The Koran: Parallel Arabic Text Paperback – Deckle Edge, 24 November 2014

I don't care what the scholar say about the N. J. Dawood translation of the Quran. I first came to know about the N. J. Dawood's translation in the novel Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I wondered why he referred to the Dawood's translation. After reading this translation I discovered that Dawood is specific on selection of the terms or substitute of the Arabic phrases.One more reason for purchasing this title is that I can read the message of Quran anytime anywhere. This is better than other translation of the Koran.

Good

Its been written by non-Muslim who also changed the order of the Surahs. In fact, Dawood's translation might as well been written by Robert Spencer!This translation probably the worst one you could choose. For brief context, NJ Dawood is of Iraqi Jewish origin, no connection to Islam, yet decided he has skillset to accurately translate the Qur'an. A simple skim through the book from a Muslim's perspective would tell you the translator uses his own personal inferences to convey his prejudiced, orientalist-leaning, ideas to the readership, for instance deciding to change the sequence of the book since he says 'It is unfortunate [...] that in preparing the contents of the Koran for book-form its editor or editors followed no chronological sequence. […] the uninitiated reader, […] understandably, is often put off by such mundane chapters as “The Cow” or “Women”, with which the traditional arrangement of the Koran begins.'This is an awful translation at best, a disrespectful alteration by someone with no claims nor knowledge of Islam at worst.The Qur'an, unlike the Injeel or Torah, is completely untouched, thus for someone to come in and claim he knows better than God and start making his own alterations – know such a personal has a hidden agenda and knows nothing about Islam. Since if he read the book in its entirety before deciding upon such a insensitive decision, the Qur'an talks about just that: altering the Words of God.