Best (most readable) translation of Qu'ran for a Catholic? Best intro to the Qu'ran?

[flameburns623]

I am thinking of one of the “Dummy” books or “Idiots Guides” to help me wrap my head around the Qu’ran.

Unfortunately few if any translations of the Qu’ran have been translated into smooth, literate English. Most are burdened-down with inline insertions of alternative possible translations, very difficult to read.

On top of this, one needs a bit of commentary along the way to understand some of the things that seem to be going on in the Qu’ran.

Any advice or suggestions? Muslims with an English-speaking, Western/American background, your thoughts would be especially apropos. You would have a keener sense of the difficulties the Qu’ran presents.

Thanks!

 

[Servant19]

I am thinking of one of the “Dummy” books or “Idiots Guides” to help me wrap my head around the Qu’ran.

Unfortunately few if any translations of the Qu’ran have been translated into smooth, literate English. Most are burdened-down with inline insertions of alternative possible translations, very difficult to read.

On top of this, one needs a bit of commentary along the way to understand some of the things that seem to be going on in the Qu’ran.

Any advice or suggestions? Muslims with an English-speaking, Western/American background, your thoughts would be especially apropos. You would have a keener sense of the difficulties the Qu’ran presents.

Thanks!

For Bahai’s of Western background, the Rodwell translation has been suggested for easier and correct understanding

sacred-texts.com/isl/qr/

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[Joe_Ca]

Any advice or suggestions?

Keep in mind that to a devout Muslim, there are no acceptable translations.

According to the tradition, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad’s death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman’s codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran we have today.

As a dictated text in Arabic of God’s address to its recipient, the Quran refers to itself as a written pre-text, “the preserved tablet”, that records God’s speech even before it was sent down.

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[dronald]

I would love a Qur’an that removed the brackets in an English translation. It’s very (choppy) when it’s (read) with these (brackets) everywhere.