For millions of Muslims, the Qur'an is sacred only in Arabic, the original Arabic in which it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century; to many Arab and non-Arab believers alike, the book literally defies translation. Yet English translations exist and are growing, in both number and importance. Bruce Lawrence tells the remarkable story of the ongoing struggle to render the Qur'an's lyrical verses into English--and to make English itself an Islamic language.

Table of Contents

• ILLUSTRATIONS
• PREFACE
• Muhammad and Revelation
• The Orientalist Koran
• The South Asian Koran
• The Virtual Koran and Beyond
• The Koran Up Close
• The Politics of Koran Translation
• The Graphic Koran
• Conclusion
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• APPENDIX: THE Koran IN ENGLISH BY AUTHOR AND DATE