Which Qur'an translation?

[SpazzBurd]

I was wondering which English Qur'an translation is closest to the Arabic. I don't know any Arabic, or I would read it in Arabic.

These are the translations I have

M. M. Pickthall
Ahmed Ali
Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[Woodrow]

They are no translations that catch the full meaning or depth of the Arabic. Most Arabic words have no exact English equivalent.

What I have seen on a personal level that it is best to read both M. M. Pickthall and Abdullah Yusuf Ali together. Between the two I find that they approach the actually meaning, if read together and combining the feel of both. If at all possible try to listen to an audio presentation in Arabic as you read in English. Just listening to the Arabic recitation while reading the English, does increase the richness felt.

[Andrew]

I have no understanding of arabic at the moment so I have been reading one produced by Darusslam which was handed to me from a friend. It is good and has explanations with it too.

[MaiCarInMtl]

I am currently reading the Yusuf Ali version (as I do not speak arabic - although I am trying to learn) and so far, so good. I bought it because it came highly recommended and reviewed on the amazon site.

As a translator (French/English), I can tell you right away that no matter how hard you try, translations are never 100% perfect (or rarely), this due to many reasons such as expressions, sayings, cultural influences, etc. A certain word in one language might be completely acceptable, but the closest translation in another language might, for some reason, have a negative connotation associated with it.