Changes

==Translation==

==Translation==

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in what the Angel said was "clear Arabic."  This has come to mean (for many reasons) that Arabic is the most beautiful language of all.  The Qur'an also contains a challenge: if you do not believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, try to make something just as beautiful and good as it!  This is the doctrine of inimitability (no copy can be made), or "i'jaz."  These two doctrines, along with the inherent difficulty of translation (compounded by the fact that Arabic is not a Germanic nor Romance language), severely limit the value of translations of the Qur'an.  In other words, the only Qur'an is the Arabic Qur'an.  English versions of the Qur'an are regarded as commentaries.   

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in what the Angel said was "clear Arabic."  This has come to mean (for many reasons) that Arabic is the most beautiful language of all.  The Qur'an also contains a challenge: if you do not believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, try to make something just as beautiful and good as it!  This is the doctrine of inimitability (no copy can be made), or "i'jaz."  These two doctrines, along with the inherent difficulty of translation (compounded by the fact that Arabic is not a Germanic nor Romance language), severely limit the value of translations of the Qur'an.  In other words, the only Qur'an is the Arabic Qur'an.  English versions of the Qur'an are regarded as commentaries.   

Two of the most famous and widely-read English translations of the Qur'an are those by A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall.

Two of the most famous and widely-read English translations of the Qur'an are those by A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall.