Note on Translation, Transliteration, and Dates
The translations in this book highlight the force of the Qurʾan’s communitarian rhetoric. I have tried to capture how the pre-canonical Qurʾan’s language encapsulated the discourse of a community-forming movement. I have indicated my own interpretive glosses through the use of square brackets and have included transliterations of key terms and phrases to invite readers to reach their own conclusions. Some of my translation choices may strike readers as odd or unconventional. The aim is not to propose radical re-readings of Qurʾanic language but to point to other semantic possibilities that may be muted or concealed in conventional renderings into English. I have tried to avoid certain ambiguous, old fashioned, or anachronistic renderings which may have the cumulative effect of flattening the rhetorical force for the modern English reader.
I use the transliteration scheme of Arabica (Brill), with the exception that the tā marbūṭah (ة) is rendered -ah and -at in construct.
Where possible, dates are shown Hijrī/AD.