Translation or Interpretation of the Quran

Translating the Holy Qur’an is not simply a matter of transferring words from one language into another. It is, instead, a complex theological, cultural, and intellectual endeavor. For Muslims, the Qur’an in its original Arabic is the eternal, uncreated word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through divine inspiration. Because of this, the Arabic Qur’an is viewed as unique and inimitable, its linguistic precision and rhetorical beauty beyond the reach of human replication.

Any translation, therefore, is considered not “the Qur’an” itself, but only an interpretation of its meanings. This distinction is vital: whereas the Arabic text is regarded as sacred and immutable, translations are understood as human efforts—valuable for conveying understanding, but inevitably limited and open to critique.

The difficulty lies in more than vocabulary and grammar. Classical Qur’anic Arabic is rich in metaphor, layered meanings, and rhetorical features such as rhythm, parallelism, and conciseness, which rarely survive intact in another language. Moreover, the Qur’an has been accompanied for over fourteen centuries by a vast body of commentary (tafsīr), legal scholarship, and spiritual exegesis that informs how Muslims interpret its verses. A translator, then, must navigate not only linguistic hurdles but also this immense interpretive tradition—deciding how much of it to reflect in the text or footnotes, and where to leave interpretation open.

Here is an overview of the principal English translations of the Qur’an, highlighting the most influential works and the historical contexts that shaped them. Rather than attempting an exhaustive catalog, which is nearly impossible given the hundreds of versions produced, this focus is on translations that were pioneering, widely read, or methodologically significant. These translations not only reflect different eras and intellectual traditions but also embody the evolving relationship between Islam and the English-speaking world.

The history of Qur’an translation into English can be broadly divided into two major phases:

The Orientalist Period (17th–19th centuries) – dominated by non-Muslim European scholars, whose translations were often influenced by polemics or academic curiosity.

The Muslim Translation Movement (20th century onward) – when Muslims themselves began to produce English versions, seeking to present the Qur’an faithfully to both Muslim and non-Muslim readers.

The Early Orientalist Period (17th–19th Century)

The first translations of the Qur’an into English were produced by Europeans who were neither Muslims nor sympathetic to Islam. Their works were shaped by the intellectual and religious climate of their times—marked by Christian apologetics, colonial encounters, and Orientalist scholarship.

The earliest complete English version, Alexander Ross’s translation (1649), was not made directly from Arabic but from a French rendering by André du Ryer. Ross admitted openly that he knew no Arabic; his purpose was polemical rather than devotional, presenting the Qur’an as a curiosity and as a theological foil to Christianity. Unsurprisingly, his version is riddled with inaccuracies, distortions, and hostile commentary.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the tone of Orientalist scholarship began to change. While still critical, it became less openly antagonistic. George Sale’s translation (1734), for example, was widely read in Europe and remained influential for over a century. Though prefaced with polemical remarks, Sale’s work demonstrated far more respect for the text than Ross’s and included a detailed introduction that sought to explain Islamic history and belief.

Later, translations such as J. M. Rodwell’s (1861) and E. H. Palmer’s (1880) reflected the growing academic interest in Islam. These translators aimed for philological precision and restructured the Qur’an for literary effect—Rodwell famously rearranged the chapters in supposed chronological order. Yet their works were not intended for Muslims, but rather for Western audiences, scholars, and missionaries.

This period illustrates a paradox. Although motivated by external and often critical perspectives, Orientalist translators nonetheless made the Qur’an more widely accessible to the English-speaking world, laying the groundwork for more faithful translations to come.

Alexander Ross (1649): The First English Rendition

Alexander Ross (c. 1590–1654) occupies a curious yet significant place in the history of Qur’an translation. A Scottish clergyman, schoolmaster, and prolific writer, Ross served as Chaplain-in-Ordinary to King Charles I and published works ranging from theology to natural philosophy. In 1649, amid a turbulent political and religious climate in England, he produced the first English rendition of the Qur’an, The Alcoran of Mahomet.

It is crucial to note that Ross’s “translation” was not undertaken from the original Arabic. Instead, it was “newly Englished” from the 1647 French version of André du Ryer (L’Alcoran de Mahomet), which itself had been a pioneering though flawed translation from Arabic. This derivative process meant that Ross’s work was two steps removed from the source language, and its accuracy suffered accordingly. His lack of training in Arabic left him wholly dependent on du Ryer’s interpretive choices, errors, and omissions.

The polemical intent of Ross’s work is evident even from its title page: The Alcoran of Mahomet… for the satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities. This framing positioned the Qur’an not as a divine scripture but as a curiosity, or worse, a cultural and theological danger to be exposed and refuted. His prefatory remarks reinforced this bias, warning readers against being seduced by “falsehoods” contained in the text.

