In his preface to QXP (Quran as it explains itself, Dr. Shabbir writes:
The author of the Qur’an is none but Almighty God. Before the reader is an
English rendition of the Glorious Book by Shabbir Ahmed (1947 to ?) an
ordinary servant of God.
The work, although close to translation, is more of an understanding from
within the Qur’an itself. This Divine Writ calls itself An-Noor (the Light) and
light needs no extrinsic sources to show itself. Therefore, I have based my
presentation on two principles:
1. Focusing on the language in which the Qur’an was revealed.
2. Making use of Tasreef, that is, how the Qur’an repeats its messages from
very diverse vantage points.
A diligent study of the Book using Tasreef helps us look at the Qur’an in its
Big Picture, and this method gives us a phenomenal advantage toward its
understanding.
I have rendered the terms and linguistics of the Qur’an using the Quraish
(Quresh) dialect of Makkah since it is the Arabic dialect in which the Qur’an
was revealed to the exalted Muhammad bin Abdullah, the Final Prophet,
Messenger and Apostle of God. [570-632 CE]
19:97 And only to this end We have made this (Qur’an) easy to understand in
your own tongue (O Prophet). That you might convey thereby glad news to the
righteous and warn people given to futile disputation.
Being a young member of the Saudi royal medical staff, I had the good fortune
of learning the Quraish dialect in the 1970s under the auspices of King Faisal
bin Abdul Aziz and King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia. I was blessed
with the opportunity to learn Islamic theology in the University of Madinah
after having learnt the subject under the guidance of the celebrated names of
Qari Baqaullah and ‘Maulana’ Ehtishamul Haq Thanwi in Karachi during my
college days in the 1960s.
In addition, the opportunity to socialize with the Bedouins was certainly a
great advantage since even today they frequently speak the Quraish dialect.
Learning the dialect, by no means, amounts to absorbing the Saudi theology.
Some of the well-known western scholars who learned Arabic by socializing
with the Bedouins:
In the 1810s - The Swiss Muslim traveler-explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
(Sheikh Ibrahim bin Abdullah 1784-1817). ..............
more at:
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http://drshabbir.com/library/QXP200808iv.pdfWould appreciate comments from those who know the language and the challenges it poses to translators. Thanks.