Javed Ahmad Ghamidi’s translation of the Quran is a cohesive and continuous rendering elucidating the coherence in the text of the Holy Quran. With exegetical annotations, it has been presented under the title “Al-Bayan” and as a standalone translation under the name “Al-Quran Al-Kareem”. It has been molded into the English framework by Dr. Shehzad Saleem. This translation is a result of following the principles of exegesis as established by Allama Hamiduddin Farahi, synthesizing discussions from Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi’s exegesis “Tadabbur-i-Quran”, and Ghamidi’s own understanding of the Quran.
Generally, except for a few translations, the unfamiliar words and expressions typically used in the Urdu translations of the Holy Quran do not assist the reader in understanding the Quran. The lack of clear connections between the verses of the Holy Quran often creates confusion regarding the change in the direction of the address; whether the discussion is on the same topic or has transitioned to a new one unexpectedly. This puts the reader in a dilemma.
Ghamidi’s translation is in conventional idiomatic Urdu language. It vividly establishes the fact that the Holy Quran is an interconnected and coherent discourse. There exists a connection between verses and between the paragraphs of the verses. Each chapter has a central theme, and the chapters are paired. Furthermore, these pairs are grouped together, each group encapsulating a central theme, and all groups are woven together with a specific conceptual connection. These aspects are introduced in the prefaces of “Al-Bayan” and “Al-Quran Al-Kareem”.
Most scholars acknowledge the importance of coherence in Quranic text. However, a significant hindrance to fully appreciating this has been the traditional style of exegesis, which looks at each verse and chapter through the lens of narratives pertaining to the occasions of revelation. As a result, the interconnectedness of the verses does not receive due attention. Moreover, the Holy Quran appears to rely on external sources for interpretation, many of which are not always reliable. The holy Prophet, peace be upon him, had arranged the Quran not in the order of revelation, but in a new sequence. If the arrangement suggested by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not matter, it would not have been given the careful consideration it was. If understanding the Quran was truly dependent on narratives of the occasion of revelation alone, then it would have been arranged in the historical or revelational order.
However, the Holy Quran does possess a historical context, the knowledge of which is imperative for its comprehension. The historical information includes the tradition of the religion of Abraham before the Quran, references to earlier divine scriptures, the different audiences addressed by the Quran, their various beliefs, views, and attitudes, their established knowledge, various phases of the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) call to Islam, and incidents that occurred during that time. The verses of the Quran themselves mention and allude to these matters. In light of this information, the correct contextual placement of certain narratives of the occasion of revelation also becomes clear. Knowledge of this history is essential before studying the Quran.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has partitioned the text of the Quran into paragraphs. This partitioning brings out the distinct conceptual unity of each paragraph. He also clarifies the connections between the verses in the translation itself; thus, the reader encounters a cohesive and flowing discourse. One becomes aware of how a verse relates to the next, how the paragraphs of the verses relate to each other, how one chapter relates to another, and how groups of chapters are connected with each other. In this way, the entire Quran appears as a unified whole.
Ghamidi has also defined the theme of the Holy Quran. According to him, it is the narrative of warning from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is the story of his preaching activities and events that transpired, which serve as a lesson for us. This determines the scope of the Quran, highlighting the issues it addresses and those that it does not. For instance, it is not a book teaching science or economics; it is a book about the warning of the afterlife. Success in the afterlife depends on the purification of the soul, for which God has revealed teachings and guidance on faith, ethics, law, and religion to be followed. Nor is it for the obligation to emulate the exact circumstances and strategic decisions that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had to adopt due to his specific conditions. If similar circumstances arise, guidance can be taken from his example, but attempting to artificially create those conditions is not a religious duty. Religious duties involve obeying religious instructions and actions in current situations.
The concept of ‘culmination of argument’ (Itmam al-Hujjah) is a theoretical framework that helps in understanding the correct context of the verses. Briefly, this concept entails that messenger who were endowed with the mission of messengership came as the court of God to their people. After the culmination of argument, the fate of their nation would be decided in this world itself. The deniers would succumb to humiliation and punishment, ending up as losers, while the believers would be saved from this punishment and emerge successful. This was a special dealing of God in the presence of His messengers and cannot be considered a general rule or principle. This context helps clarify the specific nature of some directives in the Holy Quran. For example, the disbelievers are threatened with punishment in this world before the hereafter, and it does indeed come to pass. This does not apply to ordinary people who deny religion; their judgment will be in the afterlife. Such punishment is the worldly manifestation of God’s law of justice so that others may take heed and be warned about the afterlife, where their court will be held.
