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Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations
Approaching the Qu'rn is a translation of the early suras-the short, hymnic chapters at the end of the book. A major event in religious publishing, this book captures the complexity, power and poetry of the early suras and the majesty and intimacy of the distinctive Qu'rnic voice. These early revelations to Muhammad involve little of the political and legal detail found in the suras of his later career. Here they speak directly to every human being, regardless of religious confession or cultural background. Approaching the Qu'rn is also designed to be as accessible as possible, to offer the full lyric and literary experience to Opposite each sura is a short commentary that explores some of the subtleties and context of the Qu'rnic passages; an annotated glossary explains key Qu'rnic concepts and Arabic terms with English translations; there is even a compact disc of recordings by renowned Qu'rnic reciters chanting the early suras.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
58 people are currently reading
1196 people want to read
About the author
Michael A. Sells
15 books33 followersMichael Sells studies and teaches in the areas of qur'anic studies; Sufism; Arabic and Islamic love poetry; mystical literature (Greek, Islamic, Christian, and Jewish); and religion and violence. The new and expanded edition of his book Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations appeared in 2007. He has published three volumes on Arabic poetry: Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes, which focuses upon the pre-Islamic period; Stations of Desire, which focuses upon the love poetry of Ibn al-'Arabi; and The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature, Al-Andalus, which he coedited and to which he contributed. His books on mysticism include Early Islamic Mysticism, translations and commentaries on influential mystical passages from the Qur'an, hadith, Arabic poetry, and early Sufi writings; and Mystical Languages of Unsaying, an examination of apophatic language, with special attention to Plotinus, John the Scot, Ibn al-'Arabi, Meister Eckhart, and Marguerite Porete. His work on religion and violence includes: The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia; and The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy, which he coedited and to which he contributed. He teaches courses on the Qur'an, Islamic love poetry, comparative mystical literature, Arabic Sufi poetry, Arabic religious texts, and Ibn al-'Arabi.
(University of Chicago, Divinity School)
(University of Chicago, Divinity School)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
March 11, 2015
Yeah I approached the hell out of the Qur'an this book did not lie.
September 11, 2009
I've been reading a lot of different Qu'rans and commentary lately, and this is by far the best book I have encountered. It focuses only on the earliest revelations, which are at the end of the written Qu'ran, so I might have taken a long time to get to them if I had continued reading on my own. They focus on the fundamentals of Islam (faith, prayer, and good deeds) rather than on the prescriptions that came in the later revelations. Sells also has a long final chapter on the complexities of gender in the original Arabic, and how its loss in translation has added to stereotypes in the West of Islam as a male-focused religion. The book comes with a CD with several different reciters, male and female, from various parts of the world, reciting these early suras. It has helped me to appreciate the beauty of the original text even though I don't understand Arabic.
October 29, 2015
Phenomenol book. Where do I begin to write all that it revealed and all the thoughts it triggered.
Let me begin by saying that Sells has written a masterpiece. If you read this book, no matter which language is your mother tongue-including Arabic-this book will reveal things about the Qur'an, which will amaze you, humble you, and make you submit to the glory of Allah/God. If you are a Muslim, then you should definitely read this book, and recommend it to others, especially your children.
Surah Baqarah (chapter 2) of the Qur'an opens with the words, "This Divine Writ." The next few verses identify the tenets of faith, and how people respectively believe, pretend to believe or disbelieve. Then Allah emphatically states that if you dispute the Qur'an's Divine origin, then bring even one verse like it, if you cannot, then submit to the decree of God, and follow what is revealed in the Qur'an through Muhammad (pbuh).
In other words, the (Qur'anic) discourse, is the miracle.
This challenge, which has remained unmet, has never been seriously explored, until Sells wrote this book. As a non-Arabic speaking born-Muslim, I was aware of superiority of the language of the Qur'an, and the rhyming of the verses, however, to know something as a stated fact, and to live that experience, are two entirely different things.
This book reveals the beauty of the Qur'an, to an English speaking audience, showing how the language is untranslatable as well as unmatchable. Even if you are not a believer, you can still see the beauty of the language, which belies a human author, as many attribute it to various men, including but not limited to Muhammad (pbuh).
Somehow I had always thought that Arabs could read the Qur'an and follow everything contained therein, with ease. That is not the case, because had it been so, an Arab would have authored such a book. The fact is that a work such as this-which attempts to explore the beauty of God's own speech-could only come about as a culmination of study and knowledge, across many fields.
The author traverses fields, such as Biblical text, Greek epics, ancient Arabian poetry, the etymology of words, linguistics across English and Arabic, knowledge of Islamic history, as well as accurate inferences about Islam's stance on prayer, communal life, materialism, including capitalism.