Scholars continue to debate whether Ross himself translated the French text or whether he merely edited and introduced a version produced by another hand. What is certain is that he provided a prefixed “Warning to the Christian Reader,” confirming his active involvement in shaping the work. Regardless of the precise role he played, the Alcoran of Mahomet was deeply marked by its derivative nature, scholarly weaknesses, and polemical framing. Yet despite these flaws, its publication was a milestone: it introduced the Qur’an, however distorted, to the English-speaking world for the first time.

George Sale (1734): Setting the Standard for Two Centuries

George Sale (1697–1736), a British solicitor by profession and a self-taught Orientalist scholar, produced the first complete English translation of the Qur’an directly from the Arabic. Published in 1734 under the title The Koran: Commonly called the Alcoran of Mohammed, translated into English immediately from the Original Arabic, his work marked a watershed moment in Western engagement with Islam.

Sale took pride in working from the Arabic text itself, and in his preface he criticized earlier translators—including Ross—for their lack of linguistic competence. His motivation, however, was not devotional. As a Protestant Christian, he approached the Qur’an as a theological opponent, characterizing it as a heretical text. Yet his approach was considerably more scholarly than that of his predecessors.

The lasting significance of Sale’s translation lies not only in the rendering itself but also in the extensive scholarly apparatus that accompanied it. His lengthy Preliminary Discourse offered readers an introduction to Islamic history, law, and belief, albeit from a distinctly Western, Christian-centric perspective. This prefatory essay was widely circulated in its own right and became, for generations of Europeans, one of the primary sources of information about Islam.

For nearly two centuries, Sale’s translation stood as the standard English version of the Qur’an, reprinted repeatedly and read by scholars, clergy, and lay audiences alike. Its influence endured well into modern times: in 2007, Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, chose to take his oath of office on a copy of Sale’s Qur’an owned by Thomas Jefferson, underscoring the text’s symbolic place in Western intellectual history.

The Rise of Muslim-Authored Translations (20th Century)

A decisive turning point came in the early 20th century, when Muslims themselves began producing English translations of the Qur’an. This shift was motivated partly by the need to counter Orientalist distortions and partly by the growing demand for accessible Qur’anic translations among Muslims living under colonial rule or in diaspora communities.

The earliest Muslim translators often came from groups outside the mainstream Sunni establishment, reflecting both their missionary priorities and their drive for religious self-definition. Mirza Abul Fazl, a Shi‘a scholar, produced one of the first English translations by a Muslim. Soon after, members of the Ahmadiyya movement became pioneers of this field. Maulana Muhammad Ali (1917–1918), an Ahmadi scholar, published a widely circulated translation accompanied by detailed commentary. While controversial within Sunni orthodoxy, his work represented a crucial reclamation of interpretive authority: for the first time, the Qur’an was being explained to English readers from within an Islamic theological framework, rather than through a Christian or Orientalist lens.

These early Muslim translations, though sometimes theologically contested, laid the foundation for a new phase in Qur’an translation: one in which Muslims sought not only to defend their scripture but also to articulate its beauty and message to a global audience.

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (1930): The Convert’s Rendering

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (1875–1936) embodied the bridge between the English literary tradition and the Islamic scholarly world. A well-known novelist and journalist, educated at Harrow alongside figures such as Winston Churchill, Pickthall traveled extensively in the Middle East and formally converted to Islam in 1917.

In 1930, he published The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, which became a landmark in Qur’anic translation. Pickthall described his work not as a “translation” but as a rendering of the “meanings” of the Qur’an, reflecting the theological caution Muslims maintain toward translation. His style, marked by “formal correspondence,” sought to remain close to the Arabic syntax and vocabulary, at times producing an archaic but dignified English that echoed the cadence of the King James Bible.

Pickthall’s efforts to secure credibility within the Muslim scholarly establishment set his work apart. He submitted his draft to scholars at al-Azhar University in Cairo, one of the most authoritative centers of Sunni learning, and received their endorsement. This recognition lent legitimacy to his translation in the eyes of the wider Muslim community. To this day, Pickthall’s version remains one of the most widely read and respected English renderings, especially among Muslims in South Asia and beyond.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1934–1938): The Scholar and Commentator

Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872–1953) brought a distinct blend of legal, literary, and theological training to his translation project. Born into an Indian Muslim family, he was educated at Cambridge, trained as a barrister, and subsequently held senior positions in the Indian Civil Service. His command of both Arabic and English, combined with his profound religious commitment, uniquely positioned him to undertake one of the most ambitious Qur’an translations of the modern period.

