The Quran Beheld is a new english translation of the Quran by Nuh Ha Mim Keller

About The Book

This work solves an enigma that has puzzled many readers first coming to Islam through English translations of the Quran. The Arabic original stunned hearers in their own language with its unutterable evocative power, incisive arguments, the sharp relief of its contrasts, striking imagery, and precise detail. Most translations stun few. They seem somehow out of focus, vague, the thread of discourse is often inexplicably lost, and they are seldom moving or powerful.

The present work is called The Quran Beheld because its translator found that the classical Islamic curriculum for learning the Quranic sciences lifts the veil from the divine masterpiece like stepping from a dark and silent house into a lively spring day outside. Everything changes.

A preface outlines the Quran’s continued relevance for readers today. An introduction describes the time-honored Quranic teaching paradigm and interpretive method of talaqqi, ‘one-on-one instruction,’ by which the translator studied the Quran with a traditional scholar in Jordan during the fifteen years of the work.

The two went word by word through the Quran together twice, in the light of its greatest exegetes, the Imams of Quranic exegesis or tafsir, which literally means ‘uncovering’—men such as Tabari, Zamakhshari, Abu Su‘ud, Ibn ‘Ashur, Biqa‘i, Razi, Alusi, and others.

The introduction explains seven key areas of meaning, ubiquitous throughout the Quran, not incorporated by any previous translation. Such gaps have prevented serious apprehension of many of the themes, logic, and arguments that carry the message of the Quran’s suras forward. Readers may judge for themselves how much this matters.

The English of the translation faces the Arabic original, and is preceded by a section setting forth the main themes of the Quran, sura by sura.

About The Author

Shaykh NUH HA MIM KELLER was born in eastern Washington State in 1954. He read philosophy at Gonzaga University, the University of Chicago, and UCLA, entered Islam in 1977 at al-Azhar in Cairo, and moved to Jordan in 1980.

A scholar of traditional Islamic sciences who studied with sheikhs in Jordan and Syria, he has produced such works as Reliance of the Traveller, Sea Without Shore, and the Chain of Gold edition of Dala’il al-Khayrat. He is a senior fellow at the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought.

Reviews from Amazon

“This is a well-crafted and methodical translation that conserves to the extent humanly possible poetical effect and linguistic precision all at once.” - Wael B. Hallaq, Columbia University

“The Quran Beheld is the first reliable plenary translation of the Quran into English.” - Kevin A. Reinhart, Dartmouth College.

“Absolutely the best translation I have encountered.” - Kenneth Honerkamp, University of Georgia

“Keller’s new translation is clear and accurate, the result of mastery and patience.“ - Jonathan AC Brown, Georgetown University

The Quran Beheld is the most definitive and accurate translation of the Quran ever produced. Unlike other translations that fail to capture the profound beauty and eloquence of the Arabic original, The Quran Beheld presents the timeless message in a way that is accessible to readers of all backgrounds. Over two decades in the making, Sheikh Nuh Keller's extensive study of Tafsir (exegesis) and Balagha (rhetoric) has uncovered layers of meaning and subtlety in the Quran that were previously inaccessible to English-speaking readers. Every single word of the Quran was examined more than twice, in light of the commentaries by the greatest scholars of the Quran. The result is an entirely new encounter with the Revelation that allows readers to experience the Quran's message like never before. Not only does this landmark translation offer unparalleled accuracy and readability, but it also includes unique features that make it the perfect daily An index for readers to discover subjects in the Quran such as gratitude, hope, parenthood, depression, and more; "Themes of Surah's" provide a short summary of each surah, highlighting the unity of the Quran's message; Biographies of famous Islamic scholars, providing a window into their lives, works, and historical significance. Experience the Quran's message like never before with The Quran Beheld – a translation that will help you understand Allah's message to mankind.

Dr Sohaib Saeed reviews the latest Quran translation to reach the English-speaking market, and one which represents a step forward in attention to detail (from tafsir works) and transparency based on collaboration. The review includes a close look at the translation of Surat Yusuf (Q 12).