This is precisely why only an American academic, could author such a work. Within the Muslim world, university academia is Zombie-land, and religious seminaries focus on rote learning of Qur'anic exegesis frozen in the thirteenth century. These diametrically opposed systems, function as each others nemesis. Hence, those who know religion, know nothing of science, poetry, art, linguistics, history or economics, and those who study the aforementioned fields, know nothing of religion. Each of these distinct groups, considers the other to be worthless. The seminary graduates, often propound the notion that the Qur'an alone is sufficient for study. They actively seek to defeat the schooling system, which teaches math, science, English, social studies at the school level. This notion is woven into the ideology of all radical movements, across the Muslim world, be it Pakistan, Egypt, Saudia Arabia or Yemen. The Arabs invented Chemistry, Algebra and the Arab numerals amongst countless other inventions, and it was done in the spirit of faith. Today, their spiritual and physical descendants, consider the sciences to be a western (read anti-faith) scourge.
This book should be translated into Urdu, Malay, Indonesian, Persian and Arabic, and circulated across the Muslim world. It should be gifted to seminaries in the Islamic world, and Islamic centers in the west.
Coming back to the book, I had to pause and ponder, many times. The book is an easy read, but it triggers so many thoughts and emotions. One thing I could not wrap my head around, was the author's obvious conviction, that this was Divine communication, so his forced connection,s to the Bible, or the Christian tradition, were puzzling. But then, that is what free will is all about.
The book has one error, that it mentions the evil eye's Islamic understanding, as a superstitious practice, and states that it is countered through talismans and objects. This is not true, infact, talismans are considered heretical in Islam, and they are only worn by the ignorant.
I have given the book five stars, because the author opened my eyes to the beauty of the Divine text. I read the e-book, and I did not receive an alternative method to listen to the recitations, as the CD enclosed with the book, is missing in the Kindle version. I was hoping to receive some code or something, but I am bereft of these recitations, which the author has carefully chosen as the best of the best.
I also wish the author had included Arabic text of verses, when discussing them, because even non-Arabic speaking Muslims read that better than they read English transliteration. But these two shortcomings still do not detract from the main thrust of the book.
Let me begin by saying that Sells has written a masterpiece. If you read this book, no matter which language is your mother tongue-including Arabic-this book will reveal things about the Qur'an, which will amaze you, humble you, and make you submit to the glory of Allah/God. If you are a Muslim, then you should definitely read this book, and recommend it to others, especially your children.
Surah Baqarah (chapter 2) of the Qur'an opens with the words, "This Divine Writ." The next few verses identify the tenets of faith, and how people respectively believe, pretend to believe or disbelieve. Then Allah emphatically states that if you dispute the Qur'an's Divine origin, then bring even one verse like it, if you cannot, then submit to the decree of God, and follow what is revealed in the Qur'an through Muhammad (pbuh).
In other words, the (Qur'anic) discourse, is the miracle.
This challenge, which has remained unmet, has never been seriously explored, until Sells wrote this book. As a non-Arabic speaking born-Muslim, I was aware of superiority of the language of the Qur'an, and the rhyming of the verses, however, to know something as a stated fact, and to live that experience, are two entirely different things.
This book reveals the beauty of the Qur'an, to an English speaking audience, showing how the language is untranslatable as well as unmatchable. Even if you are not a believer, you can still see the beauty of the language, which belies a human author, as many attribute it to various men, including but not limited to Muhammad (pbuh).
Somehow I had always thought that Arabs could read the Qur'an and follow everything contained therein, with ease. That is not the case, because had it been so, an Arab would have authored such a book. The fact is that a work such as this-which attempts to explore the beauty of God's own speech-could only come about as a culmination of study and knowledge, across many fields.
The author traverses fields, such as Biblical text, Greek epics, ancient Arabian poetry, the etymology of words, linguistics across English and Arabic, knowledge of Islamic history, as well as accurate inferences about Islam's stance on prayer, communal life, materialism, including capitalism.
This is precisely why only an American academic, could author such a work. Within the Muslim world, university academia is Zombie-land, and religious seminaries focus on rote learning of Qur'anic exegesis frozen in the thirteenth century. These diametrically opposed systems, function as each others nemesis. Hence, those who know religion, know nothing of science, poetry, art, linguistics, history or economics, and those who study the aforementioned fields, know nothing of religion. Each of these distinct groups, considers the other to be worthless. The seminary graduates, often propound the notion that the Qur'an alone is sufficient for study. They actively seek to defeat the schooling system, which teaches math, science, English, social studies at the school level. This notion is woven into the ideology of all radical movements, across the Muslim world, be it Pakistan, Egypt, Saudia Arabia or Yemen. The Arabs invented Chemistry, Algebra and the Arab numerals amongst countless other inventions, and it was done in the spirit of faith. Today, their spiritual and physical descendants, consider the sciences to be a western (read anti-faith) scourge.
