English translations of the Quran


The Quran has been translated into English many times. The first few translations were made in the 17th and 19th centuries, but the majority were produced in the 20th.

Early translations

The next major English translation of note was by John Rodwell, Rector of St. Ethelburga, London, released in 1861, entitled The Koran. It was soon followed in 1880 with a two-volume edition by E.H. Palmer, a Cambridge scholar, who was entrusted with the preparation of the new translation for Max Muller's Sacred Books of the East series.

20th century translations

The following English translations are done by Sunni Muslim scholars for those Sunni Muslims who adhere to the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali systems in jurisprudence and the Ash'ari and Maturidi systems in creed of Sunni Islam:
  1. The Meaning of the Glorious Koran by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. An English convert to Islam penned this translation at the behest of the Emir of Hyderabad while on a sojourn in India. Pickthall's widely printed translation was regarded as "an important milestone in the long course of Koranic interpretation" by later esteemed Qur'an translator A.J. Arberry, who also noted a few problems with Pickthall's verse numbering, which deviated in places from what had by then become the standard Arabic edition by Gustav Fluegel.
  2. Tafseeru-l-Qur'aan by the Indian scholar Abdul Majid Daryabadi is a translation with commentary in 4 volumes. The author was a disciple of Mawlana Muhammad Ashraf Ali Thanwi.
  3. The Noble Qur'aan by Mawlana Ashfaq Ahmad, translated from the Urdu translation and commentary of Mahmud al-Hasan Deobandi and Shabbir Ahmad Usmani. It is published in 3 volumes.
  4. Ma'ariful-Qur'an by Mufti Muhammad Shafi Deobandi. It was edited, revised, and supervised with an introduction by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, who also translated parts of it along with his teachers Hasan Askari and Muhammad Shameem and his brother Wali Raazi 'Uthmani. The 6th volume was translated by Muhammad Ishrat Husain and the last volume was translated by Mawlana Ahmad Khaleel 'Azeez. A book called "'Uloomu-l-Qur'aan " was written by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani as a lengthy introduction to the translation and commentary of the Qur'an. It was translated by Muhammad Sawleeh Siddeeqi and revised and edited by Rafeeq 'Abdur-Rahmaan.
  5. Illuminating Discourses on the Noble Qur'aan by Mufti Muhammad Ashiq Ilahi Madani. It is a translation and commentary of the Qur'an in 5 volumes. The translation was edited by Mufti Afzal Husain Ilyaas and revised by Mawlana Arshad Fakhri based on the Ma'ariful-Qur'an.
  6. Tafsir Ibn Kathir: Exegesis of the Grand Holy Qur'an by Abu-l-Fidaa' 'Imaadu-d-Deen Ismaa'eel Ibn 'Umar Ibn Kathir Al-Quraishi Ash-Shafi'i Al-Ash'ari Al-Busrawee Ad-Dimashqi. The unabridged translation was done by Dr. Muhammad Mahdee Ash-Shareef and published by Daaru-l-Kutub Al-'Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon in 2006.
  7. Tafsir Ibn Kathir: Exegesis of the Grand Holy Qur'an by Abu-l-Fidaa' 'Imaadu-d-Deen Ismaa'eel Ibn 'Umar Ibn Kathir Al-Quraishi Ash-Shafi'i Al-Ash'ari Al-Busrawee Ad-Dimashqi. The unabridged translation was done by Mawlana Muhammad Ameen Kholwadia., a student of Qari Muhammad Tayyib, Saeed Ahmad Palampuri, and Dr. Khalid Mahmood, and the current director of Daaru-l-Qaasim, Glendale Heights, Chicago, USA..
  8. Qur'aan Made Easy is a translation by Mufti Afzal Husain Ilyaas, Mawlana Isma'eel Ibrahim, and Yoosuf Khatrada incorporating the in-line commentary from Tafseer-e-'Uthmaanee by 'Allamah Shabbir Ahmad Usmani.
  9. The Meanings of the Noble Qur'an with Explanatory Notes, 2 volumes, revised with Indo-Pak Arabic Script, is a translation by Indian-born Pakistani leading scholar Shaykh al-Islām Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani.
  10. The Glorious Qur'an by Shaikhu-l-Hind Mahmud al-Hasan Deobandi and 'Allamah Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Translated and edited by the teachers of Madrasah Ayesha Siddiqua, Karachi.
  11. Tafseer-e-Uthmani by Shaikhu-l-Hind Mahmud al-Hasan Deobandi and 'Allamah Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Translated by Mawlana Muhammad Muhammadi and others , 8 volumes

    [Salafi] Translations

  12. Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an by Darussalam is translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan and the Moroccan Salafi scholar Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali. This translation is among the most widely read translations in the world, primarily because it is the officially promoted translation of the Saudi Government.
  13. Tafsir Ibn Kathir - Abridged and Translated by a Group of Scholars under Safiur Rahman Mubaarakpuri. Although Ibn Kathir was a Shafi'i Ash'ari scholar, the Salafi translators abridged and translated the Tafsir in 10 volumes with slight modifications according to their views.
  14. Tafseer As-Sa'di by 'Abdu-R-Rahmaan Naasir As-Sa'di, translated by Naasiru-d-Deen Al-Khattab and edited by Huda Khattab, published by the International Islamic Publishing House

    Reformist Translations

The following translations are done by modernist Muslims:
  1. Quran: The Final Testament, translated by Rashad Khalifa.
  2. The Message - A Translation of the Glorious Qur'an, translated by the Monotheistic Group

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