Audiobook · read by volunteers
Meaning of the Glorious Koran
Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall (1875–1936)
Read by Julie Bynum, Sibella Denton, Carl Manchester, Sheldon Greaves, mb, Leni, David Higham, Nicholas James Bridgewater, Priya, India, Andrew Coleman · 69 chapters · 16 h 28
About the book
The Koran, or Qur’an, is regarded by Muslims as the word of God as it was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. This recording presents it in English through The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, the translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, an Englishman who became a Muslim and produced one of the best-known English versions. The text is divided into 114 chapters, called surahs, arranged roughly by length, from the long Surah of the Cow to the briefest closing ones. Listeners can follow it from the opening Surah onward, or turn to a particular chapter. Sixty-nine parts, read by ten LibriVox volunteers over nearly seventeen hours, give a complete and carefully paced rendering. It is useful for students of religion, readers of world literature and anyone who wishes to hear this text in English.
Introduction
The Koran, also spelled Qur’an, is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims regard it as the word of God, revealed to the prophet Muhammad, and it is divided into 114 chapters, known as surahs, which are arranged roughly by length rather than in order of time. It has been translated many times into English, and the version recorded here is among the most widely used.
The Meaning of the Glorious Koran was published in 1930 by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, who lived from 1875 to 1936. Pickthall was an English writer who converted to Islam and approached the work as an explanatory rendering of the meaning of the Arabic rather than a replacement for it. His title reflects that understanding, since the original Arabic is traditionally held to be inimitable. His English has a formal, somewhat archaic tone that many readers find suited to the subject.
This recording is non-fiction in the area of religion. Its sixty-nine parts begin with the first Surah, The Opening, and continue through the long second Surah, The Cow, and the third, The Family of Imran, and onward through the book. The 114 surahs are distributed over the sixty-nine parts. The parts are shared among ten LibriVox volunteers and last about sixteen and a half hours.
Today the recording is worth hearing by students of religion, literature and history, and by anyone who wants a continuous English reading of a text that has shaped the lives of millions. It is a long recording, best taken surah by surah. Listeners who wish to study it closely should consult scholars and the Arabic itself.
Public domain
Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall died in 1936: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text