Bridges’ Qur’an’s translation Status

Terms that have footnotes related to grammatical shifts or other explanations are written in the text in blue. 3- To denote whether a pronoun like “you” or an imperative verb like “say” is plural, dual or singular, the translators did not impose their understanding on the reader by adding text between brackets like (O Prophet) to denote singular form, or (O mankind) to denote plural form.  Terms that have footnotes related to the Qira’at’ are written in the text in red, and the related footnotes can be enabled or disabled from the settings. 2- It is the first translation that takes into consideration the Qur’anic phenomenon of grammatical shifts, whether in verb tenses, numbers or pronouns.  Likewise, imperative verbs such as “say” are expressed as saypl for a plural verb, saysg for a singular verb and saydl for a dual verb.  It must be noted that in the Qur’an most imperative verbs in the singular form are meant to address Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).  The translators focused not only on translating what God meant to say, but also on translating how He spoke. 1- It is the first translation which includes the ten Qira’at (modes of recitation).  For example: youpl is used for a plural pronoun, yousg for a singular pronoun and youdl for a dual pronoun.  Bridges’ translation was done with the aim of helping the non-Arabic reader in pondering the Qur’an (tadabbor).  Speaking about the Hereafter in past tense is a frequent feature of the Qur’an and this has been respected in this translation.  The translation presents around 30% of the variations of the Qira’at—those which affect the meaning and can therefore be demonstrated in translation.  Rather, this distinction was achieved by adding a superscript after nouns, pronouns and imperative verbs.  The main text is written in accordance with the most commonly used Qira’a: that of Asem, narrated by Hafs.  Bridges Foundation is an international organization specializing in introducing Islam to both Muslims and non-Muslims.  Variations from that are represented in footnotes.  These are a great source of pondering for the reader.  The rest are merely dialectical and cannot therefore be demonstrated in English.  A large team worked tirelessly for more than three years on this translation and their effort is deeply appreciated.