T. B. Irving, The Qur’an: The First American Version; Translated and Commentary (1985)
lower-case Roman) indicating the Section and Verse. This system has been devised so that the Concordance, which in Shāʾ Allāh will follow with some 2000 pages, will provide easy reference for each page, without referring to future page numbers.
Marginal headings appear in the outside margin. The verse number for each 10th verse also appears. The Arabic names for chapter titles are to be found in the Table of Contents. Some titles are alternates even in the original Arabic, such as Quraysh or Winter for Chapter 106, with no parentheses; others are furthert possibilities or alternates in English translation like Eventide (or Nightfall) 103 because the Arabic word Al-ʿAṣr has been difficult to render convincingly. Parentheses here indicate the alternative.
Long and short vowels need to be distinguished in Arabic, as well as emphatic consonants. The use of digraphs like th, gh and ḍh may be deplored, but English already has them in ch, sh, th, ng etc. These emphatic consonants are d, ḍh (or ẓ), ṣ, ṭ and the occasional ḷ. Parentheses ( ) or so-called “round brackets” are used for implied statements, while “square” brackets [ ] are for elliptical insertions. Single quotation marks indicate direct translation from the Arabic: ṣāliḥ for ‘honorable’; al-Raḥīm ‘the Merciful’.
Also the system of underlining or the use of fonts should be explained. Italics have been saved for special emphasis, and especially with the Invocation: In the Name of God, the Mercy-giving, the Merciful!; and black-face, or bold type is for Chapter titles (The Cow 2), (The House of ʿImran 3), etc., so these will be recognized as chapters and not as book titles. Black-face is also used for phrases with special importance. The use of hyphens must be more careful: Ibn-Rushd, Abū-Bakr, Ibn-Khaldūn, ʿalay-kum show pronouns and prefixes clearly for beginners and the amateur whom we have attracted to read this book. I am tired of reading student papers which talk of “Khaldūn” and “Rushd” quite baldly, not realizing that this person, if he ever existed, is an ancestor or a symbolic concept, and that ibn- and banū- mean ‘sons of’ (like Mac, Mc in Celtic), and abū- means ‘father (of)’. We need a style here that will make Qurʾānic study valid and easier for our children and students.
Say and see in small capitals denote God’s own upcoming words and signs to the Prophet and to mankind. We also use note and or in the same small capitals for similar notations which are parallel.
An Index or Concordance will come later because it will consist of perhaps 2000 pages. I wish eventually to achieve a useful whole with notes and an index for North American and English-speaking Muslims the world over. It should be a document one can read with pleasure and for spiritual profit.
Translation as an Art
Finally we need some reflections on the art of translation: how does one use language, especially when it is the elevated expression of the Qurʾān? Is it possible to render such lofty style into a foreign tongue?
