An unusual book. . . . [ Its] focus on the believers everyday experience results in an appealingly practical and even chic object: a kind of Quranic chapbook, small enough to fit in a tote and read on the subway. . . . Toorawas translation hits a remarkable range of notes: from enthusiasm to severity, to playfulness, to intimacy.Robyn Creswell, New York Review of Books
Compact and elegant. . . . Gives us a vision of the Quran in Islam that anglophone readers rarely encounter.Bruce Fudge, Review of Middle East Studies
[ An] exquisite Qurn anthology.Abdur Raheem Kidwai, Muslim World Review
This is a work of consummate scholarship, attention, devotion, and craft. The Quran privileges the sacredness of sound itself, and Shawkat Toorawa has endeavored to be as faithful to that priority as possible. It is a gift to have such a clear window into this tradition of both poetry and faith.Christian Wiman, author of Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair
Among the many translations of Islams Holy Book, Shawkat Toorawas Devotional Quran is unique in its sensitive selection of Surahs and verses most familiar to and dearly beloved by Muslims, and its careful attention to the literary and acoustic qualities of the text.Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Oxford
For all the attention that has traditionally gone into translating the meaning of the Quran, its devotional value and function goes beyond its meaning. The Devotional Quran brilliantly captures not only the meaning of a selection of Quranic verses but the meaning of the Quran itself for Muslims, by deftly signaling the various and beautiful ways in which meaning is imparted, savored, and passed on through this indefatigably sacred text.Sherman A. Jackson, the University of Southern California
A splendid introduction to the Quran. Toorawas English rides the currents and swells of the Arabics magnificent soundscape, so we sense its telltale force field giving form and feeling to the translation as it unfurls. Marvelous, daring, and distinctive.Peter Cole, author of The Poetry of Kabbalah: Mystical Verse from the Jewish Tradition
Shawkat Toorawa gives familiar chapters and verses a fresh feel. By turns lucid and lyrical, the translation hums and sings and occasionally roars. The Devotional Quran deserves a place on syllabi and gift lists alike.Kecia Ali, author of The Lives of Muhammad
