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The Qur'an (Pickthall) · The Meaning of the Glorious Koran

Islam · Translated by Marmaduke Pickthall, 1930

The Meaning of the Glorious Koran

Muslims hold the Qur'an to be the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over some twenty-three years, from about 610 to 632, and in the strict sense to exist only in Arabic; any translation is an interpretation of its meaning. Marmaduke Pickthall, an English novelist who became a Muslim in 1917, made this translation in consultation with scholars in Cairo and published it in 1930 as The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, the first complete English rendering by a Muslim whose mother tongue was English. It contains all 114 surahs (chapters) in their traditional order, each marked as revealed in Mecca or Medina.

  1. 1. Al-Faatiha The Opening7 v.
  2. 2. Al-Baqara The Cow286 v.
  3. 3. Aal-i-Imraan The Family of Imraan200 v.
  4. 4. An-Nisaa The Women176 v.
  5. 5. Al-Maaida The Table120 v.
  6. 6. Al-An'aam The Cattle165 v.
  7. 7. Al-A'raaf The Heights206 v.
  8. 8. Al-Anfaal The Spoils of War75 v.
  9. 9. At-Tawba The Repentance129 v.
  10. 10. Yunus Jonas109 v.
  11. 11. Hud Hud123 v.
  12. 12. Yusuf Joseph111 v.
  13. 13. Ar-Ra'd The Thunder43 v.
  14. 14. Ibrahim Abraham52 v.
  15. 15. Al-Hijr The Rock99 v.
  16. 16. An-Nahl The Bee128 v.
  17. 17. Al-Israa The Night Journey111 v.
  18. 18. Al-Kahf The Cave110 v.
  19. 19. Maryam Mary98 v.
  20. 20. Taa-Haa Taa-Haa135 v.
  21. 21. Al-Anbiyaa The Prophets112 v.
  22. 22. Al-Hajj The Pilgrimage78 v.
  23. 23. Al-Muminoon The Believers118 v.
  24. 24. An-Noor The Light64 v.
  25. 25. Al-Furqaan The Criterion77 v.
  26. 26. Ash-Shu'araa The Poets227 v.
  27. 27. An-Naml The Ant93 v.
  28. 28. Al-Qasas The Stories88 v.
  29. 29. Al-Ankaboot The Spider69 v.
  30. 30. Ar-Room The Romans60 v.
  31. 31. Luqman Luqman34 v.
  32. 32. As-Sajda The Prostration30 v.
  33. 33. Al-Ahzaab The Clans73 v.
  34. 34. Saba Sheba54 v.
  35. 35. Faatir The Originator45 v.
  36. 36. Yaseen Yaseen83 v.
  37. 37. As-Saaffaat Those drawn up in Ranks182 v.
  38. 38. Saad The letter Saad88 v.
  39. 39. Az-Zumar The Groups75 v.
  40. 40. Ghafir The Forgiver85 v.
  41. 41. Fussilat Explained in detail54 v.
  42. 42. Ash-Shura Consultation53 v.
  43. 43. Az-Zukhruf Ornaments of gold89 v.
  44. 44. Ad-Dukhaan The Smoke59 v.
  45. 45. Al-Jaathiya Crouching37 v.
  46. 46. Al-Ahqaf The Dunes35 v.
  47. 47. Muhammad Muhammad38 v.
  48. 48. Al-Fath The Victory29 v.
  49. 49. Al-Hujuraat The Inner Apartments18 v.
  50. 50. Qaaf The letter Qaaf45 v.
  51. 51. Adh-Dhaariyat The Winnowing Winds60 v.
  52. 52. At-Tur The Mount49 v.
  53. 53. An-Najm The Star62 v.
  54. 54. Al-Qamar The Moon55 v.
  55. 55. Ar-Rahmaan The Beneficent78 v.
  56. 56. Al-Waaqia The Inevitable96 v.
  57. 57. Al-Hadid The Iron29 v.
  58. 58. Al-Mujaadila The Pleading Woman22 v.
  59. 59. Al-Hashr The Exile24 v.
  60. 60. Al-Mumtahana She that is to be examined13 v.
  61. 61. As-Saff The Ranks14 v.
  62. 62. Al-Jumu'a Friday11 v.
  63. 63. Al-Munaafiqoon The Hypocrites11 v.
  64. 64. At-Taghaabun Mutual Disillusion18 v.
  65. 65. At-Talaaq Divorce12 v.
  66. 66. At-Tahrim The Prohibition12 v.
  67. 67. Al-Mulk The Sovereignty30 v.
  68. 68. Al-Qalam The Pen52 v.
  69. 69. Al-Haaqqa The Reality52 v.
  70. 70. Al-Ma'aarij The Ascending Stairways44 v.
  71. 71. Nooh Noah28 v.
  72. 72. Al-Jinn The Jinn28 v.
  73. 73. Al-Muzzammil The Enshrouded One20 v.
  74. 74. Al-Muddaththir The Cloaked One56 v.
  75. 75. Al-Qiyaama The Resurrection40 v.
  76. 76. Al-Insaan Man31 v.
  77. 77. Al-Mursalaat The Emissaries50 v.
  78. 78. An-Naba The Announcement40 v.
  79. 79. An-Naazi'aat Those who drag forth46 v.
  80. 80. Abasa He frowned42 v.
  81. 81. At-Takwir The Overthrowing29 v.
  82. 82. Al-Infitaar The Cleaving19 v.
  83. 83. Al-Mutaffifin Defrauding36 v.
  84. 84. Al-Inshiqaaq The Splitting Open25 v.
  85. 85. Al-Burooj The Constellations22 v.
  86. 86. At-Taariq The Morning Star17 v.
  87. 87. Al-A'laa The Most High19 v.
  88. 88. Al-Ghaashiya The Overwhelming26 v.
  89. 89. Al-Fajr The Dawn30 v.
  90. 90. Al-Balad The City20 v.
  91. 91. Ash-Shams The Sun15 v.
  92. 92. Al-Lail The Night21 v.
  93. 93. Ad-Dhuhaa The Morning Hours11 v.
  94. 94. Ash-Sharh The Consolation8 v.
  95. 95. At-Tin The Fig8 v.
  96. 96. Al-Alaq The Clot19 v.
  97. 97. Al-Qadr The Power, Fate5 v.
  98. 98. Al-Bayyina The Evidence8 v.
  99. 99. Az-Zalzala The Earthquake8 v.
  100. 100. Al-Aadiyaat The Chargers11 v.
  101. 101. Al-Qaari'a The Calamity11 v.
  102. 102. At-Takaathur Competition8 v.
  103. 103. Al-Asr The Declining Day, Epoch3 v.
  104. 104. Al-Humaza The Traducer9 v.
  105. 105. Al-Fil The Elephant5 v.
  106. 106. Quraish Quraysh4 v.
  107. 107. Al-Maa'un Almsgiving7 v.
  108. 108. Al-Kawthar Abundance3 v.
  109. 109. Al-Kaafiroon The Disbelievers6 v.
  110. 110. An-Nasr Divine Support3 v.
  111. 111. Al-Masad The Palm Fibre5 v.
  112. 112. Al-Ikhlaas Sincerity4 v.
  113. 113. Al-Falaq The Dawn5 v.
  114. 114. An-Naas Mankind6 v.

Translated by Marmaduke Pickthall, 1930. Public domain (first published 1930; the translator died in 1936).