This text examines the literary elements in the Qur'an and analyses how they function in conveying its religious message effectively.

This volume studies how the literary elements in the Qur'an function in conveying its religious message effectively. It is divided into three parts. Part one includes studies of the whole Qur'an or large segments of it belonging to one historical period of its revelation; these studies concentrate on the analysis of its language, its style, its structural composition, its aesthetic characteristics, its rhetorical devices, its imagery, and the impact of these elements and their significance. Part two includes studies on individual suras of the Qur'an, each of which focuses on the sura's literary elements and how they produce meaning; each also explores the structure of this meaning and the coherence of its effect. Part three includes studies on Muslim appreciations of the literary aspects of the Qur'an in past generations and shows how modern linguistic, semantic, semiotic, and literary scholarship can add to their contributions.

The Qur'an is the inimitable and direct Word of God. It was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over twenty-three years, who faithfully transmitted it to humanity in the seventh century. Since then the text and meaning of the Qur'an has been preserved, word for word, exactly as it was fourteen hundred years ago. It is a Book of Guidance for all mankind with a central message of God's Oneness. Yet, it has several layers of meaning and beauty that are easily lost in translation. This splendid translation, originally prepared in 1934, aimed to help readers understand the meaning of the Qur'an but also to appreciate its beauty and catch something of the grandeur of the Arabic. This is a compact and revised edition of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation of The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an in modern English. It contains the complete translation of the Qur'anic text and retains essential notes of Yusuf Ali's exhaustive commentary on the Qur'an, which enables the reader to gain a better understanding of its message and helps to reveal some of the inexhaustible depth of knowledge it contains. One of the most widely-used and known translations of the Qur'an into modern English, with 472 notes and an introduction. Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872–1953) was an Indian Islamic scholar. In 1938, Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an was published in Lahore. His translation of the Qur'an is one of the most widely-known and used in the English-speaking world. He died in 1953 in London, United Kingdom.

Stories about gendered social relations permeate the Qur'an, and nearly three hundred verses involve specific women or girls. The Qur'an features these figures in accounts of human origins, in stories of the founding and destruction of nations, in narratives of conquest, in episodes of romantic attraction, and in incidents of family devotion and strife. Overall, stories involving women and girls weave together theology and ethics to reinforce central Qur'anic ideas regarding submission to God and moral accountability. Celene Ibrahim explores the complex cast of female figures in the Qur'an, probing themes related to biological sex, female sexuality, female speech, and women in sacred history. Ibrahim considers major and minor figures referenced in the Qur'an, including those who appear in narratives of sacred history, in parables, in descriptions of the eternal abode, and in verses that allude to events contemporaneous with the advent of the Qur'an in Arabia. Ibrahim finds that the Qur'an regularly celebrates the aptitudes of women in the realms of spirituality and piety, in political maneuvering, and in safeguarding their own wellbeing; yet, women figures also occasionally falter and use their agency toward nefarious ends. Women and Gender in the Qur'an outlines how women and girls - old, young, barren, fertile, chaste, profligate, reproachable, and saintly -enter Qur'anic sacred history and advance the Qur'an's overarching didactic aims.

Approaching the Qur’an presents brilliant translations of the short, hymnic chapters, or Suras, associated with the first revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. These early Suras contain some of the most powerful, prophetic, and revelatory passages in religious history, offering the vision of a meaningful and just life that anchors the faith of one fifth of the world’s inhabitants. In addition to these translations, Michael Sells provides an introduction to the Qur’an, commentaries on the Suras, a glossary of technical terms, and discussions of the auditory nature and gender aspects of the Arabic text. An ideal resource for students and interested lay readers, this third edition also includes a new full Sura and associated commentary, a new preface, and a thoroughly updated bibliography.

The book proposes a critical methodology in Quranic studies based on human and social studies. It suggests that a rational rethinking of the Quran is a prerequisite for the liberation of Muslim societies from closed dogmatism.