This book should be translated into Urdu, Malay, Indonesian, Persian and Arabic, and circulated across the Muslim world. It should be gifted to seminaries in the Islamic world, and Islamic centers in the west.
Coming back to the book, I had to pause and ponder, many times. The book is an easy read, but it triggers so many thoughts and emotions. One thing I could not wrap my head around, was the author's obvious conviction, that this was Divine communication, so his forced connection,s to the Bible, or the Christian tradition, were puzzling. But then, that is what free will is all about.
The book has one error, that it mentions the evil eye's Islamic understanding, as a superstitious practice, and states that it is countered through talismans and objects. This is not true, infact, talismans are considered heretical in Islam, and they are only worn by the ignorant.
I have given the book five stars, because the author opened my eyes to the beauty of the Divine text. I read the e-book, and I did not receive an alternative method to listen to the recitations, as the CD enclosed with the book, is missing in the Kindle version. I was hoping to receive some code or something, but I am bereft of these recitations, which the author has carefully chosen as the best of the best.
I also wish the author had included Arabic text of verses, when discussing them, because even non-Arabic speaking Muslims read that better than they read English transliteration. But these two shortcomings still do not detract from the main thrust of the book.
April 18, 2017
Like most sacred texts, the Qur'an is more easily understood by those familiar with the tradition it supports, so neophytes like me need a basic introduction. This is a good one. Sells focuses on the early revelations (which are placed at the end of the Qur'an) because they are logically first, and the first ones Muslims learn about as children. The Qur'an follows a far less linear narrative than the Bible does, so starting on page one is a good way for a newcomer to get lost pretty quickly. Starting with the early revelations helps the reader to focus, especially with the commentary that Sells provides for each of the Suras.
The Suras are themselves highly poetic. Sells parses them with great care, noting grammatical and interpretive ambiguities and providing background on major concepts. He is especially sensitive to the sound of the language -- "qur'an" means recitation, after all, and the book includes free audio downloads of the Call to Prayer and six Suras, for which he provides detailed analysis. This is not to suggest that all is made clear. Far from it, but I would not expect this from an introduction. An "approach" is exactly what it is, and it is a fine one.
The Suras are themselves highly poetic. Sells parses them with great care, noting grammatical and interpretive ambiguities and providing background on major concepts. He is especially sensitive to the sound of the language -- "qur'an" means recitation, after all, and the book includes free audio downloads of the Call to Prayer and six Suras, for which he provides detailed analysis. This is not to suggest that all is made clear. Far from it, but I would not expect this from an introduction. An "approach" is exactly what it is, and it is a fine one.
April 21, 2022
In Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations, Michael A. Sells translates and comments on several short, hymnic Suras (chapters) that were among the first revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. Appearing at the end of the Qur’an, they are frequently the most often memorized, quoted, and recited. Since they don’t address the legal, political, and historical details of the later Suras, they are more easily accessible to those unfamiliar with the historical context. Their focus is on the Islamic fundamentals of belief in the one God, faith, prayer, and social justice.
Sells approaches these Suras by analyzing their distinctive tone and unique literary character. His translation and commentary highlight the ambiguities and subtle nuances of meaning frequently missing in other translations. He draws attention to the position of words in a verse, word endings, word sounds, and how certain sounds and words echo other Suras. His analysis is detailed and exhaustive.
Evidence of the complexity of gendered language in the Suras is teased out in Sells’ chapter, “Sound, Spirit, and Gender.” He argues much of gendered diction is, unfortunately, lost in many translations, adding to the erroneous characterization of Islam as a male-focused religion. Selected Resources for Further Reading and a CD Recording of the Islamic Call to Prayer and Six Suras as recited by several men and women are included with the book. Sells explains the different recitation styles and provides a transliteration of some of the Suras so non-native speakers can follow the recitation.
Sells’ approach to understanding the early revelations is scholarly, exhaustive, and accessible. He accentuates the complexity, hymnic quality, poetic diction, and calm and meditative aural resonance of the early Suras. This is a valuable and compelling approach to the Qur’an for those interested in exploring the aural qualities and interpretative ambiguities of the early revelations while getting a background on major concepts in Islam.
Very highly recommended.
My book reviews are also available at www.tamaraaghajaffar.com
Sells approaches these Suras by analyzing their distinctive tone and unique literary character. His translation and commentary highlight the ambiguities and subtle nuances of meaning frequently missing in other translations. He draws attention to the position of words in a verse, word endings, word sounds, and how certain sounds and words echo other Suras. His analysis is detailed and exhaustive.
