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The Qur’an is the foundation and mainstay of Islamic faith, life and culture. Islam and the Muslim ummah are unique in so far as their bedrock is primarily a Book – the Qur’an. This Book gave the Muslims their distinct worldview and vision of life. Historically speaking, the Qur’an performed the great feat of transforming a motley group of warring tribes of seventh-century Arabia into the Muslim ummah which soon developed into a dynamic world community with a message for humanity at large. It not only fashioned the historical personality of the Muslims but also remained the main source of their inspiration and guidance throughout the fourteen centuries of their history.
The Qur’an encompasses the totality of God’s Revelation to Muhammad (peace be on him), the last in the distinguished series of Prophets raised for mankind’s guidance. The uniqueness of the Qur’an lies in its being the Final Revelation. It is precisely for this reason that it preserves and protects whatever was revealed prior to it. It also represents the culmination and zenith of the Divine Revelation which commenced with the birth of Adam and came to an end with the Prophet’s return to the Mercy of his Lord. Being the Final Revelation, God saw to it that the ravages of time would play no havoc with it: that nothing of it would be lost, nor any part of it altered, nor anything extraneous to it find its way to it. It was God’s Will that the Final Revelation should be preserved in its entirety exactly as it had been communicated to the Prophet (peace be on him) by Gabriel, and exactly as the Prophet (peace be on him) had communicated it to
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his contemporaries. All this was essential since this Last Book was meant to serve as a beacon light for the guidance of all humanity till the end of time.
The intrinsic value of the Qur’an is evident to many perceiving eyes and reflecting minds. On the other hand is the heart-rending fact that human beings in large numbers are scarcely aware of the Qur’an’s message and teachings. What is more, thanks to the strong Islamophobic media that presently holds sway over the world, multitudes of people are averse to it. Quite a few Muslims regard an accumulation of external factors as responsible for creating a deep-seated prejudice against Islam and the Qur’an. The fact, however, is that it is we Muslims who are to blame more than anyone else for the present state of affairs in so far as we have failed to give this Book its due by making it widely available in a form that would enable our fellow beings to grasp its meaning.
For a number of historical reasons, however, the interaction between the Muslims and the rest of the world, especially with the West, has been on the increase in recent times. This development can prove a turning point in history, especially if the Muslims can have the same degree of concern to make the Qur’an’s message and meaning accessible to all and sundry as they have for their mundane interests. Hence, instead of fruitlessly lamenting the sordid state of affairs of the present, vigorous efforts should be made to change it by building bridges of understanding across the religious, cultural and ethnic divide found in our world today.
The Qur’an – uncreated Word of God though it doubtlessly is – was revealed and communicated through the medium of a human language – Arabic. No wonder its original text remains a livingmiracle in a variety of ways. Hence those who know Arabic have access to a whole universe of meaning which is not easy for others to reach. For it is only by reading the Qur’an in the original that one is exposed to its true beauty and grandeur. It is only the original Arabic Qur’an that can make one appreciate “that inimitable symphony the very sound of which moves man to tears and
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ecstasy,”1 as Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall has aptly put it. Even the best translations can never transport the Qur’an’s vast universe of meaning, or its astounding beauty and grandeur to their readers. The Qur’an, in this sense, was always and will always remain untranslatable. Imperfect though all such translations are always bound to be, nevertheless the effort to translate the Qur’an into other languages is absolutely essential to effectively communicate the substance of its meaning and message. Indeed it should be an ongoing activity of Muslim scholars for hopefully with the passage of time an increasingly better communication of the Qur’an’s meaning would be possible.
Now every language, including Arabic in which the Qur’an was revealed, has its own style, diction and ethos. The language of the Qur’an is characterized by a unique mental and moral ambience: it has a distinct style, supported by a value-laden idiom, a multi-dimensional phrase-structure, a sequential inter-relatedness, all of which is expressed in a literary style of unsurpassable beauty and force. The language and style of the Qur’an also reflect a set of values which are related to a number of concepts and ideas. All these go to make up an organic whole, a unique literary culture, and a self-sustaining spiritual and intellectual personality. In such a context it is evident that the translation needs to be really good to assist those who are not initiated to the ideas, values and spirit of this culture so that they are able to grasp the spirit and the meaning of the text. This is possible only if the translators have a good taste of the Arabic language, have remained immersed in the universe of the Qur’anic meaning, and have the ability to express it with clarity, elegance and force.
The translations of the Qur’an that are devoid of sympathy, understanding and reverence will fail to make their readers appreciate its message in any depth. It is unfortunate that several translations through which readers approach the Qur’an lack empathy for the Qur’an, and some even attempt, in our opinion, to distort and denigrate it. Even where a translation does not suffer
1 Pickthall, M.M.: The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: Mentor), p.VII.
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from deliberate distortion or misrepresentation, it generally lacks an insightful understanding. Moreover, quite often these translations make a dull reading compared to the sparkling original. Since the ordinary reader of the Qur’an is not familiar with the ethos of the Qur’an and is not properly initiated into the culture of the Divine Word, he/she is often unable to taste its sweetness,
