Praise be to Allah, the cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds, Who has said in His Noble Book:

There has come to you from Allah Light and a Perspicuous Book.

And may peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, who has said that:

The best among you is he who leaned the Qur'aan and then taught it The Glorious Qur'aan is the Book of Allah, the Wise and Worthy of all Praise, Who has promised to safeguard it from any violations in its purity, It becomes incumbent upon each and ever person who seeks the dignity of this world and the bliss of the Hereafter to regulate his life according to it, to implement its commandments and to pay homage to the magnificence of the One Who revealed it...

Before the reader begins to study the Qur'aan, he must realize that unlike all other writings, this is a unique book with a supreme author, an eternal message and a universal relevance. Its contents are not confined to a particular theme or style, but contain the foundations for an entire system of life, covering a whole spectrum of issues, which range from articles of faith and commandments to general more teachings, rights and obligations, crime and punishment, personal and public law, and a host of other private and social concerns...Stories of past communities are narrated, followed by the lessons to be learned from their actions and subsequent fates.

[Extracted from Yusuf Ali's translation of the meaning of the Holy Qur'aan]

These files are electronically scanned versions of M. H. Shakir's translation of the Holy Qur'aan, as published by Tahrike Tarsile Qur'aan, Inc., P.O. Box 1115, Elmhurst, New York 11373. The text has passed through a preliminary editing, but is not yet error free. The authentic version of this translation remains the hardcopy offered by the aforementioned publishers, and can be purchased in many bookstores.