Evidence of the complexity of gendered language in the Suras is teased out in Sells’ chapter, “Sound, Spirit, and Gender.” He argues much of gendered diction is, unfortunately, lost in many translations, adding to the erroneous characterization of Islam as a male-focused religion. Selected Resources for Further Reading and a CD Recording of the Islamic Call to Prayer and Six Suras as recited by several men and women are included with the book. Sells explains the different recitation styles and provides a transliteration of some of the Suras so non-native speakers can follow the recitation.
Sells’ approach to understanding the early revelations is scholarly, exhaustive, and accessible. He accentuates the complexity, hymnic quality, poetic diction, and calm and meditative aural resonance of the early Suras. This is a valuable and compelling approach to the Qur’an for those interested in exploring the aural qualities and interpretative ambiguities of the early revelations while getting a background on major concepts in Islam.
Very highly recommended.
My book reviews are also available at www.tamaraaghajaffar.com
February 28, 2020
The introduction to this translation of the earliest parts of the Qur'an is excellent--it allows you to really appreciate the Qur'an for what it is and how it works. I can't really judge the translations themselves except to say that they are readable, and the accompanying commentary is OK. Reading the earliest suras that were later gathered into the Qur'an is in some sense like reading some random bad religious poetry. I mean, Muhammad's message is simple: worship one god, who wants you to repent before you are judged at the last judgment according to your deeds in this life. I just think the message gets lost a bit in the way things are worded (often disjointed phrases with vague references that can be interpreted in multiple ways), and no particular translation method seems to help clarify things. Presumably, it made a bit more sense to Muhammad's early followers, and I have to assume that later adherents of Islam probably were converted through interactions with other Muslims and learning the basic practices of Islam (prayer, charity, pilgrimage) rather than through reading the Qur'an itself.
June 9, 2010
I read this book as a part of the Summer Reading Inititative at my undergrad university amid a lot of controversy (...it's a long story). In retrospect, I thought it was a very well-written and eye opening read about the Qu'ran. I also remember the CD that went along with it and listening to the suras, and how beautiful of an addition it was to learning about the early interpretations of the passages.
Read
February 23, 2026Sells failed one epistemic spot-check but passed another, so I’m not exactly sure how much I trust him. Some of his hang-ups are just silly (like his resistance to describing sujūd as prostration). But it’s good to get the main bulk of the Meccan suras (mostly) on their own, freed from a post-Hijra theological straitjacket: it’s really cool to see the apocalypticism shine through, and clearly identify the repeating elements like the crazy oaths and the ‘who will explain X to you?’ motif. I checked his translation against the Abdel Haleem a number of times, and nothing too insane stood out: and obviously Sells’ translation is more interesting qua English verse, however accurate it might be. I’m not alone in thinking that al-Qadr is the best surah, and Sells does it really well:
We sent him down on the night of destiny
And what could tell you of the night of destiny
The night of destiny is better than a thousand months
The angels come down—the spirit upon her—by permission of their lord from every order
Peace she is until the rise of dawn
February 17, 2021
I was required to read this book for my college level class on comparative sacred texts. Most English translations of the Qur'an suck big time, but this fellow's translation is excellent. But the really shining feature of the book is Sell's ability to explain the poetic features of the Arabic text without becoming so enmeshed in the details of Arabic grammar and morphology that he loses his readers.
August 20, 2025
Spectacularly readable and very powerful translations of Qur'anic text. I loved how Sells's commentary brings out the auditory and gendered aspects of the Arabic. I would love for scholars from within the Islamic tradition to take sound and grammatical gender as seriously in their own renderings of revelation.
December 16, 2012
Approaching the Qur'an is an introduction to the Qur'an for the non-Arabic speaking, and presumably non-Muslim, reader, and it is an excellent one. Although I appreciate another book,
The Qur'an: A User's Guide
, for the way in which it contextualizes the Qur'an, this book provided a better introduction for some of the essential form and content of the text.
For one thing, Sells actually provides a translation of much of the primary material. His translations cover a quarter of the Qur'an, at least in terms of the number of suras (i.e., the first, part of 81, and 83–114), and focus primarily on the earliest, shortest, most direct material. (For whatever reason, these suras come at the end of the canonical arrangement of the Qur'an, making them material largely unread by those non-Muslims who attempt to experience the written Qur'an in English, and peter out somewhere along the journey.)
Sells also provides the reader with the opportunity to hear the Qur'an being recited, which is the means through which most Muslims across history have related with the Qur'an, whose very name translates as "Recitation." The accompanying CD includes several different recitations of a handful of key suras, for which a phonetic rendering and brief gloss are provided so that the reader may follow along. Just the small sample of recitations provided are enough to convince this reader that much of the power and meaning of the Qur'an might be forever lost on those who only encounter it in translation and as a written text.
