8 May, 2025

We are deeply honoured to welcome Prof M.A. Rafey Habib, Rutgers University, to present his highly acclaimed translation The Qur’an in Verse, the product of his ten-year-long collaboration between Prof Bruce B. Lawrence, Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Religion at Duke University, USA.

About the book: This amazing feat of translation presents an accessible, clear and fluid English Qur’an that all readers, no matter their faith or familiarity with the text, can read with pleasure and with a deeper appreciation for the book and the religious tradition founded upon it. Those familiar with the Arabic—and especially the faithful who hear the text recited aloud—know that the Qur’an is a perfect blend of sound and sense. While no translation can perfectly capture these complementary virtues of the original, this volume has come closest to an accessible, clear, and fluid English Qur’an that all readers, no matter their faith or familiarity with the text, can read with pleasure and with a deeper appreciation for the book and the religious tradition founded upon it. Extensive notes and explanatory apparatus will help all readers―whether they are familiar with the original or coming to the text for the first time―to read (and hear) the Qur’an with fresh understanding and insight.

Speaker/Author: Prof Habib grew up in England and now lives in America. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, and is currently Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University. He is the author of thirteen books, including The Early T.S. Eliot and Western Philosophy (1999), An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry in English Translation (2003), A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to The Present (2005), Hegel and Empire (2018), Hegel and the Foundations of Literary Theory (2020) and Literary Studies: A Norton Guide (2020). He edited the Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, Vol (2013) and the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (2013; originally edited by J.A. Cuddon). He has also authored a book of poetry, Shades of Islam (2010). His essays include “Hegel and Islam” (2017) and “Translating the Qur’an: Towards a New Approach” (2021). He lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Chair: Professor Frank Griffel, Professor for the Study of Abrahamic Religions, and Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford

Date: 8 May, 2025

Time: TBC

Venue: Faculty of Theology and Religion, and Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford