INTRODUCTION

QXP is a Tasreef-based understanding of the Qur'an presented in contemporary English that is easy enough even for teen-agers. It is not a literal translation.

Tasreef is the Qur'anic process where verses in one part of the Qur'an explain or provide deeper understanding of the verses in other parts of the Book. Concisely, it means looking at the Qur'an in its Big Picture. The Qur'an, thus, lets us look at its terms and concepts from very diverse vantage points. This is how special care has been taken to explain every verse from within the Qur'an itself.

The respected reader should expect to find "The Qur'an As It Explains Itself" different from the prevalent translations and explanations because of the use of Tasreef and the Quraish dialect, and for rejecting extrinsic sources.

I have purposely refrained from explaining the Qur'an through extrinsic sources such as Hadith and a very questionable History. Hadith means the supposed sayings of the exalted prophet collected through hearsay centuries after him. Using these two 'sources' for translating or explaining the Qur'an in the distant and recent past has only served to confound the Word of God with manmade traditions and it takes away the profound glory of the Divine message.

In QXP, relevant historical accounts have been given only sparingly for the interested reader and they have no bearing on the Pristine Divine message.

The following three principles applied in this rendition are derived from the Qur'an itself:

One: The Qur'an explains itself. [6:115, 10:37, 75:17-19] Two: It repeats its verses from diverse angles for clear understanding. [17:41, 17:89, 18:54, and quite a few other verses] Three: It has been revealed in the Plain Arabic of its times. [12:2, 19:97, 20:113, 39:28, 44:58]

The prophet (S), who was born and raised in Makkah (Mecca), belonged to the prominent Quraish tribe. Since the Makkans were the first audience, the Qur'an was revealed in their dialect.

19:97 And only to this end We have made this (Qur'an) easy to understand in your own tongue (O Prophet!). That you might convey thereby glad news to the righteous and warn people given to futile disputation. 44:58 Certainly, (O Prophet!) We have made this Qur'an easy in your tongue, in order that they might take it to their hearts. Surah means a fence and thus it implies a Chapter that encircles some ayahs (verses). There are 114 Chapters (Surahs) in the Qur'an with just over 6,200 verses in all. By volume, the Qur'an is a much smaller Book than the Bible.

Notes: The reader should not expect the Qur'an to follow a historical time-line as the Bible does. It presents its guidance in an apparently random manner, but a close examination reveals a definite arrangement of the messages as we go along. As usual, the Surah and verse numbers in this rendition are kept simple. 2:101 will mean Surah 2 verse 101 and so on.

About the use of parentheses ( ) and brackets [ ] … Whenever the reader finds a sentence that is not seen in the original Arabic verse, it will be representing another verse found elsewhere in the Qur'an and, where appropriate, the proper reference will be given right there. In this effort, no meanings will be imported from outside of the Qur'an.

A conscious effort will be made to keep the brackets after the verses whenever possible. Historical notes, author's comments and linguistic explanations too will be given in brackets or parentheses.

The use of (S) after the name of prophet Muhammad should be read as 'Our salutes to him'.

The verse numbering in different copies of the Qur'an may vary by one. For example, 6:142 may be 6:143 and vice versa in different publications. Rarely, the reader may have to check one verse before and one after the given reference, which in itself a good practice to get the context. But, leading publishers of the Qur'an must unify the numbering of the verses.