The book concludes with a chapter on the gendered quality of the "sound forms" that appear throughout the Arabic text, and an excellent collection of resources for further exploration.
For one thing, Sells actually provides a translation of much of the primary material. His translations cover a quarter of the Qur'an, at least in terms of the number of suras (i.e., the first, part of 81, and 83–114), and focus primarily on the earliest, shortest, most direct material. (For whatever reason, these suras come at the end of the canonical arrangement of the Qur'an, making them material largely unread by those non-Muslims who attempt to experience the written Qur'an in English, and peter out somewhere along the journey.)
Sells also provides the reader with the opportunity to hear the Qur'an being recited, which is the means through which most Muslims across history have related with the Qur'an, whose very name translates as "Recitation." The accompanying CD includes several different recitations of a handful of key suras, for which a phonetic rendering and brief gloss are provided so that the reader may follow along. Just the small sample of recitations provided are enough to convince this reader that much of the power and meaning of the Qur'an might be forever lost on those who only encounter it in translation and as a written text.
The book concludes with a chapter on the gendered quality of the "sound forms" that appear throughout the Arabic text, and an excellent collection of resources for further exploration.
December 16, 2011
A wonderful introductory examination of the early suras (89 to 114), contextualizing and interpreting them as examples of Bedouin poetry, and analyzing some of the recurring themes from the history and literature of the era. (This treatment is probably unorthodox as it departs from beliefs in the Qur'an's uncreatedness). Sells clearly took cares to try to convey the rhyme, structure, and subtle gender dynamics of Arabic into his English translations, and the results are lyrical in themselves. (I really liked what he did to the beginning of surat ash-Shams). On the opposing page, Sells provide a brief commentary on the themes, the grammar in the original, and points of ambiguities and his reasons for choosing to render something a particular way.
This was a text for a class I took in 2008, and I'm able to appreciate it upon rereading after having additional experience with Arabic.
This was a text for a class I took in 2008, and I'm able to appreciate it upon rereading after having additional experience with Arabic.
June 29, 2022
This book really did help me understand the Quran better from an Islamic perspective. That was exactly what I was looking for in this book. But I'm convinced more than ever that Islam is false and is infinitely inferior to Christianity. The Quran has a genuine poetic and auditory beauty, but it can't even begin to match the scope, depth, authority, and self-vindicative power of the Bible. So I'd probably give this book four stars for achieving the author's goals of making the Quran more accessible to westerners, but the content of the Quran earns a solid one star as a religious text (maybe two as a mere work of poetry – there is some genuinely neat wordplay in the original Arabic). Overall, three stars.
October 9, 2008
Excellent book for the non-specialist who really shouldn't just pick up an English version of the Qur'an to understand its message. I would say read this first, and listen to the CD that comes with it. Prof. Sells was my thesis adviser, so I've been in his office: he has more Qur'ans than I've ever seen! And trust me, this man understands Arabic and Arabic poetry and prose more than many Arab-Muslims I've met.
The book just flows really well and is enjoyable. And you get to learn a little about how Arabic may be translated to English, etc., if you don't already know much about that.
The book just flows really well and is enjoyable. And you get to learn a little about how Arabic may be translated to English, etc., if you don't already know much about that.
May 16, 2023
Several years ago, thinking that I would educate myself about one of the world’s great religions, I set about to read the Quran. I didn’t get very far. Compared with the Bible—the only other religious text I was familiar with—I found the Quran to be almost impenetrable. There was no linear story to follow. Instead, ideas, images, and topics were introduced and discussed in an order that seemed random to me. Needless to say, I quickly lost steam and gave up.
I wish I had read this book first, as it perfectly responds to the problems I was encountering. Michael Sells has here achieved a work of scholarship that is simultaneously a work of art. In short, he does his best to simulate for the English reader how somebody born into a predominantly Muslim community would approach the Quran.
The Quran is not a book which most believers simply pick up and read from start to finish. Instead, as Michael Sells explains, the Quran is usually heard before it is read, as Quranic recitation is a skill that is cherished and widely practiced in many parts of the world. Among those surahs (chapters of the Quran) most commonly recited are those near the end of the Quran, which are shorter and full of striking imagery, much like the Biblical psalms. What is more, unlike the Bible, the Quran is normally experienced in its original language. Thus, the specific “sound world” (to use Sells’s phrase) of the text is fundamental to how the book is encountered.
The introduction to the book contains the necessary basic information for the lay reader unfamiliar with the Quran. But the heart of this work are the translations with commentary of these short surahs. Somehow, Sells is able to take the reader into the nitty-gritty of translation in such a way that it is illuminating and even exciting. The language of the Quran here opens up into a world of possibilities, which Sells does his best to explain and convey. The subtle personification of gendered nouns, the ambiguity of referents, the slightest shades of meaning—Sells seems to take everything into account, and then boil it down into translations of startling immediacy.
