online copy of m. a. s. abdel haleem quran

The Muslims of the time said that the language came from God. It makes one wonder therefore how he, all of the sudden, could start to recite these verses of the Qur’an. We know that until his forties he didn’t write any poetry and that he never gave speeches in public. We also know what Muhammad was capable of. We can see, for example, that the Qur’an is clearly of a higher level than the language of the hadith (reports of the sayings and actions of the Prophet). And I can see that what Muhammad received in the 'state of revelation' was very different from his normal language.

But, as a scholar of linguistics, I deal with this only from the linguistic point of view. The theological tradition, on the other hand, maintains that he received it from an arch angel who delivered it to him from God. Our colleagues in Oriental departments might say that it is Muhammad who wrote the Qur’an or even others. Can't we look at the Qur’an in the same manner? To see its spiritual brilliance is one thing, but to see it as something radically different than other religious texts, is something else. The authors of certain books within the bible perhaps were very inspired when they wrote them and they certainly based their accounts on historic events, but we see their texts as written and constructed by people. In my own Christian tradition however, the scriptures themselves aren’t seen as divine. It is of course a core element of the Islamic faith that the Qur’an is a divine revelation. I met professor Abdel Haleem in his office in London, very eager to know his views on a topic that has always been of much interest to me: the relation between the text and context of the Qur'an. Add to this the concise but tremendously interesting introduction and it becomes clear that this handy pocket-size edition is by far the most accessible version for any contemporary English audience. As such, Abdel Haleem's translation excels in its transparent tone.

In accordance to this stylistic choice, the language itself is free from the archaisms or awkward grammatical structures that are often found in other translations. One of the most remarkable aspects of the translation is the fact that it doesn't use any verse structure but is written as if it were fluent prose. I got a copy and quickly became just as impressed. When I met Hip Hop activist Cyrus McGoldrick, he told me that his favorite translation of the Qur'an was the one by Egyptian born Abdel Haleem.

Online copy of m. a. s. abdel haleem quran