Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations [With CD]

Michael Sells is Professor of Religion at Haverford College where he has taught for 17 years in the areas of Islam; Comparative Religions; Islamic and Comparative mysticism, and Middle East love poetry.Sells noticed the unusual effect the recited Qur'an has on its audience, sometimes moving even those who may not be particularly religious to tears. In fact Qur'an literally means " The Recitation". Sells found that Westerners, who do not read or speak Arabic, cannot appreciate the beauty and power of the Qur'an, because the standard written English translations fail to retain the inner rhythms, sound patterns and textual dynamics of the original. In this book Sells' goal is" to allow those who do not have access to the Qur'an in its recited Arabic form to encounter one of the most influential texts in human history in a manner that is accessible", and "to present in English some of the texture, tone, power and subtlety of the Arabic text". I think the author has definitely succeeded in this respect. The 30-page Introduction contains valuable information about the historical and cultural background of Arabia, the core teachings of Islam, the narrative style of the Qur'an, and an interesting discussion of the difficulties inherent in any translation, but especially in the translation of the Qur'an and the author's different and distinctive approach to translating the early Suras (Chapters). Contrary to the opinions expressed by many viewers, who gave this book bad reviews because it contains only the early revelations, Sells' aim was not to promote the Qura'nic message by omitting disturbing verses (if there is such a thing!), but he chose these Suras because they are the ones that best serve his stated goals,as they are characterized by "hymnic quality, condensed and powerful imagery and sweeping lyricism" and so offer the best example of the sound patterns and "sound vision" (the relationship of sound to meaning) of the Qur'an. To further facilitate the appreciation of this sound vision of the Qur'an, the author encloses a CD with the book, and he offers a full transliteration of the six Suras recited in the CD, accompanied by a word-for-word English gloss, so the reader can follow the Arabic recitation on the CD with the help of the transliteration and gloss. The core of the book is a sensitive translation of Sura 1, the first 18 verses of Sura 53, and Suras 81-114. Facing each translation is a commentary on the Sura, including: interpretation, historical context and key themes. Although the author did not really have me in mind when writing this book (me being an Arab Muslim), I enjoyed reading the beautiful translation and commentaries, as there is always something new to learn when reading about the Word of God. What I liked most about the CD is that the six Suras are recited, in different styles, by six different reciters from around the world, including two women (living in Kuwait I have, never before heard Qur'an so beautifully recited by w

I initialy bought this book after hearing about the controversy surrounding the University of North Carolina. I was motivated more by curiosity about what was causing the controversy. As a Muslim, I am already familiar with the suras that are translated in this book, so I did not expect to learn much.But I was pleasantly surprised. The approach that Prof. Sells has taken is refreshing in that he treats the Qur'an as literature. Some Muslims may find this objectionable. But I find it helpful to be able to put the suras in the context of popular Arabian culture of that time. I had never actually thought of Qur'anic text in this way before, having learned it in the traditional fashion, by wrote memorisation of the Arabic verses, and then later, reading commentary.The CD included with the text was also unexpected. I hadn't seen an analysis of the 'soundscape' of the Qur'an before. I do like listening to beautiful recitations of the Qur'an, but I hadn't considered an analysis of the sounds and how they are put together. I had come across something similar in English literature classes that I took in college; and it makes sense that if one is treating the Qur'an as poetry, one could use similar tools for analysis.The CD and the analysis of the sounds were the best part of the book. Even if one is not a Muslim, I think it is possible to appreciate the beauty of Qur'anic recitation. As an example I have been able to appreciate the beauty of Gregorian chants even though I did not know what was being said or recited.I am mystified by the controversy surrounding this book. I wonder if the people that brought the lawsuit against UNC ever actually bothered to read the book. Let's hope that this sort of reactionary ignorance doesn't prevail in our country.I am very grateful to Prof. Sells for such a fine book. It is a very good introductory text for someone who has never read anything about the Qur'an and wishes to gain some insight.But I would, also, recommend this book as a valuable tool for Qur'anic study for someone who is already somewhat familiar with the contents of the Qur'an.