With the descendants of Abraham, there is also a special covenant with Allah Almighty, according to which if they meet the required standard of faith and practice and do not fall short in the preaching and propagation of God’s religion, then before the reward of the hereafter, they will also gain honor in this world. And if they fall short and disobey God, then they will be subjected to humiliation in this very world. Under this principle, the circumstances of the Children of Israel and the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are mentioned in the Quran. Their victories and support, their ascension and decline, this law is not common, but for common people there is a great lesson to be learned from it.
The Holy Quran has some specific styles. One of them is conciseness, which means brevity in statement. There are reasons for this. One is that this style was prevalent among the Arabs. Such speech that laid everything open so that the reader would not have to exert any mental effort was considered ordinary in their view. This style is also used in our poetry. For example,
The conceptual link between the two lines is not ambiguous, but not mentioned. Its discovery delights the reader familiar with language and style and serves as evidence of the speaker’s intellectual sharpness and eloquence.
Secondly, God expects to address a reader with a sound understanding. The things that should be self- evident are left to the reader’s intelligence and expected mental involvement in the speech. When he discovers them, he feels as if it is his own finding and experiences harmony with the speech.
Third, the first recipients of the Quran were privy to all the contexts and hints in which the Quran was being revealed, hence speech starts without first mentioning those known circumstances or pieces of
ہے معین ومت اک اکی دن تیدنین ویکں رات رھب ںیہن ٓا
The day of death is predetermined,
Why can’t I sleep all night?
information. Since these styles and those circumstances are not known to later generations, it becomes necessary to express these omissions in translation so that the average reader can understand the speech in full context. This style is also adopted in common conversation. Conversations are made about things understood without stating, which are not fully comprehensible to an outsider until he is informed of the conversational omissions.
In commentaries, sometimes the Quran’s omitted relations are stated in the explanatory notes. Special care has been taken for this in “Tadabbur-e-Quran”, but Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has opened up these omissions right within the translation itself. For example, look at these two verses from Surah An- Naml and their translation:
“Go back to your senders, we will surely bring against them an army they cannot resist, and we will definitely drive them out from there humiliated and they will be diminished. (Sulaiman understood they would surely come. Thus,) he said: O assembly, which one of you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?”
In the first verse, Solomon is threatening the emissaries of the Queen of Sheba with attack, and in the second, he is making provisions for the Queen of Sheba’s throne with the conviction she will come. The intermediate aspect of understanding is left to the intelligence of the reader.
For another example of this style, see the following verse and its translation:
“So that Allah may question the truthful about their truthfulness and has prepared for the disbelievers a painful punishment.”(Al-Ahzab 33: 8)
Here, “and question the disbelievers and hypocrites about their disbelief and hypocrisy,” was omitted, indicated by “and has prepared for the disbelievers a painful punishment.” It has been explained in the translation. Thus, the complete message of the Quran becomes clear to the reader.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi does not write the omissions which are naturally or necessarily part of the speech in parentheses. However, explanatory statements and omissions are written in parentheses.
