Marmaduke Pickthall
(Mohammed) Marmaduke William Pickthall, (
1875â€"
May 19,
1936), was a Western Islamic
scholar, noted as a poetic and accurate translator of the
Qur'an into
English. A convert from
Christianity to
Islam, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by
D.H. Lawrence,
H.G. Wells, and
E.M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and religious
leader.
Educated at
Harrow, he was born into a comfortable middle class English family, whose roots trace back to a knight of
William the Conqueror, Pickthall travelled across many Eastern countries, gaining reputation as Middle-Eastern scholar. A strong advocate of the
Ottoman Empire, Pickthall studied the
Orient, published articles and novels on the subject, e.g.
The meaning of the Holy Qur'an. While under the service of the
Nizam of Hyderabad, Pickthall published his translation of the
Qur'an, becoming the first English translation done by a believer and authorized by the
Al-Azhar University, referred to by the
Times Literary Supplement as
"a great literary achievement."
Pickthall was buried in the Muslim cemetery at
Brookwood. His legacy is of particular interest to the converts to Islam.
*
The Meaning of the Glorious Koran*
Abdullah Yusuf Ali*
Islamic scholar*
A biography of Marmaduke William Pickthall*
The English translation of the Qur'an by Marmaduke William Pickthall*http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/History/Personalities/Content/Umar.htm
*
Free ebook of Marmaduke Pickthall at
Project Gutenberg