And until now, I would have said that the Clear Qur'an (with Arabic-English text) was my favorite Qur'an. But this is by far my favorite translation of them all. I am the first person to tell people to learn Arabic and not to rely 100% on translations. But, there is something about this translation I really like. The wording is very descriptive, so much so that it helps create an image in the mind of the reader. I also love the large Arabic print. When I do read the Qur'an I mostly read it in Arabic, but I also enjoy looking over to the left side of the book to see how the translator's word choices when translating the text. Every time I look to the left in this book I am blown away. Even though I can translate what I am reading myself, I do not possess anywhere near the level of eloquence found in this translation.

The overall quality of the book is also something to Behold. It looks and feels very premium and sturdy. Not a book that will easily fall apart after a few years. The print is nice and crisp on the page. Even someone with vision problems may find this easily readable. It includes a tassel to bookmark where you leave off. The Book is a bit big and bulky, so not ideal for travel. But for reading at home its perfect. This Qur'an translation is pricey, but I believe it is worth it. - V. A.

I have been searching for a decent English translation of the Quran for years. I found other translations either stilted, florid, or too colloquial. The Quran Beheld strikes the perfect balance, perhaps because it represents the confluence of three major events. For the first time in history:

• A highly literary native English speaker from the West with a superb command of the Arabic language who is a traditional master of a major spiritual tariqa and has studied the traditional Islamic sciences for over three decades while living in the Muslim heartlands, Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller; and,
• One of the leading tafsir scholars in the world, with an encyclopedic memory of numerous classical Quranic exegeses, Sheikh Ali Hani;
• Sat together one-on-one for 17 years and carefully reviewed the Quran line-by-line three times.

This translation is the result.

It might be enough to say that it goes beyond a Pickthall, Arberry, or Yusuf Ali. But that would fall short of the reality. This translation not only brings to the English speaking audience some of the inimitable power and pace of the original Arabic, but it also corrects the basic mistranslations of previous attempts.

Translation aside, the book itself is impressive:

• Over 1,400 pages of perfect opacity;
• A beautifully embossed cover plate;
• Dual page-marking ribbons for ease of reference;
• A 23 page introduction covering major areas of grammar that would delight any Arabist;
• Introductions to every chapter;
• Facing Arabic text in the original Uthman Taha calligraphy for recitation;
• A 60 page subject index more detailed than any extant Quranic translation; and,
• Detailed biographical sketches of all the imams mentioned in the introduction.

As I sit hear holding it in my hands, I cannot praise this beautiful book enough, a blessing for the English-speaking world. It would be an understatement to say that it is now the standard by which all other Quran translations will be judged, truly historic in a world where everything has changed—every person, place, and thing—except the Quran, still the same 1,400 years after it was revealed to all mankind. - Ahmed Aly Howeedy

This is the absolute best translation, and more importantly the most accurate that you can find. This is the work of a master in Quranic exegesis and Arabic and a master of English language and translation combined. I no longer have to wonder whether the translation of a particular verse is accurate, watered down, oversimplified or the so many other ways translations can go wrong. I thoroughly enjoy the vivid details and elaborate depictions that you would need some mastery of Arabic to know otherwise but are usually translated as briefly as possible in other translations. I find myself opening the Quran Beheld whenever I wonder what a specific verse truly means and know that it also means an edification of my English language skills as you will need a dictionary sometimes. The effort, skill, mastery, and patience this work required cannot be appreciated enough. Read the introduction if you want to know the monumental effort that went into producing this work. - Rehan Rashid

Just got to say this is the best English language translation ever. Its a difficult task to translate this sublime text but the many people who worked on this have produced a clear, flowing, poetic rendering and as close to the original arabic as we are ever likely to have. bless the beautiful people who undertook this magnificent translation. The binding and quality is absolutely top class as well. Really durable and finely printed and bound. Another important aspect for me is that Allah is always referred to as Allah and the 99 names (and not translated as simply "God", i find that unnecessary translation by other people so irritating personally). This has become my favourite qu'ran of the several English translations available. I LOVE IT ! - Jamal al Din

Sheikh Nuh Keller’s Reliance of the Traveler has been unarguably the best translation of an Islamic jurisprudence text in the English language for over thirty years. It served as a catalyst to highlight the importance of seeking traditional, qualitied Islamic knowledge and inspired the likes of Imam Zaid Shakir (Making of a Muslim, 2000) and Sheikh Gibril Haddad (Gibril Haddad, Wikipedia) - and his Quran Beheld will surpass this, Allah willing. The Quran Beheld is the crystallization of almost 40 years of experience in translation, 26 years as a sheikh in the science of tasawwuf (classical sufism), 17 years of intense study of the Quran, and decades of access to the latest resources and technology (compared to the Reliance of the Traveler which was first composed on a typewriter!)

