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.

6:70
وَذَرِ ٱلَّذِینَ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ دِینَهُمۡ لَعِبࣰا وَلَهۡوࣰا وَغَرَّتۡهُمُ ٱلۡحَیَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡیَاۚ وَذَكِّرۡ بِهِۦۤ أَن تُبۡسَلَ نَفۡسُۢ بِمَا كَسَبَتۡ لَیۡسَ لَهَا مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِیࣱّ وَلَا شَفِیعࣱ وَإِن تَعۡدِلۡ كُلَّ عَدۡلࣲ لَّا یُؤۡخَذۡ مِنۡهَاۤۗ أُو۟لَـٰۤىِٕكَ ٱلَّذِینَ أُبۡسِلُوا۟ بِمَا كَسَبُوا۟ۖ لَهُمۡ شَرَابࣱ مِّنۡ حَمِیمࣲ وَعَذَابٌ أَلِیمُۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ یَكۡفُرُونَ ۝٧٠
Abdel Haleem
Leave to themselves those who take their religion for a mere game and distraction and are deceived by the life of this world, but continue to remind them with the [Quran], lest any soul be damned by what it has done- it will have no one to protect it from God and no one to intercede; whatever ransom it may offer will not be accepted. Such are those who are damned by their own actions: they will have boil-ing water to drink and a painful punishment, because they used to defy [God]
wadhari alladhīna ittakhadhū dīnahum laʿiban walahwan wagharrathumu l-ḥayatu l-dun'yā wadhakkir bihi an tub'sala nafsun bimā kasabat laysa lahā min dūni l-lahi waliyyun walā shafīʿun wa-in taʿdil kulla ʿadlin lā yu'khadh min'hā ulāika alladhīna ub'silū bimā kasabū lahum sharābun min ḥamīmin waʿadhābun alīmun bimā kānū yakfurūn
6:91
وَمَا قَدَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدۡرِهِۦۤ إِذۡ قَالُوا۟ مَاۤ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ بَشَرࣲ مِّن شَیۡءࣲۗ قُلۡ مَنۡ أَنزَلَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ ٱلَّذِی جَاۤءَ بِهِۦ مُوسَىٰ نُورࣰا وَهُدࣰى لِّلنَّاسِۖ تَجۡعَلُونَهُۥ قَرَاطِیسَ تُبۡدُونَهَا وَتُخۡفُونَ كَثِیرࣰاۖ وَعُلِّمۡتُم مَّا لَمۡ تَعۡلَمُوۤا۟ أَنتُمۡ وَلَاۤ ءَابَاۤؤُكُمۡۖ قُلِ ٱللَّهُۖ ثُمَّ ذَرۡهُمۡ فِی خَوۡضِهِمۡ یَلۡعَبُونَ ۝٩١
Abdel Haleem
They have no grasp of God’s true measure when they say, ‘God has sent nothing down to a mere mortal.’ Say, ‘Who was it who sent down the Scripture, which Moses brought as a light and a guide to people, which you made into separate sheets, showing some but hiding many? You were taught things that neither you nor your forefathers had known.’ Say, ‘God [sent it down],’ then leave them engrossed in their vain talk
wamā qadarū l-laha ḥaqqa qadrihi idh qālū mā anzala l-lahu ʿalā basharin min shayin qul man anzala l-kitāba alladhī jāa bihi mūsā nūran wahudan lilnnāsi tajʿalūnahu qarāṭīsa tub'dūnahā watukh'fūna kathīran waʿullim'tum mā lam taʿlamū antum walā ābāukum quli l-lahu thumma dharhum fī khawḍihim yalʿabūn
6:93
وَمَنۡ أَظۡلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفۡتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوۡ قَالَ أُوحِیَ إِلَیَّ وَلَمۡ یُوحَ إِلَیۡهِ شَیۡءࣱ وَمَن قَالَ سَأُنزِلُ مِثۡلَ مَاۤ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُۗ وَلَوۡ تَرَىٰۤ إِذِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ فِی غَمَرَ ٰتِ ٱلۡمَوۡتِ وَٱلۡمَلَـٰۤىِٕكَةُ بَاسِطُوۤا۟ أَیۡدِیهِمۡ أَخۡرِجُوۤا۟ أَنفُسَكُمُۖ ٱلۡیَوۡمَ تُجۡزَوۡنَ عَذَابَ ٱلۡهُونِ بِمَا كُنتُمۡ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ غَیۡرَ ٱلۡحَقِّ وَكُنتُمۡ عَنۡ ءَایَـٰتِهِۦ تَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ ۝٩٣
Abdel Haleem
Who could be more wicked than someone who invents a lie against God, or claims, ‘A revelation has come to me,’ when no revelation has been sent to him, or says, ‘I too can reveal something equal to God’s revelation’? If you could only see the wicked in their death agonies, as the angels stretch out their hands [to them], saying, ‘Give up your souls. Today you will be repaid with a humiliating punishment for saying false things about God and for arrogantly rejecting His revelations.’