After this, Sells includes phonetic transcriptions of the Arabic with his translations underneath, allowing the reader to follow along with actual recitations. I admit that I was skeptical that I would get much out of this exercise. But I found just the opposite: being able to listen to the recitation, seeing how the melody and rhythm accentuated shifts in the content of the surah, was genuinely eye-opening for me. Though it sounds presumptuous to say so, I was left feeling that I had, indeed, gotten some idea of how an Arabic speaker might encounter this book.
I was left with a newfound appreciation for the non-linearity of the Quran, which actually constitutes one of its beauties. When words, phrases, and images are encountered again and again, though in different contexts, a kind of echo of meaning begins to reverberate throughout the book. Sells’s final essay is especially interesting in this respect, as he explains how the grammatical gender of Arabic draws subtle connections between persons and things which, in translation, would appear to be totally unrelated.
In short, this is an ideal introduction to the reading of an enormously important work. Now, perhaps I will be able to get through the whole thing…
I wish I had read this book first, as it perfectly responds to the problems I was encountering. Michael Sells has here achieved a work of scholarship that is simultaneously a work of art. In short, he does his best to simulate for the English reader how somebody born into a predominantly Muslim community would approach the Quran.
The Quran is not a book which most believers simply pick up and read from start to finish. Instead, as Michael Sells explains, the Quran is usually heard before it is read, as Quranic recitation is a skill that is cherished and widely practiced in many parts of the world. Among those surahs (chapters of the Quran) most commonly recited are those near the end of the Quran, which are shorter and full of striking imagery, much like the Biblical psalms. What is more, unlike the Bible, the Quran is normally experienced in its original language. Thus, the specific “sound world” (to use Sells’s phrase) of the text is fundamental to how the book is encountered.
The introduction to the book contains the necessary basic information for the lay reader unfamiliar with the Quran. But the heart of this work are the translations with commentary of these short surahs. Somehow, Sells is able to take the reader into the nitty-gritty of translation in such a way that it is illuminating and even exciting. The language of the Quran here opens up into a world of possibilities, which Sells does his best to explain and convey. The subtle personification of gendered nouns, the ambiguity of referents, the slightest shades of meaning—Sells seems to take everything into account, and then boil it down into translations of startling immediacy.
After this, Sells includes phonetic transcriptions of the Arabic with his translations underneath, allowing the reader to follow along with actual recitations. I admit that I was skeptical that I would get much out of this exercise. But I found just the opposite: being able to listen to the recitation, seeing how the melody and rhythm accentuated shifts in the content of the surah, was genuinely eye-opening for me. Though it sounds presumptuous to say so, I was left feeling that I had, indeed, gotten some idea of how an Arabic speaker might encounter this book.
I was left with a newfound appreciation for the non-linearity of the Quran, which actually constitutes one of its beauties. When words, phrases, and images are encountered again and again, though in different contexts, a kind of echo of meaning begins to reverberate throughout the book. Sells’s final essay is especially interesting in this respect, as he explains how the grammatical gender of Arabic draws subtle connections between persons and things which, in translation, would appear to be totally unrelated.
In short, this is an ideal introduction to the reading of an enormously important work. Now, perhaps I will be able to get through the whole thing…
February 13, 2022
"What gives the early Meccan Suras their depth, psychological subtlety, texture, and tone is the way the future is collapsed into the present; the way the day of reckoning is transferred from the fear and hope of a moment in the future to a sense of reckoning in the present moment. The centrality of the day of reckoning to the early Qur'anic revelations is based on a prophetic impulse to remind humanity of the moment of truth. The impulse of reminder (dhikr) is not simply to talk about that moment, but allow the hearer to live and experience in this present moment the existential absoluteness of a mote's weight of good or evil."
—Introduction, p24
—Introduction, p24
July 5, 2021
I read this book with two other translations of the Quran in my native language and I conclude that this book is really good. What separates the book from other translations is that he did not try to indulge the reader in Arabic grammar rather he tried to follow the inner meanings of the words of the Quran without losing the wonderful rhythm of the Quranic Word. So why I did not give a five start because I think the last two chapters are unnecessary - the accompanied CD would have been sufficient
February 4, 2025
Sells’ commentary is fantastic, providing historical and linguistic context to the Quran.
The beauty of the Quran is not in its translation but Sells helps highlight its poetry without needing a background in Arabic.
A great point from class: only about 15% of Muslims speak Arabic, so we are joining the more common tradition of engaging with the Quran in translation.
It should be noted that in this book Sells' only focuses on the earliest revelations to the prophet Muhammad which only make up the last 30 or so Surahs of the Quran.