Published in installments between 1934 and 1938, Yusuf Ali’s The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary distinguished itself through its extensive exegesis. His translation was accompanied by thousands of footnotes and marginal comments, drawing on classical tafsīr, Sufi interpretations, and his own reflections on the moral and spiritual dimensions of the text. Unlike Pickthall’s relatively spare approach, Yusuf Ali’s work served as both a translation and a commentary, providing readers with a comprehensive guide to understanding the Qur’an.

Methodologically, Yusuf Ali blended two strategies: in some passages, he adhered closely to the Arabic (a “formal” approach), while in others, he prioritized clarity and readability in English (a “dynamic” approach). His prose, heavily influenced by the elevated diction of the King James Bible, lent his translation a sense of majesty and solemnity.

Yusuf Ali’s work became the most widely distributed English Qur’an of the 20th century, particularly after it was adopted and sponsored by institutions in the Muslim world, including the government of Saudi Arabia. Though later criticized for theological and interpretive choices, it remains a foundational text in the history of Qur’an translation and continues to be read and reprinted worldwide.

Muhammad Asad (1980): The Modernist Rationalist

Muhammad Asad (1900–1992), born Leopold Weiss in Lemberg (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Lviv, Ukraine), represents one of the most remarkable intellectual journeys of the 20th century. Trained as a journalist and art critic, Asad traveled extensively across the Middle East and North Africa in the 1920s. Profoundly moved by the vitality and coherence of Islamic civilization, he converted to Islam in 1926, adopting the name Muhammad Asad. Over the following decades, he served in a variety of roles: advisor to King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, diplomat for Pakistan, and reformist thinker committed to reconciling Islam with modernity.

His translation, The Message of the Qur’an (1980), took him seventeen years to complete and has been described as “resolutely modernist” and “rationalist.” In the foreword, he dedicated the work to “People Who Think”—a deliberate call for readers to engage intellectually and critically with the sacred text. He emphasized the principle of ijtihād (independent reasoning), which he believed Muslims must apply to understand the Qur’an afresh in every age.

Stylistically, Asad leaned toward what translation theorists call dynamic equivalence: rather than providing a strictly word-for-word rendering, he prioritized capturing the sense, intent, and spirit of the original. His extensive footnotes and commentary reveal his intellectual debt to reformist figures such as Muhammad Abduh, as well as his own lifelong engagement with Islamic philosophy, law, and spirituality. The result is a translation that seeks to harmonize faith with reason and to present Islam as a universal, timeless message accessible to modern readers.

Saheeh International (1997): Published in 1997, Saheeh International marked another striking development in the history of Qur’an translation. It was the product of a collaborative effort by three American Muslim women—Emily Assami, Mary Kennedy, and Amatullah Bantley—who converted to Islam and settled in Saudi Arabia. The fact that the first widely circulated translation of the Qur’an by women emerged from within a conservative Muslim environment is significant, reflecting both the globalization of Islam and the expanding participation of women in Islamic scholarship.

The Saheeh International translation is characterized by its clarity, straightforward style, and modern English vocabulary. Unlike Yusuf Ali’s flowery diction or Pickthall’s archaism, it avoids ornate language and instead aims for accessibility. Its introduction and explanatory notes are relatively brief, making it especially appealing to young Muslims, new converts, and readers seeking a direct engagement with the text. For many in the English-speaking Muslim world, Saheeh International has become the default edition distributed in mosques and Islamic centers, especially in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Arthur J. Arberry (1955): A Cambridge scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies, Arberry produced The Koran Interpreted. His goal was not merely accuracy but also to reproduce, as far as possible, the rhythmic and poetic cadences of the original Arabic. While many Muslim readers found his lack of commentary limiting, academics praised his work as a stylistically sensitive and literary rendering.

N. J. Dawood (1956): Born in Baghdad and later educated in London, Dawood’s The Koran became a mainstay of Penguin Classics. His decision to rearrange the surahs in chronological order was groundbreaking and controversial. While appealing to readers interested in the historical unfolding of the Qur’anic message, this choice disrupted the traditional order that Muslims regard as divinely fixed, thus raising questions about fidelity to the sacred structure.

Laleh Bakhtiar (2007): An Iranian American scholar, Bakhtiar published The Sublime Qur’an, making her the first American woman to translate the Qur’an independently. Her work is notable for re-examining specific key terms, including her controversial decision to render daraba in Surah 4:34 not as “beat” but as “go away,” offering a gender-sensitive reinterpretation that sparked broad discussion.