His translation is monumental due to the 'talaqqi' (one-on-one instruction) method employed during the 17 years of his work. He sat with a traditional sheikh in the field of 'tafsir' (Qur’anic exegesis) and synthesized 19 of its major works into his translation. Every single “word, letter, preposition, inflection, and case-ending” was considered (Quran Beheld, p.xii). - Shahid C.

Upon holding this beautiful production, one can immediately see the labor of love, years of meticulous research and immense effort that has gone in to this remarkable and lucid translation by Sheikh Nuh Keller.

It is a known fact about the copious Quran Translalations that we currently have, that they either struggle to encapsulate the essence and the eloquence of the original Arabic, are riddled with ideological issues such as one would find in the Study Qur’an or else the translators themselves don’t have a good grasp of either English (Malik et al) or Arabic (Cleary). This has led to numerous misunderstandings by Muslims and non Muslims alike.

As the description clearly states, the author studied with a master of the Quranic sciences for over 17+ years going through verse by verse, asking questions and then using his profound knowledge of his native English to render each verse in a way that would capture the essence of the ‘balagha’ (eloquence) of the native language of the Quran. One can see examples of this in numerous verses that have been translated in a way that I’ve not seen in any other translation. An example of this is seen in the very first chapter of the Qur’an (Al-Fatihah) wherein the translation for ‘na’budu’ has almost always been rendered with a rote, formulaic translation of ‘You alone do we worship.’ Sheikh Nuh Keller has instead brought out the essence of worship whilst remaining true to the English etymology by translating this verse ‘You alone we humbly adore.’ Adoration according to the original meaning of the word found in the Merriam Webster dictionary is a synonym for worship of the Divine. There are countless examples like this which have truly helped one in understanding and appreciating the Divine writ of Islam and for that we can only praise Sheikh Nuh for his tremendous effort in opening the door for English speakers in having colloquy with the Divine as the Qur’an encourages it’s readers to do.

It would also behove one to mention that in our times, reading skills are not what they might have been some years ago. I would posit that negative reviews of this work tend to be indicative of something else.

Anglophone Muslims have become accustomed to reading Islamic publications of a mediocre literary quality. Poor and basic English dominates the Muslim book market.

In this case, one encounters a text/translation exhibiting the highest literary quality to the point of being poetic in its form. One response has been to appreciate this and learn from it, understanding the Quran more deeply than ever before. Another response is to say, after spending only one day or less, with the translation, that it is complex and tedious, because the reader assumes that they have a supreme command of English. Some novice reviews tend more often than not to fit into the latter category.

These reviews also highlight a deep misunderstanding of the Quran. The Quran has special grammatical structures and complexities. It displays subtle shifts in syntax. It employs sudden digressions (iltifat). A translation can’t ignore this. It has to reflect this variation, subtlety, and depth.

Some readers aren’t seeking such depth when they read the Quran in English. This is partly due to decades of modernist propaganda that the Quran is easy and can be understood by oneself. It is like any other book. You can just pick it up and quickly understand it without much reflection or thought. It doesn’t require expert analysis. For such readers, translations should be basic, flat, and dry and for that by all means, one can pick up any translation and think they’re benefitting. We wish them well in that endeavor but for those of us who want some of the essence, something more profound and deep, this is the translation I would recommend without hesitation.

It will take time for a classic like this to grow on some readers and I truly believe that like fine art that isn’t necessarily appreciated in the time of the artist, it dawns on those in posterity what an incredible work has been produced. ‘The Quran Beheld’ will in due course, fall in to the category of fine literary art. - Tayyeb Shah

Another Review by Zahir Bacchus

Interview of Nuh Keller

<< Quran Beheld Website >>

The author, Sheikh Nuh Keller, reads the introduction from The Quran Beheld. Click on the links below to play the audio files << Philosophy and interpretation method of the Translation used