The beauty of the Quran is not in its translation but Sells helps highlight its poetry without needing a background in Arabic.
A great point from class: only about 15% of Muslims speak Arabic, so we are joining the more common tradition of engaging with the Quran in translation.
It should be noted that in this book Sells' only focuses on the earliest revelations to the prophet Muhammad which only make up the last 30 or so Surahs of the Quran.
January 18, 2026
Though a majority of the book consists of renditions of Surahs 53, 54, and 81–114 followed by the author's commentary, for me what was of key interest was the final chapter, “Sound, Spirit, and Gender in the Qur’an.”
This chapter was personally the most informative for me, as it brought into perspective elements I had never previously considered when reading the Qur’an and along with that it also reiterated the fact that translations of the Qur'an should not be relied upon as they can never give you the whole meaning.
This chapter was personally the most informative for me, as it brought into perspective elements I had never previously considered when reading the Qur’an and along with that it also reiterated the fact that translations of the Qur'an should not be relied upon as they can never give you the whole meaning.
February 16, 2018
A little dry, but it's a good introduction to the themes and prose of the Qur'an. Sells' translations are painstakingly thorough and it shows in his commentary, helping to lend nuance to places I would easily pass over otherwise. The included CD and section on hearing lends an understanding of how people in the Arabic speaking world interact with the Qur'an that is difficult to explain to an outsider.
August 3, 2018
It gives a fair introduction and context regarding the Quran which is far inaccessible for people who lacks the definitive background about it. The subject matter, if not that quite exhaustive, is clear, easy to read, and concise.
It's a good introductory read for scholastic study of Islamic religion for non-Muslims.
It's a good introductory read for scholastic study of Islamic religion for non-Muslims.
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April 9, 2020Hello ! I prepared a video that easily teaches reading the Quran in 1 hour. If you do not know how to read the Quran, you can easily learn by watching the video on YouTube by clicking the link below. If you know you can share it with those who do not know. I wish you will have healthy happy and peaceful life with Allah ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtJgo...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtJgo...
February 27, 2024
Sells' approach to the Qur'an in this volume was a clear and crisp introduction to the scripture and the studies that focus on it. His choice to only focus on the Meccan surahs was also brilliant, as they, in my opinion, show more of the poetic beauty to be found in the Qur'an. I liked his original translations and commentary as well.
March 14, 2025
This was a thorough translation of and introduction to the Quran. I appreciated learning more about the context of when the Quran was first written and the significance of the spoken Quran. This book provided a masterful translation while explaining the complexities and challenges of translation, and conveying what is lost in translation.
November 13, 2018
I love this book. Constantly inspiring.
November 6, 2020
I never get tired of honest attempts at translating and understanding the Qur'an. All we can do is try, no? Let's pray our attempts bring us closer to the Truth.
August 24, 2021
As a non-scholar, I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of the books. A great way to expose me to the fundamentals of the Quran and interpretation of the Quran. The last part was too pedantic for me.
December 12, 2024
Gave me the informed and relatively unbiased introduction that I was looking for, to the book that anchors the value system of more than a billion people.
December 29, 2016
I consulted this book after my first approach at an Oxford English Qur’an ended prematurely. I figured secondary literature on the Qur’an, like this book, might help me “get it.” Help it did.
1. The ‘beginning’ of the Qur’an isn’t the ‘beginning’ of a narrative:
“The written Qur’an begins with the longest and one of the most complex chapters, one from Muhammad's later career [...] For those familiar with the Bible, it would be as if the second page opened with a combination of the legal discussions in Leviticus, the historical polemic in the book of Judges, and apocalyptic allusions from Revelation, with the various topics mixed in together and beginning in mid-topic.
2. The Qur’an is meant to be heard or recited as appropriate, not read from start to finish.
“The experience of the Qur’an in traditional Islamic countries is very different from Western attempts to read it as a story bound within the pages of a book with a sequence of beginning, middle, and end. [...] Rather, the themes stories, hymns, and laws of the Qur’an are woven through the life stages of the individual, the key moments of the community, and the sensual world of the town and village. Life is punctuated by the recitation of the Qur’an by trained reciters [...] The experience is a nonlinear repetition through recitation.”
3. The Qur’an reworks themes from pre-Islamic arabic poetry, especially love poetry, but it is not considered poetry. While the Qur’an is recited, it is not considered a song, it is not “sung.”
“When Muhammad first began reciting verse of particular power and beauty, some called him a poet. A Qur’anic revelation made a distinction: poets speak out of desire and do not understand what they are saying, while a prophet speaks what is revealed to him by God. (Sura 26)”
“The poets, the bearers of values, were the most dangerous and obdurate opponents of the prophet Muhammad.”
