The Qur'an: A New Translation

Rating:
Summary: SIMPLY BRILLIANT! No other translation compares!
Review: For those that read 'The Essential Koran' and wished Thomas Cleary would translate the entire Qur'an, it has taken him 10 years but he has done it! The beauty and subtlety of the Arabic original shines through in this amazing book. It is extremely easy to read and understand. I highly recommend this translation over any other to anyone wanting to read the sacred book of Islam.

Rating:
Summary: Almost there....
Review: I would say that this is one of the better translations of the Qur'an for modern readers. The reason I did not give it 5 stars is because 1) There is no tafsir whatsoever, and 2) Cleary's dislike of the pronouns He, We, I, when used by God results in a sometimes redundant and silly-sounding translation: "God commands such and such for you because God knows what you do not know so believe in God, says God, etc...". That is not from the Qur'an, but you can understand what I'm getting at.

Until they do another edition with some tafsir, better word choices in some places and a hardback printing, I will leave my review at 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, poetic translation
Review: Thomas Cleary has done a remarkable job of translating the Qur'an and retaining its lyrical sense. Although no translation can compare to the power and poetry of the original in Arabic, Cleary's effort is one of those that comes close. The one major flaw in this edition is the lack of commentary to place the verses in context. The Qur'an is not linear and jumps back and forth in time and space, which can be confusing to readers unfamiliar with its references. But still a commendable job and a fine translation!

The reviewer from Morocco below who writes a massive diatribe against the Qur'an, and faith in God in general, is clearly a frustrated pseudo-intellectual who thinks he can explain away the wonder and power of faith through a rambling dissertation on cognitive psychology. Considering he has posted EXACTLY the same review, word for word, about every edition of the Qur'an available on Amazon, it is apparent that he is not interested in reviewing individual works, just spewing emotional bile disguised as scholarship.