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Texts of Islam
[52 TEXTS][114 CHAPTERS]
// Qur'an
The Qur'an is the primary text of Islam, revealed to the Prophet Muhammed
beginning in the year 610 C.E.
It was canonicalized between 644 and 656.
The Qur'an is required reading for anyone who wants to understand Islam.
Qur'an means "The Recital" in Arabic; according to the story, the angel
Gabriel commanded Muhammed to "Recite!".
Hypertext Qur'anThis page links together all of the Qur'an versions at this site.
// Explore Related Traditions
This is a completely new etext of the first volume of the Palmer Quran traslation
The Qur’ân, Part IIby E.H. Palmer · 1880
A completely new etext of the second volume of the Palmer Quran translation
The Koranby J.M. Rodwell · 1876
Another major Quran translation from the 19th century.
The Qur'anby Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall · 1930
A modern and sympathetic English rendering of the Quran.
The Holy Quranby Abdullah Yusuf Ali · 1934
One of the first modern English editions of the Quran, still in wide use today.
// Hadith
The Hadith, second only to the Qur'an in importance and authority,
are collections of Islamic traditions and laws (Sunna).
This includes traditional sayings of Muhammed and later Islamic sages.
By the ninth century over 600,000 Hadith had been recorded;
these were later edited down to about 25,000.
// Sufi Texts
Sufism is a mystical Islamic belief system.
It is renowned for its contributions to world literature:
beautiful symbolic poetry and devotional story-telling,
much of which was translated in the 19th century by European scholars
and travellers.
Oriental Mysticismby E.H. Palmer · 1867
Decoding the cloaked Sufi narrative of the journey to God.
The Kasîdahby Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî & Sir Richard Burton · 1880
The Mesneviby Rumi & Eflaki & James W. Redhouse · 1881
One of the first extensive English translations of Rumi, with a collection of legendary tales of the Sufi masters.
Bird Parliamentby Farid ud-Din Attar & Edward Fitzgerald · 1889
Also known as the 'Conference of the Birds,' this 12th century Sufi poem is a allegorical journey to the summit of enlightment.
The Masnaviby Rumi & E.H. Whinfield · 1898
The primary 19th century translation of Rumi's masterwork.
Salaman and Absalby Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami & Edward Fitzgerald · 1904
A mystical Sufi allegory by the renowned Persian poet, Jami.
Sadi's Scroll of Wisdomby Sadi & Arthur N. Wollaston · 1906
A short collection of Sufi poems on moral themes by the renowned Persian poet.
The Tarjuman al-Ashwaqby al-Arabi & Reynold A. Nicholson · 1911
The Sufi quest for God, encoded in a cycle of amatory poetry.
The Secrets of the Selfby Muhammad Iqbal & Reynold A. Nicholson · 1920
A philosophical poem by the intellectual founder of the nation of Pakistan.
// Islamic History and Culture
It is our policy to preserve the original text and titles
of books transcribed for this site.
This has some theological implications in this section.
Some Muslims do not believe that any text other than the actual Arabic
text of the Quran (even a transliteration or an Arabic text with vowels)
can strictly be called 'the Qur'an'.
This is because the Arabic text is considered canonical
and there can be no other versions of it.
The phrase 'the meaning of the Quran' is typically used to
describe texts which would otherwise be described as 'translations'.
Please be aware of this issue where this site presents or refers to
a 'translation,' 'translator' or 'transliteration' of the Quran.
In addition, many of these books were originally written by Europeans
during the 19th century and use the term 'Mohammedan'
to refer to Muslims (by analogy with 'Buddhist,' 'Christian' etc.)
Most Muslims deprecate this term today because the founder of Islam
is considered a human prophet, rather than an entity to be worshipped, as the
term could be taken to imply.
In the interest of archival accuracy this terminology has been
retained in the etexts; in text that we've written, we have attempted to
avoid it, except in quotations.
No disrespect to Islam or Muslims is intended thereby.
This is a quiet place in cyberspace
devoted to religious tolerance and scholarship
Non-public domain contents of this site
not otherwise copyrighted are © copyright 2010,
John Bruno Hare, All Rights Reserved.
See Site copyrights, Terms of Service for more information.
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Open Source for the Human Soul
The Diwan of Abu'l-Alaby Henry Baerlein · 1911
A delighful selection of poems by a 10th century Syrian rationalist philosopher.
Arabic Thought and Its Place in Historyby De Lacy O'Leary · 1922
How Islamic philosophers preserved and built on ancient Hellenic ideas, and passed that legacy to the kindlers of the European Renaissance.
The Glory of the Shia Worldby P. M. Sykes & Khan Bhadur Ahmad din Khan · 1910
Travel to one of the holiest Shiite shrines, Mashhad in Iran, in this rare 19th century literary collaboration between an Englishman and a Persian.
Arabian Poetryby W. A. Clouston · 1881
Rare 19th century translations of Arabian poetry, mostly pre-Islamic or contemporary with Muhammed
Arabian Wisdomby John Wortabet · 1913
Islamic wisdom literature from the Quran, Hadith and traditional proverbs.
Islamby John A. Williams · 1962
An anthology of some key texts across the entire spectrum of Islamic tradition.
The Hanged Poemsby F.E. Johnson & Sheikh Faiz-ullah-bhai · 1917
Translations of the earliest (pre-Islamic) Arabic poetry known