“For Muslims, the Qur’an is not “sung” and is not considered music. Instead the literary and rhythmic qualities of the text are extensions of the inherent quality of the text itself rather than the superimposed musical ornamentations.”
4. Finally, the Qu’ran isn’t supposed to be translated out of Arabic:
“I have used the term ‘translation’ here to refer to the English renditions presented in this volume. But the term itself is controversial. For Muslims, the Qur’an is, as expressed in Sura 12:2, an Arabic revelation. To understand the practical implications of such an understanding, one can turn to Africa. There, Christian missionaries begin by translating the Bible into the native language of the are. In Many cases these translators have been forced to invent an orthography for an essentially oral language and tradition. By contrast, Muslim missionaries begin by opening a Qur’an school in which the Qur’an is taught in Arabic.”
So by trying to read the Qur’an in English rather than in Arabic, from start to finish, I was in for some trouble. I’m too mule headed to learn Arabic, or give up on reading the Qur’an in English. I therefore strongly recommend this book to anyone else with similar predilections. It arranges some selections from the Qur’an in an attempt to present an idea of its meaning to an English reader. The focus is on the early revelations or Suras, which contain the basic tenets of Islam. These Suras are actually at the "end" of the Qur'an and are thus easily missed by a reader distracted or intimated from staying the course.It's a fine introduction to the historical and literary context of the Qur'an. Links are provided to listen to the Qur’an in Arabic, though you can just youtube a recitation yourself. After listening to the Qur’an for a while, I can say that I thought it sounded good, even though I didn't understand a word. I feel better equipped to approach my Oxford English Qur’an, and recommend this book to others with similar desires.
1. The ‘beginning’ of the Qur’an isn’t the ‘beginning’ of a narrative:
“The written Qur’an begins with the longest and one of the most complex chapters, one from Muhammad's later career [...] For those familiar with the Bible, it would be as if the second page opened with a combination of the legal discussions in Leviticus, the historical polemic in the book of Judges, and apocalyptic allusions from Revelation, with the various topics mixed in together and beginning in mid-topic.
2. The Qur’an is meant to be heard or recited as appropriate, not read from start to finish.
“The experience of the Qur’an in traditional Islamic countries is very different from Western attempts to read it as a story bound within the pages of a book with a sequence of beginning, middle, and end. [...] Rather, the themes stories, hymns, and laws of the Qur’an are woven through the life stages of the individual, the key moments of the community, and the sensual world of the town and village. Life is punctuated by the recitation of the Qur’an by trained reciters [...] The experience is a nonlinear repetition through recitation.”
3. The Qur’an reworks themes from pre-Islamic arabic poetry, especially love poetry, but it is not considered poetry. While the Qur’an is recited, it is not considered a song, it is not “sung.”
“When Muhammad first began reciting verse of particular power and beauty, some called him a poet. A Qur’anic revelation made a distinction: poets speak out of desire and do not understand what they are saying, while a prophet speaks what is revealed to him by God. (Sura 26)”
“The poets, the bearers of values, were the most dangerous and obdurate opponents of the prophet Muhammad.”
“For Muslims, the Qur’an is not “sung” and is not considered music. Instead the literary and rhythmic qualities of the text are extensions of the inherent quality of the text itself rather than the superimposed musical ornamentations.”
4. Finally, the Qu’ran isn’t supposed to be translated out of Arabic:
“I have used the term ‘translation’ here to refer to the English renditions presented in this volume. But the term itself is controversial. For Muslims, the Qur’an is, as expressed in Sura 12:2, an Arabic revelation. To understand the practical implications of such an understanding, one can turn to Africa. There, Christian missionaries begin by translating the Bible into the native language of the are. In Many cases these translators have been forced to invent an orthography for an essentially oral language and tradition. By contrast, Muslim missionaries begin by opening a Qur’an school in which the Qur’an is taught in Arabic.”
So by trying to read the Qur’an in English rather than in Arabic, from start to finish, I was in for some trouble. I’m too mule headed to learn Arabic, or give up on reading the Qur’an in English. I therefore strongly recommend this book to anyone else with similar predilections. It arranges some selections from the Qur’an in an attempt to present an idea of its meaning to an English reader. The focus is on the early revelations or Suras, which contain the basic tenets of Islam. These Suras are actually at the "end" of the Qur'an and are thus easily missed by a reader distracted or intimated from staying the course.It's a fine introduction to the historical and literary context of the Qur'an. Links are provided to listen to the Qur’an in Arabic, though you can just youtube a recitation yourself. After listening to the Qur’an for a while, I can say that I thought it sounded good, even though I didn't understand a word. I feel better equipped to approach my Oxford English Qur’an, and recommend this book to others with similar desires.
January 4, 2023
really appreciated this translation and the ordering of apocalyptic surahs. great commentary.
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