A special style of the Quran is the omission of the base clause when a matter is self-evident. When something is already clear, it is omitted and its indication is done through the conjunction and the secondary clause. Consider the example:
(27: 37-38)
ٱرْجِعْ إِلَيْهِمْ فَلَنَأْتِيَنَّهُم بِجُنُودٍۢ لَّا قِبَلَ لَهُم بِهَا وَلَنُخْرِجَنَّهُم مِّنْهَآ أَذِلَّةًۭ وَهُمْ صَٰغِرُونَ قَالَ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْمَلَؤُا۟ أَيُّكُمْ يَأْتِينِى بِعَرْشِهَا قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتُونِى مُسْلِمِينَ
“They ask you for legal rulings about women. Tell them that Allah issues you rulings about them, as well as about the women’s orphans whom you do not wish to give what is prescribed for them yet want to marry, and [about] the rights in the Book for the female orphans whom you do not give what is written for them but still wish to marry, as well as [for] the powerless children, and that you maintain justice for the orphans. Whatever good you do, Allah is certainly fully aware of it.”(An-Nisa, 4: 127)
In clarifying this issue, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi cites a quotation from his teacher Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi:
“There is no such word in the speech that could serve as a coordinate for ‘َت ُق ْو ُم ْوا َْو َا’. Therefore, it is imperative to consider a deletion here, which will be determined by the context of the speech. Thus, before ‘َت ُق ْو ُم ْوا َْو َا’, the following subject matter is presumed to be omitted: give these women their dowries, deal with them justly, then ‘ِِبا ْل ِق ْس ِل ْل َی ٰت ٰم ی َت ُق ْو ُم ْوا َْو َا’ will be an apt conjunction. That is, become those who maintain justice for the orphans. Hence, the decree has made it clear that just as the condition of dowry and justice applies to all women, it applies to the mothers of orphans as well. The commandment of dealing justly with women mentioned in the verse ‘ُت ْق ِس ُط ْوا َا اَّل ِْخ ْف ُت َْو ِا’ and the instruction about the payment of dowries in the verse ‘ُد ٰق ِت ِہ َص َال ِّن َس آ َو ٰا ُتوا’ relate specifically to those orphans’ mothers whom you wish to marry but are not prepared to engage in the intricacies of dowry and justice. In this way, the Quran has elaborated on the summary provided in verses 3-4 and through this decree further emphasized the commandments given therein.” (Tadabbur-e-Quran 2/397)
Another distinctive style of the Quran is the omission of words that indicate comparison. This is a special stylistic feature of Arabic. For readers unfamiliar with this, expressing it becomes essential. The following verse is an excellent example of the omission of words of comparison.
“Do you not see that all creatures that walk on the earth and all the birds that fly with their wings are like nations unto you? We have omitted nothing in the Book, and they shall all be gathered to their Lord.”(Al-An’am 6:38)
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi explains this by saying: “Some comparative words have been omitted according to the style of Arabic. For example, in the first part of the sentence, there is ‘ِِفی ا ْل َا ْر’ (on the earth), while the phrase ‘فی السمآء’ (in the sky) does not appear in the second part. In the same way, where the second part includes ‘ہَِْی ِط ْی ُر ِب َج َنا َح’ (they fly with their wings), the words ‘تدب علی رجلیہا’ or ‘أرجلہا’ (they walk on their feet) are omitted from the first part. We have expanded upon them in our translation.”
One fundamental requirement for understanding the discourse is the identification of the speaker and
وَيَسْتَفْتُونَكَ فِى ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِيهِنَّ وَمَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ فِى يَتَٰمَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ ٱلَّٰتِى لَا تُؤْتُونَهُنَّ مَا كُتِبَ لَهُنَّ وَتَرْغَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ وَٱلْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ ٱلْوِلْدَٰنِ وَأَن تَقُومُوا۟ لِلْيَتَٰمَىٰ بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۚ وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍۢ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمًۭا
the addressee. That is, it’s essential to know who the speaker and the addressee are. The direction of the address is not always explicitly stated in words in the Quran. The Quran had various addressees. These included true believers, weak believers, polytheists, hypocrites, Jews, Christians, and within these, there were more than one groups. Different sects of believers, including hypocrites and weak believers, have been addressed as part of the believers’ group. If one addressee is mistaken for another, the entire meaning can be reversed. The original addresses of the Quran could understand who the address was directed towards from the tone of the verse alone. However, for an ordinary reader, who is not related to that environment, pointing out these details becomes necessary. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi identifies the addresses in his translation, which helps in understanding the statement in its correct context.
An example of the change in speaker is seen in the form of inculcation, that is, when quoting someone’s statement, the speech of another speaker is included to make it apt for the situation. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has taken this into account in his translation where it is necessary to clarify where inculcation is used. For example, consider the following instance of God’s words being merged with the Hoopoe’s speech in the conversation with Prophet Solomon (PBUH):
“‘Not long afterwards, the Hoopoe arrived and said, ‘I have encompassed knowledge which you have not, and I have come to you from Sheba with certain news. I found a woman ruling them, and she has been given everything, and she has a great throne. I found her and her people prostrating to the sun, instead of Allah, and Satan has made their deeds seem pleasing to them and has barred them from the path, so they are not guided. [So they ought not to prostrate to] Allah, who brings forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth and knows what you conceal and what you reveal. Allah! There is no god but He, Lord of the mighty Throne.'”(Al-Naml 27:22-26)
In the Hoopoe’s speech, the last two verses are the words of Allah. As Javed Ahmad Ghamidi says, “From here onwards is an inculcation. Allah Almighty has merged His words with the Hoopoe’s to make them appropriate for the situation. Several examples of this have already been mentioned. In the words of Imam, the mode of address in ‘ma tukhfoonawa ma tu’linona’ [what you conceal and what you reveal] is completely unsuitable coming from the Hoopoe. Only Allah can say that.”
