The Qur'an: Text and Commentary

With her book The Qur'an and Late Antiquity, published by Verlag der Weltreligionen in 2010, Angelika Neuwirth laid the foundation for her five-volume translation and commentary of the Qur’an. This first volume contains the beginnings of Muhammad’s proclamation. In chronological order, beginning with the presumably oldest sura 93, Neuwirth analyses and interprets the development of his prophetic message. Each sura is presented in transcription and new translation and then annotated in detail. At the heart of each surah commentary is a verse-by-verse interpretation in which, in addition to linguistic and content-related explanations, the intellectual engagement with the religious environment as well as the inner-Qur’anic development of central themes are traced.

»Angelika Neuwirth has established herself as one of the world's foremost authorities on the study of the Qur’an. The publication of The Qur’an: Text and Commentary presents an extraordinary opportunity for English-speaking audiences to benefit from her scholarship. Neuwirth strives to read the Qur’an as a late antique text, and prioritizes the orality of the text. All serious students of scholarship on the Qur’an would do well to engage Neuwirth’s work here ... .« Omid Safi, Duke University

»Neuwirth's work on interpreting the Quran has had a strong impact far outside the world of Islamicists and Arabists, as well as outside of academia. Her understanding of the holy book of Islam as not only a late antique but also a ›European‹ text is an exciting and thought-provoking new way of approaching it.« Anders Winroth, University of Oslo

»Neuwirth is a paradigm-changer in the field of late antique and early Islamic studies – a philologist in the best possible sense. Her holistic understanding of the Qur'an as both written text and oral performance has placed her at the forefront of what is most exciting in the now rejuvenated multi-disciplinary field of Quranic studies.« Elizabeth Key Fowden, University of Cambridge

»Neuwirth's chronological Qur'an commentary, complete with Arabic text and translation, has soon emerged as a standard work in the field. Neuwirth focuses on a detailed literary and structural analysis, and she reveals the manifold textual connections to the monotheist tradition of the Eastern Mediterranean. This is a work of great erudition by a leading scholar in Qur'anic studies.« Frank Griffel, Yale University

»This work is a meticulous exposition of early Meccan suras as ›transcripts of a proclamation.‹ Neuwirth's learned and always supple analysis of textures, rhythm, sounds, and significations illuminates each sura's poetic discourse. Simply put, no-one has contributed more to our understanding of Meccan suras than Angelika Neuwirth.« Shawkat Toorawa, Yale University

»[The] explosive nature of this research will [...] fundamentally [...] shock our intellectual landscape. By tracing the manifold biblical, Platonic, patristic and Talmudic, as well as ancient Arabic and inner-Qur’anic references, by taking seriously, above all, the linguistic structure of the Qur’an as a poetic text, as a score for sung performance, it becomes apparent how much the Qur’an has absorbed the entire culture of the Eastern Mediterranean.« Navid Kermani, Süddeutsche Zeitung