Fascinating!

A copy of the Quran in English, from the year 1734! One of the very first editions that was made available to the English speaking public almost 300 years ago!

Take a look… obviously, English spelling was a little different back then, the year of print was in Roman numerals, so I used a converter to change it to modern numbers…

Fascinating! The translator in question was a man called George Sale. I did a little research on the man, and according to Wikipedia, “George Sale (1697–1736) was a British Orientalist scholar and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Quran into English.”

What shocked me is that he seemed to have viewed Prophet Muhammed, صلى الله عليه وسلم , as a “sublime charlatan”, a pretender. My first reaction was… why would he then put down effort to turn the message of the Quran into English for the general European population to understand? I have compared his edition with other, more modern translations, and it is similar to them. In fact, from what I’ve seen, Sale’s version is still printed and sold, (with updated English spelling), to this very day. In that sense, it is an instrument for spreading the message, across language barriers. He was among the first to do so, and thus actually acted on behalf of Islam, not against it. May Allah reward him with forgiveness for this, because although he held mentioned views (at least publically), he also seem to have had a certain respect for the Prophet, for his struggles to get rid of idolatry and the focus on one God. You can read the full article on George Sale here.

There is another issue regarding this 300 year old version of the Quran, that works as an indication that the message is of divine origin. But it is something I will discuss further in the next update inshallah. For now, I will leave you with a link where you can find this edition, in case you want to read it directly online or download it yourself. The 300 year old Quran is available right here.

Peace and happiness to you all, and stay faithful.