Arthur Arberry
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Arthur John Arberry (12 May 1905, in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
– 2 October 1969, in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
) FBA was a British scholar of
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
,
Persian studies Persian studies (Persian: مطالعات فارسی) is the study of the Persian language and its literature specifically. It is differentiated from Iranian studies which is a broader, more interdisciplinary subject that focuses more on the histor ...
, and
Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...
. He was educated at
Portsmouth Grammar School The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Portsmouth, England, located in the historic part of Portsmouth. It was founded in 1732 as a Single-sex education, boys' school ...
and
Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...
. His English translation of the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
, '' The Koran Interpreted'', is popular amongst academics worldwide.The Koran: Interpreted
- Oxford Islamic Studies Online


Academic career

Arberry served as Head of the Department of Classics at
Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. He eventually returned home to become the Assistant Librarian at the Library of the
India Office The India Office was a British government department in London established in 1858 to oversee the administration of the Provinces of India, through the British viceroy and other officials. The administered territories comprised most of the mo ...
. During the Second World War he was a Postal Censor in Liverpool and was then seconded to the Ministry of Information, which was housed in the newly constructed Senate House of the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. Arberry held the Chair of Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...
, University of London, in 1944–47. He subsequently became the
Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic is a title used at Cambridge University for the holder of a professorship of Arabic; Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586–1668), Lord Mayor of London in 1645, gave to Cambridge University the money needed to ...
at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and a Fellow of
Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...
, his alma mater, from 1947 until his death in 1969. He is buried in
Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (; ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge metr ...
, Cambridge, together with his wife Sarina Simons Arberry (1900-1973). She was Romanian by birth; Arberry first met her in Cairo and they married at Cambridge in 1932. Arberry is also notable for introducing
Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...
's works to the west through his selective translations and for translating the important anthology of medieval Andalusian Arabic poetry '' The Pennants of the Champions and the Standards of the Distinguished''. His interpretation of
Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
's writings, edited by Badiozzaman Forouzanfar, is similarly distinguished. Arberry also introduced to an English-speaking audience the work of Malta's national poet, Carmelo Psaila, popularly known as Dun Karm, in the bilingual anthology ''Dun Karm, Poet of Malta''.


Works

* ''The Rubai'yat of Jalal Al-Din
Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...
: Select Translations Into English Verse'' (Emery Walker, London, 1949) * '' The Rubai'yat of Omar Khayyam. Edited from a Newly Discovered Manuscript Dated 658 (1259–60) in the Possession of A. Chester Beatty Esq.'' (Emery Walker, London, 1949) — unbeknown to Arberry or
Alfred Chester Beatty Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, (7 February 1875 – 19 January 1968) was an American mining magnate and philanthropist. A successful businessman, he was given the epithet the "King of Copper", in reference to his fortune. He became a naturalised Br ...
, the "newly discovered manuscript" was a twentieth-century forgery. * ''Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam'' (London: Allen & Unwin, 1950) * ''Avicenna on Theology'' (London: John Murray, 1951) * ''Omar Khayyam. A New Version, Based upon Recent Discoveries'' (London: John Murray, 1952) — based upon the Beatty and another forged manuscript *'' The Secrets of Selflessness'' (John Murray, London, 1953) * ''Moorish Poetry: A Translation of 'The Pennants', an Anthology Compiled in 1243 by the Andalusian Ibn Sa'id'' (University Press, Cambridge, 1953), * '' The Koran Interpreted'' (Allen & Unwin, London, 1955) * '' The Seven Odes: The First Chapter in Arabic Literature'' (Allen & Unwin, London, 1955) *''Classical Persian Literature'' (1958) * ''Dun Karm, poet of Malta''. Texts chosen and translated by A.J. Arberry; introduction, notes and glossary by P. Grech. Cambridge University Press 1961. * ''Muslim Saints and Mystics, A translation of episodes from the '
Tazkirat al-Awliya ''Tazkirat al-Awliyā'' ( or , lit. "Biographies of the Saints")variant transliterations: Tadhkirat al-Awliya, Tazkerat-ol-Owliya , Tezkereh-i-Evliā etc. is a hagiographic collection of ninety-six Sufi saints (''wali'', plural ''awliya'') and th ...
’ (Memorial of the Saints)'' originally written by Farid al-Din Attar (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1966) *'' Javid Nama'' (Allen & Unwin, London, 1966) * ''Poems of Al-Mutanabbi'' (University Press, Cambridge, 1967) * ''Discourses of Rumi'', A translation of
Fihi Ma Fihi The ''Fihi Ma Fihi'' or ''Fīhi Mā Fīhi'' (), ) is a Persian prose work of 13th century Sufi mystic and Iranian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. The book has 72 short discourses. Description The title and origin of the book Accordi ...
, (Samuel Weiser, New York, 1972) * ''Mystical Poems of Rumi'', Translated by A. J. Arberry, (University of Chicago Press, 2009)


References


Further reading

* Wickens, G M
"Arberry, Arthur John, 1905-1969"
''Proceedings of the British Academy 58,'' 1973


External links

* * Arberry's English Quran Translation at the *
Online Quran Project
*
Tanzil Project

Arberry, Arthur John article
at
Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arberry, Arthur John 1905 births 1969 deaths People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School Iqbal scholars Translators of the Quran into English British Islamic studies scholars British Arabists Iranologists Arabic–English translators Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy British orientalists Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Academic staff of Cairo University Rumi scholars Academics of SOAS University of London 20th-century British translators Writers from Portsmouth Sir Thomas Adams's Professors of Arabic