Compared with many available translations at the time, he somehow succeeded his stated aim to make the language modern and readable. In the following year, a Jew of Iraqi origin and a translator by profession Niseem Joseph Dawood, produces his translation, The Koran in 1956 (5th revised ed., Harmondsworth: Penguin Books 1990, further revised 1995). Non-Muslim translations Niseem Joseph Dawood Three modern and recommended English translations from the 21th century are the ones by Ali Quli Qara’i, Abdel Haleem* and Ahmad Zaki Hammad*. Nevertheless, if you prefer modern English, the translation by Shakir and Irving are serviceable (and Arberry and Dawood among the non-Muslim translations). The (dis)advantage of Yusuf Ali and Pickthall over more modern translations is that they clearly distinguish between the second person singular ‘thou’ and the second person plural ‘ye’ or ‘you’. Yusuf Alis and Marmaduke Pickthalls translations are reasonably accurate but not very consistent (the former is more accurate of the two, but both are generally reliable). Those of Yusuf Ali, Marmaduke Pickthall and Shakir are the most popular among non-Arabic speaking Muslims and non-Muslims. This is not an exhaustive survey of all English translations we have only mentioned some important or popular ones from the past and present.Īlthough we have included more than thirty-five English language translations of the Quran online, none of them is entirely satisfactory and some are extremely unreliable.

Abdel haleem quran online