The Qur’ān

By Ali Quli Qarai

Second Revised Edition (2005)

The Qur’ān

Ali Quli Qarai, Islamic College for Advance Studies Press (ICAS), London (Distributed by The Centre for Translation of the Holy Qur’ān, Qom, Iran), 2005
“Publisher’s Note إن هذا القرآن يهدي للتي هي أقوم ويبشر المؤمنين الذين يعملون الصالحات أن لهم أجرا كبيرا Since the first translation of the Holy Qur’ān into English in 1648, there have appeared more than 60 other English translations...

Description

Ali Quli Qarai (b. 1947), translator and writer, born in Hyderabad, studied first at Madraseh Aizza and later at Madraseh Aliya and Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. After graduating from Osmania University with a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in 1970, he went to the United States, where he graduated with a degree in Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For fourteen years (1983-1997) he worked as Executive Editor and later on as Chief Editor of Al-Tawhid, an English quarterly of Islamic thought, translating many Arabic and Persian writings on various Islamic subjects. Qarai’s major work is his English translation of the Quran, first published in November 2003, entitled: “The Qur’an with an English Paraphrase”. The translation was published by The Centre for Translation of the Holy Qur’an, Qom, Iran in collaboration with the Islamic College for Advanced Studies (ICAS), London, United Kingdom. Qarai was associated with the Centre for Translation of the Holy Qur’an as a translation consultant, where the translation was a product of more than five years of full-time effort. In 2004 the translation was rebranded and republished by the Islamic College for Advanced Studies (ICAS), entitled: “The Qur’an; With a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation”. Since then the translation have been revised and published in new editions, the latest known being a reprint of the 6th edition in 2019. The Second (Revised) Edition 2005 was freely distributed online by the International Quran News Agency (IQNA) and is available at multiple online Quran websites. Qarai’s translation is commonly regarded as both being faithful and fluent at the same time. The language is clear, straightforward and dignified, distant from both the archaisms and the modernisms that have been affected by other English translators of the Quran. Compared to other English translations of the Quran, Qarai’s translation is unique in regards to its paraphrasing style, an approach that enables readers possessing an elementary knowledge of Arabic to follow the meaning of the Arabic Text of the Quran. The translation has been carried out according to classical commentators of the Quran, this with references to both Sunni and Shia work, inclining to the later perspectives.

About the author

Ali Quli Qarai

Writer
  • Born: Hyderabad, 1947
  • Full name: Ali Quli Qarai
  • Other names: ʻAlī Qūlī Qarāʼī ʻAlī Qarāʼī Qarai, Ali Quli Ali Quli Qara'i
  • Creed: Muslim

Editions

Known editions and reprints:

- First Edition 2003
- Second (Revised) Edition 2005
- Third (Revised) Edition 2009
- Fourth (Third Revised) Edition 2015
- Fith (Fourth Revised) Edition 2018
- Sixth (Fifth Revised) Edition 2018
- Reprint of Sixth Edition 2019