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The Bible Fraud Muslims, while those by Christians and others (ref. Al Qur'an, chapter 19, Maryam, verse 17): Continued from page 45 are to be avoided. 1) A. Yusuf Ali (the translator whom Clarification on Mention of Mary in the The most inaccurate appears to be a transla- Bushby's bibliography cites): Koran (Al-Qur'an) tion by N. J. Dawood which, although readily "She placed a screen from them; then We Dear Duncan: With respect to your query available in most bookstores, is publicised as sent her Our angel, and he appeared before her and your readers' comments concerning being "an updated translation"—a description as a man in all respects." the Koran's mention of Mary—as given in part which generally means "interpreted" rather 2) M. M. Pickthal: 1 of Tony Bushby's "The Bible Fraud" in than accurate. (Dawood, a mythologist, is "And had chosen seclusion from them. NEXUS 9/01 (page 30 in his book)—I'll actually better known for his fantasy writings Then We sent unto her Our spirit and it endeavour to clarify the matter as best I can. about Aladdin, Sinbad, etc.) assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man." Bushby relates: "The story of Mary's preg- I mention the Dawood volume in particular 3) M. H. Shakir: nancy by a Roman soldier also appears in the because this appears (as far as I can see) to be "So she took a veil to screen from them; sacred book of the Moslems, the Koran. It the one used by Tony Bushby for the then We sent to her Our spirit, and there states that 'a full-grown man' forced his atten- Annunciation sequence. This is a little odd appeared to her a well-made man." tions on Mary, and in her fear of the disgrace because The Bible Fraud's bibliography specif- 4) M. Khalifa: that would follow she left the area and bore ically cites a translation by Abdullah Yusuf "While a barrier separated her from them, Jesus in secret." Ali, whose text is quite different in this regard. We sent to her Our spirit. He went to her in The event being dealt with here is the Although Bushby quotes that "'a full-grown the form of a human being." episode generally known to Christians as the man' forced his attentions on Mary", what the Annunciation, when Gabriel, the angel of the Dawood translation actually says is: "We sent There is no Roman soldier mentioned in any Lord, announced (annunciated) that Mary to her Our spirit in the semblance of a full- translation—only "Our angel" and "Our spirit". would bear a son. grown man" ... "I am your Lord's emissary, he In subsequent verses, not one indicates that the Difficulties are, of course, always encoun- replied, and have come to give you a holy angelic spirit "forced" his attentions upon tered when translating one language into son." Mary. He is depicted in all cases as a "messen- another—and especially so with religious texts Although Dawood's translation is poor, ger of thy Lord"—wholly reminiscent of the where scriptural connotations are of the utmost nothing is mentioned of a Roman soldier, and New Testament's angel Gabriel, although not importance. the character concerned is presented not as a named as such. There are, to my knowledge, some 29 person but as a "spirit" of the Lord in the "sem- Hope this helps. English translations of Al-Qur'an currently in blance" of a man. Best wishes, print, and they each vary to lesser or greater Having said that, other more reliable transla- Laurence degrees. tions by Muslims are somewhat different. Clearly, the best translations are by Here is the same verse as given by four others [Laurence Gardner, KtStGm, KCD, KTStA] 82 • NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com APRIL – MAY 2002