The Sublime Quran

Amazing translation, mashallah! This is a very loving and accepting translation of the Quran, which is what people should think like. Be the most accepting of others and their lives and strict and disciplined over your own! Cover and text block are super floppy, so I would recommend combining with a personal leather cover or keeping this Quran at home. Paper is very thin, just like standard Bible pages, so light annotations are okay, but highlighters or markers will likely bleed.

This is a heavy, substantial paperback with a gorgeous cover. More importantly, it's the first translation of the Quran done by an American Muslim woman. Context always matters, and this is a great alternative to the sometimes harsh translations written and edited by men. One example to illustrate the difference: Qurans translated by men often translate a certain verse to sanction men beating their wives, despite the fact that everything else in the greater body of Islamic teachings seems to strongly discourage anyone lifting a hand against anyone. Ever. Laleh Bakhtiar, however, uses her knowledge of classical Arabic and translates that word in that particular verse as "explain," which has the effect of making the meaning of hte verse that if a wife disagrees with her husband's position, the husband should "explain" his position to her, which makes a hell of a lot more sense than that he should "beat" her. And yet, somehow, this is controversial. Despite the fact that the word can be translated just as validly as "explain," and to say nothing of how that fits in far better with the greater message of Islam than "Hey, yeah, go ahead and beat your wives if they disagree with you, that's cool." Um, no. I'd recommend this as a solid addition to any collection of religious books. It sits on my shelf next to my copy of the Old Testament and my Muhammad Asad translation/tafsir of the Quran.

It took me time to find this but when I did I was lucky since it is a good translation for someone whose native language is English and compares in its content to other translations as well as the tone overall it's complicated to find a translation that is the best one for me but I have compared to other translations and really felt like this one would be the best version for me to have laying around anyway so it would be as fair as I could have a translation be if a neighbor happened to pick it up or someone then I wouldn't have to worry about it so going to go for rating this one 4 or 5 I can stay confident here in case it is read by someone other than myself.

This is my third Qur'an and by far my favorite. It is written formally, compared to other translations that strive for readability. I find this more appropriate for a religious text. The text is broken down into phrases and centered, which makes reading and understanding much easier. Also, the text is large and very readable. It makes the book bigger but the weight is well worth it. Rather than the traditional start at the beginning and go to the end approach, Laleh Bakhtiar used the "formal equivalence" technique. That means translating each word on its own, and then putting it all together. Bakhtiar found over 3,600 Arabic verbs and nouns, which translated into over 5,800 unique English equivalents. This results in a much more accurate and consistent translation.

It is one of the more accurate translations of the Quran (that I know of). However, the papers are too thin. And I came across a few typing mistakes, which was a little disappointing. But this is pretty much the best we have, so far. The fact that this translation is slightly more accurate than others makes up for the low quality of the papers and editing.

I needed this spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Helped reconnect with my faith, cleanse my childhood trauma, and strengthen my aura. Translating often has many meanings, reading from a woman's version is much more refreshing. For Gen-Z muslims or those who are interested in general, this is a good buy. And remember, in the eyes of God you are all loved. NO MATTER WHAT. Don't buy into misogyny, cultural beliefs, media, and etc. Your culture is not your religion/faith. Your relationship with earth, animals, humans, the air, your wellbeing, and the unknown is religion. It's not restricting or filled with double-standards. The hypocrisy is from colonization and extremism, no religion/faith is ever bad. It's people who make it look bad. You are beautiful, you are strong, and you can do this!

this English translation helped to understand the perspective of anothers religion.

Found it so much easier to read in both the format and translation of the Holy Book. Wish it had the Arabic side by side as well. Highly recommended

Koranübersetzungen müssen von einem Gremium der Al Azhar Universität in Kairo genehmigt werden. Es gibt in deutscher Sprache keine vollständige Übersetzung, nur Bearbeitungen für Frauen und Kinder. Daher ist diese vollständige Übersetzung von Lale Bakhtiar kostbar. (englisch)

There are a few things that make this translation stand out: firstly, the translator has chosen to offer an alternative translation of 4.34, replacing the word 'beat' with 'leave them'. In the preface to the translation she explains why she has done so. The word 'God' is used throughout in place of 'Allah' and the names of the prophets are in the English rather than the Arabic form (so Jesus instead of Isa) which makes this an accessible translation for non-Muslims. Another difference is the translation of 'kuffar' as 'ungrateful' rather than as simply 'disbeliever'. There is a comprehensive index but there is no commentary with this translation and no footnotes - I found this refreshing as too many footnotes can distract from the text itself. The text is clear and well laid out. While there are parts of the translation which do not 'flow' as well as they could, this is still a beautiful and brave translation.

The pages are so thin that the text overlaps on pages from either side of page. Which makes it difficult to read. Won’t recommend.

My friend is enjoying it.

It is a very simple translation . An Arabic word has many meanings. Many translators of Quran pickup English equivalent of Arabic depending on how they were educated and brought up. Laleh Bakhtiar's view as I also heard her on the YouTube is that Quran was sent for all and is inclusive. In her translation she uses English word for Arabic with that in mind. For example she translates Kafir to ungrateful not infidel commonly done by others. People reading this will not consider themselves degraded . I fully agree with such approach . Verse 4:34 is one where majority of translators confirm that wife beating is allowed but now with the emergence women scholar and joined by some men ,it should be go away from wife for the offence committed by her . Prophet never did the beating to his wife who is considered to be the walking Quran( He was the practical demonstration of Quran). I laugh when I hear beat lightly . Beating is beating not light or heavy! There is nothing in Quran of light or heavy beating or where some saying not on face . Bakhtiar 's translation eliminates the BEATING.