I thought that learning the Quraan’s translation word-by-word might help people understand the Quraan when they read or listen to the Arabic as well as help them learn Arabic.
So I’m going to try writing the word-by-word translation in English.
How to use word-by-word translation:
Try to memorize a few words at a time. After learning a few verses’ translation, check how much of the Quraan you understand when reading or listening to the Quraan in Arabic.
Format: word-by-word translation of each verse followed by the actual verse translation.
Note: in the following, the Arabic of the Quraan is taken from Multilingual Quraan http://www.**************quran/ and the English translation of the verses is from the Noble Quraan, http://noblequran.com/translation/index.html . word-by-word translation is my own. Please correct if any word is not translated correctly.
Bi – With
Ism – name
Allah – Allah
Al- The
Rahmaan – Beneficent
Al- The
Raheem – Merciful
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِِ
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Al- The
Hamd – praises
Lil- for
Allah – Allah
Rab – Lord
Al- the
Alameen – worlds
الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
Al Rahmaan *– The Beneficent
Al-Raheem – The Merciful
الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيمِ
The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Maalik – Lord
Yawm – Day
Deen – Judgment
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
Eeyaka – it is you
Na - we
’abudo - worship
Wa
Eeyaka – it is you
Na - we
asthaeen – ask for help
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
Ihdi- guide
Na – us
Al siraat – the way
Al mustaqeem – straight
اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ
Guide us to the Straight Way
Siraat – the way
Alazeena – those
anumtha - you have blessed
Alai – on
Him – them
Ghair – not
Al maghdoob – anger
Alaihim – on them
Wa – and
La – not
Daaleen - astray
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ
The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).
-------------
* Note: In Arabic there are two types of letters: The Shumsi letters and the Qamari letters. When “Al” precedes the shumsi letters, the L is Al is not pronounced (Al-Shums is pronounced as Ash-Shums). When Al precedes the Qamari letters, the L in Al is pronounced (Al-Qamar is pronounced as Al-Qamar).
Word-by-word translation of Surah 2, Al-Baqarah (The Cow)
Bi – with
Ism – name
Allah
Al Rahmaan – the Beneficent
Al Raheem – The Merciful
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Alif. Laam. Mim. – letters of the Arabic alphabet whose meaning is not known to any other than Allah.
الم
Alif-Lam-Mim. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings].
Dhaalika – this is
Al kitaab – the book
Laa – no
Raib – doubt
Fee – in
Hai – it
Huda – guidance
Li – for
Al Mutaqeen – the God-fearing
ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].
***
Note: in arabic, laa means no, not, does not but la means for sure.
Laa = لاَ = no, not, does not
La = لَ = for sure
***
Alazeena – those
Yo’minoona – (they) believe
Bi – with
Al ghaib – the unseen
Wa – and
Yokeemoon – they establish
Al salaat – the prayer
Wa – and
Min – of
Maa – that
Razaqnaahum – we have provided them
Yunfiqoon – they spend
الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
Who believe in the Ghaib and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and spend out of what we have provided for them [i.e. give Zakat , spend on themselves, their parents, their children, their wives, etc., and also give charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause - Jihad, etc.].
***
note: the word yo’minoon is the plural form of the verb yo’min which means to believe. The suffix oon makes the verb masculine plural. Other examples are yokeemoon (they believe with certainty), yunfiqoon (they spend). This suffix (-oon) is only added to the present tense of the (regular) verbs to make them plural.
The suffix naa means “we” when attached to the past tense of the verb, for example, razaqa means provided and razaqnaa means “We provided”. The second pronoun (hum) means “to them” so razaqnaahum means “We have provided to them.”
Wa – and
Alazeena – those
Yo’minoona – believe
Bi – on
Maa – that
Onzila – revealed
ilaika – to you
(ila = to, ka = you)
Wa – and
Maa – that
Onzila – revealed
Min – from
Qabl- before
ka – you
(qablika = before you)
wa – and
bil – on
aakhirati – the hereafter
hum – they
yookinoon – believe with certainty
والَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ
And who believe in (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him) and in [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.] which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).
Olaaika – those
Ala – on
Huda – guidance
Min – from
Rabihim – their Lord [Rab = Lord, him = them]
Wa – and
Olaaika – those
Hum – they are
Almuflihoon – the successful
أُوْلَـئِكَ عَلَى هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
They are on (true) guidance from their Lord, and they are the successful.
***
Al Muflihoon: this is a plural masculine noun. The suffix “oon” when added to a regular masculine noun makes the masculine noun plural. This suffix (-oon) indicates that the noun is the subject.
