The Free-minds Translation of The Quran - Questions about the authors
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Hey I am not trying to be troublesome! It is certainly not my intention to create any kind of bad feelings. I am sorry if I have done so unintentionally.
Peace Student,
In regard to your questions. Layth is a native Arabic Speaker. And his translation is one of the best available in my opinion. I don't know arabic but if you go to www.studyquran.org it can give you alot of dictionaries/lexicons of Arabic root words etc. There are also some books available from amazon.com that are very useful.Dictionary of the holy Qur'an by Abdul Mannan Omar is one good book.
There are word-for-word translations available as well and although they do not flow as well they are useful if you want to find out more background on certain words etc.Welcome to the site btw welcome
Al
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Peace Student,
Are you the Layth that is one of the authors mentioned above? If so, it is my honor and pleasure to be in contact with you. It is really an amazing ability you have to be able to read the Quran in its original language and be able to understand its powerfully precise articulations.
Thank you for your kind words...It is I who is honored to be able to speak with you and other believers in God.
When you say you are a native Arabic speaker, do you mean Arabic was your first language? Were born in raised in an Arabic speaking country? If so, which country, and how long did you live in that country? If English is not your first language, may I add that your English is very good - I am impressed
Yes, I am a native. But I would say that Arabic and English are both my first language as I spend an equal time using both.
I live in the Middle East.
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Peace,
Actually we have two translations.
One is
The Messagewhich is a pure translation with no footnotes or appendixes. The other isThe Reformist Translationwhich includes explanations and appendixes.I had a question about the authors. I was wondering what was the extent of their education with regards to the Arabic Language? Where did they goto school, and how many years?
For myself, I am a native Arabic speaker. However, I would say that in the translation of the Quran, there was much cross referencing done within the Quran itself to find the most
accuratemeaning.And, at the end of the day, it is God who guides (or not) a person to understand His message - language is merely a facilitator.
Hi Layth, I couldn't help noticing some discrepancies in the translations which do seem to alter the meaning somewhat. To take the controversial 424 -
The 'Reformist Translation' goes "The women already married, except those whom you have contractual rights"
The Message "And the independent from the women, except those committed to you by oath"
Did you work on both these translations, and if so, is there a reason for this difference? Am I just naive, or is being married the opposite of being independent?
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Peace,
Hi Layth, I couldn't help noticing some discrepancies in the translations which do seem to alter the meaning somewhat. To take the controversial 424 -
The 'Reformist Translation' goes "The women already married, except those whom you have contractual rights"
The Message "And the independent from the women, except those committed to you by oath"
Did you work on both these translations, and if so, is there a reason for this difference? Am I just naive, or is being married the opposite of being independent?
I worked primarily on The Message.
I understand why translators chose
marriedfor 424 as that is closer in their minds to a category that is forbidden. -
Peace,
And how is "the independent women" close to the category that is forbidden?
Because a woman may become independant from her family by virtue of marriage (be she married, divorced, or widowed). Therefore, if she is married, then she is off limits unless she is married to the person adressed (ma malakat aymanukum).