In Surah Al-Ahzab, two different behaviors of the believers regarding the same incident are described. If the same kind of believers are understood in both places, a contradiction arises. Thus, it’s necessary to understand that in one instance, the weak believers or the hypocrites are referred to – which is indicated within the verse itself – and in another instance, the true believers of faith are meant. Observe in the following verse that the address starts with the ordinary believers and then shifts to addressing the hypocrites and those with weak faith amongst them, without discriminating, because they were part of that group as a faction:
فَمَكَثَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍۢ فَقَالَ أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِۦ وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍۭ بِنَبَإٍۢ يَقِينٍ إِنِّى وَجَدتُّ ٱمْرَأَةًۭ تَمْلِكُهُمْ وَأُوتِيَتْ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَلَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌۭ وَجَدتُّهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ أَعْمَٰلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ أَلَّا يَسْجُدُوا۟ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى يُخْرِجُ ٱلْخَبْءَ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ ۩
“O you who have believed, remember Allah’s favor upon you, when armies attacked you, and We sent a wind against them and forces you did not see. And Allah is Seeing of what you do. When they came at you from above you and from below you, and when eyes shifted in fear, and hearts reached the throats, and you assumed about Allah various assumptions. There the believers were tested and shaken with a severe shaking. And when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is disease, were saying, ‘Allah and His Messenger did not promise us but delusion.'”(Al-Ahzab, 33:9-12)
While the behavior of those with strong faith regarding the same incident is described in the following verse, where they are clearly labeled “true believers of faith”:
“And when the true believers saw the confederates, they said, ‘This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.’ And it only increased them in faith and submission.”(Al-Ahzab 33:22)
[The way they are asking to hasten the torment, those before them also did the same thing.] Until when their messengers lost hope in them and they too thought that they were lied to [about the torment], Our help came to the messengers. Then they were saved whom We wanted [to be saved] and Our torment cannot be warded off from the wrongdoers.
In the chapter on the determination of addressees, the identification of the referents of pronouns is a unique feature of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi’s translation. For a listener familiar with the context of speech, the scattering of pronouns becomes a source of eloquence, but for the unfamiliar, it can introduce the risk of confusion. See a fine example of its resolution in the following verse in Al-Bayan:
“(As they are eagerly rushing towards the torment, so did their predecessors persist), until, when the messengers lost hope and thought they were indeed lied to [saying there would be a punishment], our help reached the prophets. Then those were saved whom We pleased (to save), and Our punishment cannot be turned away from the criminal folks.” (Surah Yusuf 12:110)
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَآءَتْكُمْ جُنُودٌۭ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًۭا وَجُنُودًۭا لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا إِذْ جَآءُوكُم مِّن فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنكُمْ وَإِذْ زَاغَتِ ٱلْأَبْصَٰرُ وَبَلَغَتِ ٱلْقُلُوبُ ٱلْحَنَاجِرَ وَتَظُنُّونَ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلظُّنُونَا۠ هُنَالِكَ ٱبْتُلِىَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَزُلْزِلُوا۟ زِلْزَالًۭا شَدِيدًۭا وَإِذْ يَقُولُ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌۭ مَّا وَعَدَنَا ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥٓ إِلَّا غُرُورًۭا
In the translation, care has been taken to translate the verbs of Arabic keeping in mind the different degrees of meaning of the verb. That is, sometimes the verb implies intention of the action, while at other times the very same verb is used in its complete sense. For instance, the various meanings of the actions of ‘having faith’ are clarified in the translation or footnotes whether it refers to ‘those who have faith’ or ‘those who want to have faith’, or ‘those who claim to have faith’, etc. This informs the reader about the group being referred to. For example, see the translation of ‘َُي ْؤ ِم ُنو’ in the following verse:
“Do they not see that We made the night dark so that they may rest in it, and the day illuminating so that they may work? Truly in this are signs for those who wish to believe.”
