A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
M. A. S. Abdel Haleem translates the Qur'an into contemporary English with attention to textual flow, context, and the connections among passages. The volume includes an introduction, explanatory notes, and a thematic index, offering English-language readers access to Islam's scripture as sustained proclamation about God, guidance, mercy, judgment, prophetic history, worship, ethics, and community.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
It lets travelers encounter a primary Islamic text rather than learning Islam only through Christian comparison or secondary summary. Abdel Haleem's readable translation helps the Qur'an sound like connected discourse instead of isolated proof texts. Its place in the Library is source access with orientation: translation opens a door, while Muslim recitation, Arabic language, interpretive traditions, and lived communities remain larger than any English edition.
Good starting place if…
You want to read the Qur'an directly in accessible contemporary English and will approach it as Islamic scripture with its own structure, rhetoric, and interpretive life.
Know before you begin…
For Muslims, the Qur'an is properly the Arabic revelation; every English rendering is an interpretation of meaning. Abdel Haleem makes consequential choices about syntax, context, and key terms, and this edition cannot substitute for Arabic recitation, tafsir, historical study, or the diversity of Muslim interpretation. Read difficult passages in literary and historical context rather than as detached quotations.