular and plural in his English translation, Jones adds a superscript "s" or "p" to second person pronouns and imperatives (e.g., you s ; your p , recite s , etc.; cf. Jones, The Qur'ān, pp. 21-22). For the sake of simplicity these additional notations have not been used in the passages cited in this book. The bibliography at the end of the volume is just a limited choice amongst the countless studies on the Qur'an that have appeared and continue to appear. Vaster and more exhaustive bibliographies on various themes can be found in several more extensive works, such as the six volumes of the Encyclopaedia of the Qur'ān,
The Grand Quran the First Half A Fresh and Faithful English Translation
The Grand Qur'an: The First Half: A faithful translation and annotated interpretation of the first fifteen juz's of God, the Most Merciful's Message , 2023
This fresh translation mainly stands out for the following: It represents a safe, mainstream yet non-restrictive understanding of the Message of the Grand Qur’an. The great wealth of Qur’anic commentary that we have inherited through millennia of scholarship, hard study, and contemplation is considered with empathy and careful attention. This weighty inheritance is a boon to be consulted with great respect, not a bane bearing the trappings of times of old, which some would consider as unbefitting of modern-day thought patterns. As you read through the translation, you will surely come to realize this and, hopefully, appreciate the work of these great scholars of Islam. This translation is marked by its ‘faithfulness’: neither too literal nor too free. I have done my utmost to make my translation as reflective of the Original as humanly possible. In the process, neither were extraneous readings juxtaposed with the Original words nor were any personal or ideational aberrations superimposed in the rendition at hand. My thoughts, if any, are kept to the annotations. This obviously made my task all the more difficult, yet all the more satisfying. Each sura is preceded by a brief introduction. This scene-setter is indispensable for anyone who wants to unlock some of the meaning potential of the sura. The rationale behind the name of the sura, its major themes and keys to understanding it are provided.
The Qur'ān. Translated into English
Die Welt des Islams, 2011
This volume, containing the English translation of the text of the Qurʾān, is half of an annotated translation of the sacred scripture of Islam. The second volume, including the bulk of the notes and commentary, has yet to appear. The translator, Alan Jones, recently retired from teaching Arabic at Oxford University, is a specialist in early Arabic and in the literature of Muslim Spain. He is known amongst other things for his publications on pre-Islamic poetry, and his familiarity with the contemporary context of the Qurʾānic revelation informs his translation. The volume has a brief introduction placing the revelation of the Qurʾān in its historical setting, presenting the form, content and style of the text and discussing the issue of evolution of the style. It notes the extreme variation in length of the āyāt, but points out that if "segments of meaning", that is, meaningful phrases which are not necessarily complete sentences, are regarded as the basic units of the text, changes in style are far less pronounced. Accordingly, the translation is printed not as continuous prose but with each segment of meaning on a separate line; in this it follows and takes to its logical conclusion an idea already present (for English translations) in Arberry's The Koran Interpreted. The layout thus mirrors the oral nature of the recitation, where long verses were broken up by pauses between clauses or significant rhetorical features. Each sūra is preceded by an indication of the period or periods (Meccan or Medinan) to which it belongs and sometimes by an outline of the contents or a short explanation of some salient points or difficulties. The translation itself emphasises the oral nature of the revelation by rendering the key injunction "iqraʾ" as "Recite!", rather than "Read!", as some translations do. Similarly, it provides English equivalents of the meanings of words as the earliest Muslims would have known them, not necessarily as they came to be understood later. "Ummīyūn", for instance, is translated "members of the community" (S. 2: 78) with a note giving the alternative "common people" and adding that "illiterate" or "uneducated", as it is normally translated, "cannot have been the original meaning" (p. 33; cf. Sebastian Günther, "Illiteracy", in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, vol. II). Another instance, it seems to me, of this going back to the original sense is the rendering of "Bi-smi llāhi l-raḥmāni l-raḥīm". The most usual version in English is "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" (e.g. Arberry) or a similar expression. This translation, which is perfectly defensible, parallels phrases more familiar to most English speakers, such as "In the name of God, the Father Almighty"; it refers to a God people already know something about. Jones, however, proposes "In the name of the Merciful and Compassionate God", the wording found in Palmer's translation (1880). This can be understood as a proclamation of the one God and an indication of his nature to people used to a number of gods probably endowed with other traits (for other explanations see William Graham, "Basmala", in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, vol. I). So indeed it must have come across to Muḥammad's first hearers.
The Qur'an (Koran) abbreviated forthcoming version
This chapter introduces readers to the Qur'an's historical background, its style and structural elements, its resonance with world literature, and selected key themes. (To be published in The Concise Companion to World Literature, with Wiley Blackwell).