This is the main Qur'an version at sacred-texts. Because a completely accurate Unicode version of the Arabic Qur'an text is not yet available, the Arabic is presented as embedded graphics in the GIF format. To allow for viewing on slower systems, each Surah is broken down into traditional sections, which usually include about a dozen verses. Each verse is presented in Arabic along with a pronunciation guide, and The Yusuf Ali English text. The system used in the pronunciation guide can be viewed in this file. This text is hyperlinked with other English versions and transcriptions of the Qur'an at this site.
The Yusuf Ali English text is based on the 1938 book, The Holy Qur-an, Text, Translation and Commentary, (published in Lahore, Cairo and Riyadh). Some modifications have been made; in particular, where the term 'God' appears in the original book, 'Allah' has been substituted. This version is widely used because it is a clear, modern and eloquent translation by a well-respected Muslim scholar. The Surah titles used here are also those which were used in this book.
NOTICE. The English text presented here was free of copyright in the US until 1996, at which point it had a pro-forma copyrighted status created which will last until 2033. However in many countries, including its original country of publication, Pakistan, this text is currently in the public domain. Here's how this happened. Yusuf Ali died in 1952, and Pakistan (his country of residence) has copyright rules of life+50. So the Pakistan copyright expired in 2002. The Ali Qur'an English text was first published in the US in 1946, but was never registered or renewed, so it was never copyrighted in the US. The GATT copyright law granted US copyrights to works not in the public domain in the country of publication as of 1/1/1996, for a full term of 95 years from the date of original publication. This includes works that were never copyrighted in the US or whose US copyrights had already expired, in which category this work falls. We are sure that Yusuf Ali labored on this work so that the world could benefit from it, not to lock it up as someone's personal intellectual property. However, if anyone can establish that they are the copyright holder, we will promptly comply with their wishes.
