T. B. Irving, The Qur’an: The First American Version; Translated and Commentary (1985)

Pharaoh was overwhelmed; while in 53:i we see “the Hawthorn on the Boundary / alongside the Garden of Repose” covered with its wonderful golden moths or blossoms. The poetic chapters towards the end of our Book, plus passages throughout the sacred Text require talent and artistry, the use of the telling word wherever one can find one. The fascination rises towards the end of the Book, mounting in real rhythm: great verses require vivid concepts. I have continually sought the choice poetic figure which we can all enjoy, plus some word magic if this can be achieved.

The present work has been a long story, undertaken in many cities and regions, in Baghdad on the Tigris initially, then in Minneapolis on the Mississippi, in sight of the volcanoes of Guatemala, in a Chicago suburb, at home once again in Canada, and finally in the mountains of Tennessee; but the end is here at last.

The first attempt for my original presentation was the well-known Cedar Rapids edition called Selections from the Noble Reading. That slender yet beautiful volume was edited over a decade ago, and slowly it has received recognition, especially in North American Islamic circles and to some extent abroad. A second, revised edition has appeared in Lagos, Nigeria for school children and travellers in English-speaking West Africa. In the dozen years that have passed since the Cedar Rapids edition first appeared, I have kept polishing my text, comparing it with other versions, and bringing the religious concepts into focus more clearly. The task will never cease for as one generation grows and changes, so does its language and method of response. Only the Arabic is eternal, and the present work is merely an attempt to give the present generation of Muslims in North America an idea of their Noble Reading, where God speaks at times in His plural of majesty.

Chanting and Recitation

“Cantillation” is a quaint word that has crept into Orientalist studies on Islam to describe the traditional manner of reciting the Qurʾān for public worship. Others of this sort are “circumambulation” for walking around the Kaʿba, “submission" or “surrender” for the believer’s commitment to live ‘in peace’; “genuflection” for kneeling in prayer, and “ablution” for washing before it. Those who use the terms must never have sat quietly in a mosque waiting for divine service to begin; or if they did so, it must have seemed unusual to them. Yet English has a long tradition in this field with Gospel reading and the responsive recital of the Psalms.

The Qurʾān was called the divine “Reading” of Islam and it exists precisely for that purpose. It was generally read out loud and most frequently from memory after thorough training, the usual method of reproducing sacred books which is still in use today. One Part juzʾ a day can be recited during Ramaḍān, which lasts thirty days in all; these thirty Parts are indicated with capital Roman numerals in the upper left-hand corner on each page of this edition.

As it claims, the Qurʾān is easy to memorize, and is divided up so that it can be read in sittings, or it can be read straight through (17:106). This is clear from the canon itself. Mercier and Arberry are the only non-Muslim