Just wondering if there are preferred (American) English translations over other English translations of the Qur'an? Just trying to find one that is as accurate to the Arabic one as possible. Thanks and sorry if this is a repost.
here's a great translation you can get for $10, make sure to get the hard bound as it more durable than the soft [it MIGHT be different too, but my memory escapes me.]
http://al-quraan.org/
they also have an audio version
http://al-quraan.org/1-mp3-cd-alqur...9.html?zenid=dbbe2e86324858df5f0423cfb7ce317b
most early English translations are based on Pickthall, unlike others, i can't stand Yusuf Ali, mainly because his notes reference philosophy too much and he reads like Shakespeare - sort of the "King James" of Qurans.
if you can find a copy of this:
http://www.dvdebook.com/
get it, it is Arabic and English, but it is more paragraph by paragraph than ayat by ayat. this gives you a more flowing Arabic and makes the English easier to comprehend. the translation is Pickthall. alot of Muslim stores have a dvd-r copy for about $10.
English doesn't really suffice to translate Arabic as Quranic Arabic is about the most pure and dynamic language in existance, after all, IT IS the Words of Allah. the 1st translation i posted is the easiest and quickest to read. after that, you should read others and find a good tafseer and more expensive translations that provide a little tafseer.
Muhksin Khan is a nice translation, but you can get a bit lost with all of the inserted parenthesis':
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...books&hvadid=6744564045&ref=pd_sl_t7jgm6zg7_b
you can read many translations side by side, online, here:
http://quran.com/
i hope this helps,
:wa: