The Koran

by Muḥammad, N.J. Dawood (Translator)

The Koran is universally accepted by Muslims to be the infallible word of God as first revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel nearly fourteen hundred years ago. Its 114 chapters recount the narratives and rules of conduct central to Islamic belief, and together they form one of the world’s most influential prophetic works and a literary masterpiece in its own right.

Genres: Nonfiction

464 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2015

Reviews

[Aung Sett Kyaw Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

Any Holy Scripture that doesn't touch upon the wondrous inner life of the Godhead and doesn't give us instructions as to how we created beings can participate in this life isn't really worth reading imo. I mean, I get it. Medieval Meccan pagans are an unruly bunch. Your best bet as an upstart prophet is to scare these idolatrous pissants into submission. As such the overall theme of the Qur'an is heavily skewed towards "admonition". Some of the Surahs are absolute bangers though, especially the ones that conjure up terrifying scenes of the Day of the Judgement. Apparently, the Qur'an also repudiates the claim that Jesus was crucified to begin with, let alone dying on the cross. (4:157). God only made it seem as though Jesus was crucified and then martyred. Docetism much?

[Annalise]

(read excerpts for school)

[Ennio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: this review is purely about N.J. Dawood’s translation and not about the actual contents of the Qur’an

Good for people of a Christian or Western background to get into the Qur’an, as most of the names and terms that in most translations would’ve been left in Arabic have been translated into English. It also sometimes lists the correlating Bible verse as a footnote, which is handy if you wish to compare the texts. Although it’s not a perfect translation. This was my first time fully reading the Qur’an from front to back and even I found some translations to be a bit weird by studying the original verse and other translations. I also questioned some of the interpretive footnotes left by the author. 4/5

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

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