M. A. S. Abdel Haleem

1930 – · Egyptian / British · Translated to English

SOAS, University of London

Muhammad Abdel Haleem is an Egyptian-born British scholar of Islamic studies and Professor of Islamic Studies at SOAS, University of London, where he founded the Centre of Islamic Studies. His translation, The Qur'an: A New Translation (Oxford University Press, 2004), is noted for its accessible modern English prose and structural reorganisation into paragraph-based units.

46:15
وَوَصَّیۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ بِوَ ٰلِدَیۡهِ إِحۡسَـٰنًاۖ حَمَلَتۡهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرۡهࣰا وَوَضَعَتۡهُ كُرۡهࣰاۖ وَحَمۡلُهُۥ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ ثَلَـٰثُونَ شَهۡرًاۚ حَتَّىٰۤ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرۡبَعِینَ سَنَةࣰ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوۡزِعۡنِیۤ أَنۡ أَشۡكُرَ نِعۡمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِیۤ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَیَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَ ٰلِدَیَّ وَأَنۡ أَعۡمَلَ صَـٰلِحࣰا تَرۡضَىٰهُ وَأَصۡلِحۡ لِی فِی ذُرِّیَّتِیۤۖ إِنِّی تُبۡتُ إِلَیۡكَ وَإِنِّی مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِینَ ۝١٥
Abdel Haleem
We have commanded man to be good to his parents: his mother struggled to carry him and struggled to give birth to him- his bearing and weaning took a full thirty months. When he has grown to manhood and reached the age of forty he [may] say, ‘Lord, help me to be truly grateful for Your favours to me and to my parents; help me to do good work that pleases You; make my offspring good. I turn to You; I am one of those who devote themselves to You.’
wawaṣṣaynā l-insāna biwālidayhi iḥ'sānan ḥamalathu ummuhu kur'han wawaḍaʿathu kur'han waḥamluhu wafiṣāluhu thalāthūna shahran ḥattā idhā balagha ashuddahu wabalagha arbaʿīna sanatan qāla rabbi awziʿ'nī an ashkura niʿ'mataka allatī anʿamta ʿalayya waʿalā wālidayya wa-an aʿmala ṣāliḥan tarḍāhu wa-aṣliḥ lī fī dhurriyyatī innī tub'tu ilayka wa-innī mina l-mus'limīn