And who believe in (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him) and in [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.] which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).
I am not translating the Quraan. I am just giving the defination of the words so that when people read or listen to the Quraan they will understand it easily. This might also help ppl learn arabic.
I am using the noble Quran translation http://noblequran.com/translation/index.html . The words in brackets are explanations. they arent there in the arabic so they are placed in brackets.
There are various reasons why such explanations may be included. Some arabic words have more than one meaning. Some are explanations from commentary. Because the Quraan was revealed according to circumstances, to understand it one must read the commentary. The commentary will give you the whole background.
to understand it one must read the commentary. The commentary will give you the whole background.
Thank you for the explanation it was helpful but sometimes answers throw up more questions.
Who added the commentary, what is a commentary? I have learned (correct me if I am wrong) that Gabriel dictated God’s message to Muhammad (presumably in the language Muhammad used) and he flawlessly memorised each word and that in turn was flawlessly recorded. I presume that the words given by God were clear and unambiguous, so why would you need a commentary?
Don't you think it's quite risky translating the Qur'aan, and dangerous ground? Such matters are best left to the 'Ulamaa.
I think the whole ummah should learn Arabic so we can understand the Qur'an. We shouldn't just leave it to the scholars to understand the book of Allah. We don't need to derive fatwas, that we can leave to the scholars but just to contemplate the Qur'aan, to take a few minutes out of the day to ponder over a verse, would be such a wonderful thing don't you think ?
And by learning the vocab as posted in bits here, you can understand so much of the Qur'aan, as common phrases are used in the Qur'aan is different bits. It's all up to us.
‘Say: If the ocean were ink wherewith to write out the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted, even if We added another ocean like it.’~Al Qu'raan (18:109)
I think the whole ummah should learn Arabic so we can understand the Qur'an. We shouldn't just leave it to the scholars to understand the book of Allah. We don't need to derive fatwas, that we can leave to the scholars but just to contemplate the Qur'aan, to take a few minutes out of the day to ponder over a verse, would be such a wonderful thing don't you think ?
And by learning the vocab as posted in bits here, you can understand so much of the Qur'aan, as common phrases are used in the Qur'aan is different bits. It's all up to us.
I much agree with your view and if I were Muslim or a little younger I would do just that. Clearly there differences amongst so called scholars on the interpretation of the Qu’ran, I note that the translation/interpretation used in this thread differs from others and I would have thought the obvious answer for free thinking Muslims would be to learn Arabic and make up their own minds about what the verses say. That said, I have read more posts on this forum discouraging self interpretation than I have read encouraging it; in fact yours may be the first! One poster here appears to believe that such actions are ‘risky.’
Inna – indeed
Alazeena – those who
Kafaaroo – have disbelieved
Sawaa – it is the same
Alaihim – to them
A – if
Anzur – warn
Tha – you
Hum –them
(a-anzurthahum – if you warn them)
Um – or
Lum – did not
Thunzirhum – you warn them
(um lum thunzirhum = or you did not warn them)
Laa – no, not
Yo’minoon – they believe
(laa yo’minoon – they do not believe)
Verily, those who disbelieve, it is the same to them whether you (O Muhammad Peace be upon him) warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe.
Khatama – sealed
Allaho – Allah has
Ala – on
Quloob – hearts
Him – their
(quloobihim – their hearts)
Wa – and
Ala – on
Sam’i – hearing
Him – their
(sam’ihim – their hearing)
Wa – and
Ala – on
Absaar – sight
Him – their
(absaarihim – their eyesight)
Ghishaawah – a covering
Wa – and
lahum – for them
a’zaab – punishment
azeem – great
Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearings, (i.e. they are closed from accepting Allah's Guidance), and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be a great torment.
***
note: in Arabic the adjective comes after the noun it describes, so “a great torment” is written as “a’zaabun azeemun.”
Some nouns are regular. Their plural is formed by adding the suffix “oon” / “een” if the noun is masculine and adding the suffix “aat” if the noun is feminine (for example mo’minoon/mo’mineen and mo’minaat). There are also irregular nouns whose plural is formed by changing the word. Some examples are “Qalb” (heart) whose plural is “Quloob” and “Basr” (Sight) whose plural is “Absaar.”
Normally, if a singular or feminine noun is the subject, it has a damma on the last letter. If it is the object, it has a fathhah on the last letter.
A plural masculine noun which is the subject ends with “oon” but ends in “een” if it is the object (normally).
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