There isn't a single translation of the Qur'an that is 100% accurate. The arabic language is increadibly rich, and no matter what the translator choses, some meaning is still lost.
That's why when I'm seriously studying the Qur'an, I read from multiple translations.
Let's take for example 113:4
Shakir - And from the evil of those who
blow on knots,
Pickthall - And from the evil of malignant witchcraft,
Asad - and from the evil of all human beings bent on occult endeavours.
The arabic literally translates as "blow on knots," but to someone who's not familiar with arabic turns of phrases, they're confused. Blowing on knots. What the heck does that mean? :enough!:
So while Shakir translates it literally, Pickthall, Muhammad Asad and several others chose to translate the meaning. But even though the meaning is clear in those translations, we're missing the original phrase that Allah (swt) chose to reveal in the Qur'an.
What I'd love to see if a translation that does one of two things:
1. Translates the arabic phrases literally, and then explains the meanings in the footnotes
2. Translates the meaning of the arabic, and then explain it's literal translation in footnotes.
So, what do I read? I have more than a dozen english translations of the Qur'an. If I'm just reading for the sake of reading, I'll chose the
saheeh international version, or the
Bewley Translation because the english is plain, clear and easy to read in both(a lot of translators use "old english" style, which can be distracting to me).
When I'm doing study, I'll lay all of these out on the table, read through the same section in each, study, compare, and really try to grasp it in it's entrity:
- Saheeh International
- Bewley translation
- Muhammad Asad - excellent footnotes, although there are some problems in them
- Thomas Cleary - translates things quite differently from the norm.
- Shakir - the first Qur'an I ever got. He tends to translate things more literally