waman aẓlamu mimmani if'tarā ʿalā l-lahi kadhiban aw qāla ūḥiya ilayya walam yūḥa ilayhi shayon waman qāla sa-unzilu mith'la mā anzala l-lahu walaw tarā idhi l-ẓālimūna fī ghamarāti l-mawti wal-malāikatu bāsiṭū aydīhim akhrijū anfusakumu l-yawma tuj'zawna ʿadhāba l-hūni bimā kuntum taqūlūna ʿalā l-lahi ghayra l-ḥaqi wakuntum ʿan āyātihi tastakbirūn
6:99
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِیۤ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَاۤءِ مَاۤءࣰ فَأَخۡرَجۡنَا بِهِۦ نَبَاتَ كُلِّ شَیۡءࣲ فَأَخۡرَجۡنَا مِنۡهُ خَضِرࣰا نُّخۡرِجُ مِنۡهُ حَبࣰّا مُّتَرَاكِبࣰا وَمِنَ ٱلنَّخۡلِ مِن طَلۡعِهَا قِنۡوَانࣱ دَانِیَةࣱ وَجَنَّـٰتࣲ مِّنۡ أَعۡنَابࣲ وَٱلزَّیۡتُونَ وَٱلرُّمَّانَ مُشۡتَبِهࣰا وَغَیۡرَ مُتَشَـٰبِهٍۗ ٱنظُرُوۤا۟ إِلَىٰ ثَمَرِهِۦۤ إِذَاۤ أَثۡمَرَ وَیَنۡعِهِۦۤۚ إِنَّ فِی ذَ ٰلِكُمۡ لَءَایَـٰتࣲ لِّقَوۡمࣲ یُؤۡمِنُونَ ۝٩٩
Abdel Haleem
It is He who sends down water from the sky. With it We produce the shoots of each plant, then bring greenery from it, and from that We bring out grains, one riding on the other in close-packed rows. From the date palm come clusters of low-hanging dates, and there are gardens of vines, olives, and pomegranates, alike yet different. Watch their fruits as they grow and ripen! In all this there are signs for those who would believe
wahuwa alladhī anzala mina l-samāi māan fa-akhrajnā bihi nabāta kulli shayin fa-akhrajnā min'hu khaḍiran nukh'riju min'hu ḥabban mutarākiban wamina l-nakhli min ṭalʿihā qin'wānun dāniyatun wajannātin min aʿnābin wal-zaytūna wal-rumāna mush'tabihan waghayra mutashābihin unẓurū ilā thamarihi idhā athmara wayanʿihi inna fī dhālikum laāyātin liqawmin yu'minūn
6:151
۞ قُلۡ تَعَالَوۡا۟ أَتۡلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمۡ عَلَیۡكُمۡۖ أَلَّا تُشۡرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَیۡءࣰاۖ وَبِٱلۡوَ ٰلِدَیۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنࣰاۖ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوۤا۟ أَوۡلَـٰدَكُم مِّنۡ إِمۡلَـٰقࣲ نَّحۡنُ نَرۡزُقُكُمۡ وَإِیَّاهُمۡۖ وَلَا تَقۡرَبُوا۟ ٱلۡفَوَ ٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنۡهَا وَمَا بَطَنَۖ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوا۟ ٱلنَّفۡسَ ٱلَّتِی حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ ذَ ٰلِكُمۡ وَصَّىٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ ۝١٥١
Abdel Haleem
Say, ‘Come! I will tell you what your Lord has really forbidden you. Do not ascribe anything as a partner to Him; be good to your parents; do not kill your children in fear of poverty’- We will provide for you and for them- ‘ stay well away from committing obscenities, whether openly or in secret; do not take the life God has made sacred, except by right. This is what He commands you to do: perhaps you will use your reason
qul taʿālaw atlu mā ḥarrama rabbukum ʿalaykum allā tush'rikū bihi shayan wabil-wālidayni iḥ'sānan walā taqtulū awlādakum min im'lāqin naḥnu narzuqukum wa-iyyāhum walā taqrabū l-fawāḥisha mā ẓahara min'hā wamā baṭana walā taqtulū l-nafsa allatī ḥarrama l-lahu illā bil-ḥaqi dhālikum waṣṣākum bihi laʿallakum taʿqilūn