Similarly, the translation of ‘َك َف ُروا’ has been rendered as ‘they denied’ at some places and ‘they decided not to believe’ or ‘remained firm on their denial’ elsewhere.
In “Al-Bayan” and “Al-Quran Al-Kareem”, the period of revelation of each Surah has been determined by its content and is introduced at the beginning of the Surah. This informs us in what phase of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) mission for calling to faith the Surah was revealed. These phases are divided as the initial call to faith, general warning, culmination of the argument, immigration and disassociation, and reward and punishment. This makes it easier for the reader to understand the contents of the Surah in their correct context, also eliminating the need to debate whether the Surah is Meccan or Medinan. It clarifies not only if the Surah is Meccan or Medinan but at what phase in the Meccan or Medinan period it was revealed.
One major obstacle in the right extraction of benefits from the Quran is the thought that its words and sentences have more than one meaning and a final determination of a single meaning cannot be made. If that is so, then the Quran’s claim that it has been sent as a decisive authority, a scale, and a criterion in religious disputes becomes meaningless. The experts of Farāhī school of thought have determined that the possibility of multiple meanings can be considered as eloquence in poetry and literature, but for a discourse introduced as a means of clear communication and definitive authority, it is a flaw. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has clarified that in a dictionary each word can have multiple meanings, but when an author uses a word in a sentence and presents it in a specific context, only one meaning is intended. The composition of the Quran determines one specific meaning for its words categorically. One should strive to reach this understanding.
The Quran was revealed in clear Arabic, using well-known words and expressions. If a reader cannot reach the intended meaning due to their insufficient contemplation, lack of knowledge, or preconceived notions and biases, it is a shortcoming in their comprehension, not a flaw in the text. The Quran is decisive in conveying its meaning, and it has all the means to clarify its message. Its language is alive even after centuries; the meanings of its words have never been lost. The Quran repeatedly presents its messages in different styles so that no ambiguity remains. The differences in understanding are also to be resolved in the light of the significance of its words and the composition of the text.
In Surah Al-Imran, the Quran divides its verses into ‘Muhkam’ (clear) and ‘Mutashabih’ (ambiguous). It is believed that ‘Mutashabih’ refers to verses that are equivocal or susceptible to multiple interpretations. In reality, ‘Mutashabih’ intends those instances whose true nature cannot be known,
أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا ٱلَّيْلَ لِيَسْكُنُوا۟ فِيهِ وَٱلنَّهَارَ مُبْصِرًا ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَءَايَٰتٍۢ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يُؤْمِنُونَ
though their meaning is also categorical—like Paradise and Hell. We know their meaning, but the reality will only be known after witnessing them. The term ‘Taweel’ used in this context in Surah Al- Imran is not in the sense of interpretation. That meaning for the term became an established academic term later on. Its original meaning is ‘reality’, which is how it has been used in Surah Yusuf. When Joseph’s dream was fulfilled, and his parents and siblings bowed before him, he said, this is the realization of my dream, i.e., its truth:
“(After reaching home) He seated his parents on the throne, and all involuntarily bowed in prostration before him. Joseph said: ‘Father, this is the realization of my former dream. My Lord has made it a reality.'” (Yusuf 12:100)
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi’s translation of the Quran explicitly demonstrates that the Quran is an integrated and unequivocal text, categorical in its message. The translation enriches the understanding of the Quran by considering famous meanings of words, traditional syntax of sentences, contexts of word usage, subtleties of Arabic idioms, coherence in discourse, determination of the addressees, and articulation of omissions.
َو َر َف َع َا َب َو ْي ِه َع َلى ا ْل َع ْر ِش َو َخ ُّروا َل ُه ُس َّج ًد ا۔ َو َقا َل يا َا َب ِت هذا َت ْا ِو ي ُل ُر ْء َي ا َي ِم
َق ْب ُل َق ْد َج َع َل َها َر ِّب ْي َح ًقا ۔
شنیاب سج ےک یج ںیم آےئ ویہ اپےئ رو
Now, whoever seeks shall find enlightenment.