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Recommend me a Koran
Edd
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For years I've wanted to get to know this seemingly pretty damned important book, but the main barrier has been that I know very little about the Koran's translation history. Diving into a holy text is fraught with complications surrounding the "legitimacy" of different translations, so I wondered if you guys might be able to point me in the right direction.
So, in short, I want to know what version of the Koran I should commit to.
A couple of things to help set up my needs here:
* I'm approaching the Koran purely as literature. I'm about as non-religious as they come, so this is mostly me trying to understand an important cultural artifact.
* I'm not daunted by having to actually read the thing, so I'm not looking for an "Idiot's Guide" style solution, though I'd definitely be willing to hear suggestions for companion books that offer some useful critical context.
* EBooks preferred.
I think that's enough to get me started. Are there other things I should know before I decide on a translation?
So, in short, I want to know what version of the Koran I should commit to.
A couple of things to help set up my needs here:
* I'm approaching the Koran purely as literature. I'm about as non-religious as they come, so this is mostly me trying to understand an important cultural artifact.
* I'm not daunted by having to actually read the thing, so I'm not looking for an "Idiot's Guide" style solution, though I'd definitely be willing to hear suggestions for companion books that offer some useful critical context.
* EBooks preferred.
I think that's enough to get me started. Are there other things I should know before I decide on a translation?
+1
Posts
Your best bet is to go to a local mosque and ask for some recommendations on versions you could read. They will probably have some set suggestions, and you can talk to them and feel out what kind of translation that particular person would prefer. If you want to parse out all religious bias you will have to learn to read Arabic basically. The good and bad news is a lot of the stories are substantially similar to what you know. For example they have the whole Jesus arc in a way, but he does not die for Allah would never allow his prophet to be humiliated in such a way.
The "Oxford World's Classic" translation, by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem is #1 on Amazon, and has a kindle version.
This is more or less correct - because a translation can never fully grasp the nuance of the original language, only the original, unaltered Arabic text is considered the "true" Quran. That said, you're just looking for a translation. I have a couple at home, I'll see if I can find the one I'm thinking of tonight that's a bit easier to read than most. There's a tendency on the part of most translations to go very heavy on Ye Olde English pronouns and writing style, which seems pretty silly to me.
You can't give someone a pirate ship in one game, and then take it back in the next game. It's rude.
That seems to be common across holy texts. "Thee" and "thou" don't mean anything when it comes to finding a close translation; it just means the translation is either old or purposefully overcomplicated for a modern reader.
Scholars consider the Hadiths a complementary, and books such as the following can help understand the culture:
http://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Face-Islam-Bill-Musk/dp/1854246046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448333911&sr=8-1&keywords=the+unseen+face+of+islam
Good luck
Seconding this one. So good.