I bought this book because of the controversy surrounding it at the University of North Carolina. I did not expect to learn much since I was raised a Muslim and have read the Quran in Arabic and English. To my surprise, Michael Sells' "Approaching the Quran" has unveiled a very differnt way of understanding it. He included so much context and history to which I was oblivious. Things that I took for granted in Arabic has become so clear and gained deeper meaning with Sells' translation. I defenitely recommend this book to any non-Arabic (and Arabic-speaking) person who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the main messages of the Quran and Islam.

I heard Michaels Sells speak at Stanford (he's a religion professor at Haverford), and he said that when he teaches the Qur'an, his students start to get glazed eyes about halfway through the second surah (chapter). He said a colleague appraoched him and said, "Sells, I get to the second surah and I just lose it. I don't know what to make of it. What do you teach?" Prof. Sells said that the problem in translating the Qur'an comes from the huge grammatical differences between Arabic and English, the difficulty of translating poetry into another language, and the fact that the Qur'an has always been recited out loud. In English, he says, God in the Qur'an sounds angry, whereas in Arabic, God in the Qur'an sounds sad and compassionate. That's a big difference. Sells also says that the grammar in Arabic allows the tone of the Qur'an to achieve "ultimate majesty" at the same time as "personal intimacy." Because of the linguistic difference, that is very difficult to carry over into English.Therefore, this book is Sells' attempt to get around these difficulties in accessing the Qu'ran. He gives the translation of the surah and then he gives his commentary and explanation of it. There's a CD in the back that has recitations in Arabic, so we can hear that it is poetry and it really does even rhyme and hear how the recited Qur'an can affect a person differently from the printed Qur'an. Sells said, in his talk, that students have actually come up to him with tears in their eyes to tell him that they had previously never had any idea what the Qur'an was like.Although this is not the entire translated Qur'an, this book will give you a far better idea of what the Qur'an means and what it sounds like and where it comes from than if you pick up a translation of the Qur'an (even one with footnotes) and try to read it and understand it cold. (Many of us get glassy-eyed around the second surah.) This book will give you a much better understanding of the Qur'an than a translation will because it not only explains the meaning of the Qur'anic text, its unique approach solves the problems that those of us who don't speak Arabic have in understanding its nature and its meaning.Michael Sells said that whenever he's in Damascus, he sits on his rooftop at night and listens to the chanting of love poems drifing toward him from other rooftops, from all directions. Some of that chanting is because Arabic love poems have been around for millennia. But some of that chanting is practicing for the chanting of the poetry of the Qur'an.That's what Michael Sells has tried to capture in "Approaching the Qu'ran."

Both non-Muslims and the large non-Arabic-speaking Muslim popluation for whom English is a second language can be deeply thankful for this book, in which Michael Sells literally does lead the reader to "approach" the Qur'an -- to get as close as can be in translation and without the linguistic and cultural context of a Muslim society -- first by being pointed to the mystical, early, short suras that were the first revealed to Mohammed; and then by being offered the best English translation ever of these chapters. Many of these remain deeply lyrical in English, thanks to Sells's readiness to stay close to the Arabic meaning and cadence. Sells explains the subtlety of the Qur'an's Arabic and shows the inadequacy, for example, of the male or female pronoun to translate the Qur'anic "hiya" that is "all peace, until the rising of the dawn" in the Surat al-Qadr (Chapter of Power). Best of all, one can actually hear the words of the Qur'an chanted by some of the best muezzins of the Muslim world, thanks to a CD included with the book. Sells writes of Islam with deep respect and love for both its spiritual basis and its incomparable language.Muslim friends to whom I have read from these translations have been deeply moved by the sincerity and the success of Sells's project, and I imagine this book being given by many Muslims in the West to their Christian and Jewish friends.Now is certainly the time for this book, as we all struggle to understand each other's faith and practices.