Majid Fakhry, An Interpretation of the Qur’an; English Translation of the Meanings; A Bilingual Edition (2002)

aggression against them, “since God does not like the aggressors” (Surah 2/190); the other is toleration, since “there is no compulsion in religion” (Surah 2/257), and the third is “gracious pardon or ransom”, once they have been subdued (Surah 47/4).

As People of the Book, Jews and Christians are accorded a special and privileged status in the Qur’an, because “they believe in God and the Last Day” (Surah 2/62), and although accused of having corrupted their scriptures, the Qur’an abounds in references to the Old Testament figures, including Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Jacob, Job and Lot, as well as New Testament figures, including Mary, John (the Baptist), Jesus, son of Mary, and many others. The miracles of Christ are given in full, and, in fact, the Qur’an attributes to Christ a number of other miracles which are not mentioned in the canonical Gospels, but are referred to in the Apocrypha. In addition, a large number of biblical narratives are given in the Qur’an, not for their historical interest but rather for their spiritual or moral interest; they are often intended to illustrate the justice of God’s ways and His sovereignty in the world, and to underscore the trials and tribulations to which His prophets or messengers have been subjected throughout history. Those prophets or messengers are said to have been continually shunned or rebuffed, but were never abandoned by God, the Merciful and Compassionate. Muhammad (s), the last or “seal” of the prophets, was not spared his own share of tribulation, and he is proclaimed as the carrier of the same message of warning or good tidings (nadbir or basbir), which all his predecessors have carried to their own peoples, and which Muhammad (s) was now summoned by God to revive or confirm.

In addition to the text of the Qur’an itself, a vast exegetical literature grew around it over the years and formed part of an independent science, that of tafsir, which together with the science of hadith, or Prophetic Traditions, is regarded as the cornerstone of what are known as religious sciences in Islam. The greatest classical commentaries of the Qur’an are those of al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Zamakhshari (d. 1143) and al-Baydawi (d. 1286), to which countless commentaries by modem or contemporary scholars, such as Muhammad ‘Abduh (d. 1905) and Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966), may be added.

One of the most widely read books in the world, the Qur’an has been translated into almost all the languages of mankind. A large number of English translations have appeared in modem times, the best known of which are those of J. M. Rodwell, Marmeduke Pickthall, N. J. Dawood, Richard Bell and A. J. Arberry. These translations vary in point of conformity to the Arabic text and are not entirely free from error or deliberate departure from the original, for purposes of literary fluency or elegance. In