The Message of the Qur’an

By Hashim Amir-Ali

First Edition (1974)

The Message of the Qur’an

Hashim Amir-Ali, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan, 1974
“1. What is the Qur’an?1 Fourteen hundred years ago, in a religio-commercial town, lying between three cultures, there lived an orphan — noble but poor. Grazing his uncle’s camels, he wondered, and wondered, at Allah’s aunties and man’s egotistic...

Description

Hashim Amir-Ali (1903–1987) was raised in Hyderabad and later studied at the universities of Chicago and Cornell, USA where he earned his doctor degree in sociology. Amir-Ali was a student of Mirza Abul Fazl, another translator of the Quran into the English language. Amir-Ali strongly believed in the importance of the descending order of Qur'anic chapters. His translation of the Quran into English are arranged it in the following four sections or books in the order of the revelation of the chapters : Book 1 “The Portal” which consists of the first chapter, Book 2 “The Enlightenment” which consists of the first 18 chapters of Meccan period, Book 3 “The Guidance” which are the last 36 chapters of Meccan period, Book 4 “The Book”, which includes 24 civil surahs, and Book 5 “The Balance” which consists of 24 chapters of Medinan period. In his method, the chapters are arranged in descending order, without disturbing the organization of the verses within each chapter, so that in this respect, in his opinion, the middle ground in making changes in the conventional structure of the Quran is observed.

About the author

Hashim Amir-Ali

Scholar
  • Born: Hyderabad, India, 8 May 1903
  • Died: Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, 1987
  • Full name: Hashim Amir-Ali
  • Creed: Muslim
  • Influences: Student of Abu’l-Fazl (1865–1956)

Editions

This translation was only published once in 1974.