Introduction and Acknowledgements
Qur’an is the word of Almighty Allah. It was revealed in Arabic as mentioned in
“Thus We have sent down this Qur’an in Arabic and explained it fully---- in order that they may fear
Allah or it may produce a lesson for them. (Qur’an, 20:113). “He has sent down upon you that book in
truth --- as guidance for people (Qur’an, 3:2-3).
The Arabic language is a vast language specially the Qur’anic Arabic; and thus the difficulty of
Translating Qur’an in English or any language is increased many folds when one has to render with
any accuracy and precision, the verses of the Qur’an which are so rich in meaning, full of expression,
so vigorous in style and so subtle in their implication.
Some members of the Qur’an project team in Belfast have for many years been trying to use existing
translations to teach groups of Muslim women and children, and found difficulty in doing so because
of a mixed ability in the languages of Arabic, English and Urdu. This led inevitably to difficulties for
the tutor and students while trying to work together to understand the Qur’an. The Qur’an project
team then agreed to work on this undertaking to compile easy to understand translations of the
Qur’an put together into one document in English and Urdu which can be used all over the world,
although word to word translations are available separately but not combined into one volume.
There are several scholarly translations in English available but they are all in styles which not all
readers can appreciate fully. An attempt was thus made here to compile translations in a manner
which can be easily understood. A word to word translation of the Arabic is given in Urdu and
English underneath each Qur’anic Arabic word along with full descriptive translations in English and
Urdu. The Urdu descriptive (Salees) meaning is given underneath the word to word translations
while the English is given in the side column. Many well-known Qur’anic Arabic words are retained
and multiple equivalent words describing the meaning in English are given in brackets.
The Qur’an was revealed in a style often quoted as “the Eternal Present Time”. It is thus beyond the
scope of most grammar of modern languages.
Those who were involved in this project have been utterly humbled by the opportunity given to
them by Allah to take part in this project. It has not only given them an interest in reading but also in
understanding the meaning of the Holy Qur’an.
We particularly thank the following people for their assistance which was all provided on a voluntary
basis:
Selection and compilation of English translations
 Dr Mazhar Mohammed Khan
Typing of word to word English translation

Mrs Nazneen Raza, Dr Shahid, Dr SaleemTareen, Dr Saira Tareen, Assad Raza, Frina Sabir,
Aminah Amjad, Tasleem Bilal, Gulnaz Amjad, Nabeela Yasin, Ammar Mustafa Lateef,
Shaistah Lateef, Abdul Azeem Lateef, Sheema Khan, Reema Khan, Mustafa Zaidi, Noor and
Seerat Zaidi,
Proof reading
 Mrs Gulnaz Amjad, Dr Jaweed Wali , Dr Mazhar M Khan,
Compilation and layout:- Since this project involved compilation from a number of translations
which we wanted to present on page by page for ease of use; it was thus a difficult IT task to work
with different sizes of scanned text, images and translations from a number of original sources in
order to achieve this objective. You may find when using this document that the word to word
translation (in boxes) may not always be wholly underneath the Arabic word, however we
attempted in all cases to get as close as possible with the layout limitations to match them directly.
Inshallah, we will attempt further and continuous improvement to the layout in the future.
Acknowledgments for this onerous task are due to; Gabrielle Doherty and Mrs A S Khan.
Mrs A S Khan was also the overall project organiser.
This is just a humble effort and for those seeking in depth knowledge it is advised that they should
read a range of Tafaseer available in both English and Urdu.
We have taken benefit from the following English, Urdu translations:
1. Dr Mohsin Khan and Dr M.T. Al-Hilali; Interpretation of the Meanings of Holy Qur’an.
2. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani; The Meaning of the Noble Qur’an.
3. Abul Ala Mawdoodi’s Meaning of The Quran, English version of the Tafhimul Qur’an, by Dr
Zafar Ishaque Ansari.
4. Abdullah Yousuf Ali; The meaning of the Holy Qur’an.
5. The Qur’an; A new translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
6. The Qur’an; Saheeh International Translation: The Qur’an Project.
7. Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley; The Noble Qur’an; A new rendering of its meaning in English.
8. Abdul Majid Daryabadi; The Glorious Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary.
9. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthal; The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an.
10. Muhammad Asad; The Message of the Qur’an.
11. Hafiz Nazar Ahmed; Easy Translation Qur’an Majeed in Urdu (word to word Urdu translation
followed by Urdu Salees descriptive underneath).
(The highlighted translations above extensively reviewed and their translations were often adopted)
We thank and praise Allah for enabling us to complete this undertaking and we seek His forgiveness
for any shortcoming in this endeavour. We also kindly request that all the readers of this Qur’an,
remember all the members of the team who have worked on this project in their prayers. We also
ask Allah Subhanaho Taala to accept our effort. We also pray for the Peace and Blessings be upon
our Prophet and Messenger and his family and his companions.
Wa Qul Rabbi Zidni Ilma [Say: O’ Lord increase my knowledge (20:114)]
Best wishes, from Qur’an Project Team