Ludovico Marracci (6 October 1612 – 5 February 1700), also known by Luigi Marracci, was an Italian

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

scholar and professor of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

in the College of Wisdom at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He is chiefly known as the publisher and editor of

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

in Arabic. He is also well known for translating Quran in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, editing an Arabic

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

translation, and numerous other works.

Biography

He was born at Lucca in 1612. He had become a member of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca and learnt with reputed success in the study of non-European languages, especially

. He was the

Confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Pol ...

. Pope appointed him as the professor of Arabic in the ''College of Wisdom'' - Sapienza University of Rome (in'' '' Italian,'' sapienza ''means wisdom), for his proficiency in that language. In 1665 he was part of the team that debunked the lead tablets of Granada. He later declined the promotion of being appointed to the rank of

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the Catholic Church. He died at an age of 88 in 1700. He authored ''The Life of Father Leonardi'', the founder of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca, and many more. In 2012, a collection of his manuscripts were discovered at the Order of Clerics Regular of the Mother of God in Rome. The collection consists of almost 10,000 pages. The manuscripts include his work material, notes and significant information on his approach to translating the Qurʻan, as well as different versions of his translation. Based on the study of these manuscripts, a new examination of his life, influence, and methods has been published.

Arabic Bible

He has considerable share in editing the Roman edition of the ''Arabic Bible'', published in 1671 in three volumes. For this, the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...

appointed Abraham Ecchellensis and Ludovico Marracci to undertake the revision of the edition to make it exactly correspond with the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels us ...

. Marracci wrote a new preface and made a list of errors of the former copy in 1668.

Vatican Quran

Ludovico Marracci acquired much fame in editing and publishing the Qurʻan in Arabic with his translation into Latin. ''Alcorani Textus Universus Arabicè et Latinè'', was published in two volumes, at

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of ...

in 1698. His version of the Qurʻan included a life of

, with notes, and refutations of Muslim doctrines. It was the result of forty years of labour and toilsome research of the

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

. He also published in 1691, in Latin, a refutation of the Quran titled ''Prodromus Ad Refutationem Alcoran''. Marracci's Islamic texts included Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Thaʿlabī, Zamakhsharī, Baydִāwī and Suyūtִī. ''Alcoranis ‘Introduction’ (''Prodromus'') had been published seven years earlier in 1691.

George Sale George Sale (1697–1736) was a British Orientalist scholar and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Quran into English. In 1748, after having read Sale's translation, Voltaire wrote his own essay "De l'Alcoran ...

's English translation of the Qurʻan, ''The Alcoran of Mohammed'', in 1736, was done based on Marracci's 1698 Latin translation.

References

External links

The Quran in East and West: Manuscripts and Printed Books

Alcorani Textus Universus

SALE’S PREFACE TO THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE AND TRANSLATION. - Mohammed, The Quran, vol. 1 - 1896 - Father Lewis Marracci, who had been confessor to Pope InnocentXI

The history of Arabia - by Andrew Crichton - p.277-278
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marracci, Ludovico 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Translators of the Quran into Latin 1612 births 1700 deaths 17th-century translators Catholicism and Islam]