George Sale (1697–1736) was a British Orientalist scholar and practising

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

, best known for his 1734 translation of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

into English. In 1748, after having read Sale's translation,

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

wrote his own essay "De l'Alcoran et de Mahomet" ("On the Quran and on Mohammed"). For ''A General Dictionary, Historical and Critical'', an English translation and enlargement of

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...

's ''Dictionnaire historique et critique'', Sale supplied "Articles relating to Oriental History".

Biography

Born in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, Kent, he was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and in 1720 became a student of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. It is known that he trained as a solicitor in his early years but took time off from his legal pursuits, returning at need to his profession. Sale was an early member of the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a United Kingdom, UK-based Christians, Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christians, Christian faith in the Un ...

. Sale became seriously ill with fever for eight days before his death. George Sale died at Surrey Street, The Strand, London, on 13 November 1736. Sale was buried at St Clement Danes in London. His family consisted of a wife and five children.

The Quran

Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage arc

In 1734, Sale published a translation of the Quran, The Koran: Commonly called The Alcoran of Mohammed, dedicated to John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville. Relying heavily on O.M.D. Louis Maracci's Arabic edition and Latin translation,Arnoud Vrolijk
Sale, George

ODNB The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 28 May 2015 Sale provided numerous notes and a Preliminary discourse. Sale had access to the Dutch Church, Austin Friars' 14th-century manuscript of al-Baydāwī's '' Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation'', and this seems the source for his Arabic Quran rather than his own personal Quran, catalogued ''MS Sale 76'' in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

.Alexander Bevilacqua
The Qur'an Translations of Marracci and Sale
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes Sale's footnotes provide the literal translation where it differs from the idiom of the body text; he gives alternate variant readings; and supplementary historical and contextual information. Sir Edward Denison Ross added the Introduction to the 1922 reprint of Sale's translation.

Preliminary discourse

Though he did not place

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

at an equal level with Christianity, Sale seemed to view Mohammad as a conqueror who sought to destroy

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

and a lawgiver who managed to change and supplant many practices in Arabia: Sale prefixed a Preliminary Discourse to his translation covering topics including Arabs "''before

hijrah The Hijrah, () also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the e ...

''"; the State of the Eastern Churches, and Judaism, at time of Mohammed; the Peculiarities of the Quran; positive and negative Doctrines and Instructions of the Quran; and

political Islam Political Islam is the interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It advocates the formation of state and society according to (the advocates understanding of) Islamic principles, where Islam serves as a source of poli ...

in the 1730s. Sale posits the decline of the Persian Empire on rivalry between the sects of

Manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the '' Lares'', '' Lemures'', '' Genii'', and '' Di Penates'' as deities ...

and

Mazdak Mazdak (, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was an Iranian Zoroastrian '' mobad'' (priest) and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I. He claimed to ...

, and mass immigration into Arabia to escape persecution in the Grecian empire. In his eighth essay on False Prophecy, Sale notes Muslim Sects both Canonical ( Maleci, Hanefites,

Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...

and Shafi‘i) and "heretical" ( Shi'ism).

Other works

Sale was also a corrector of the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

version of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

(1726) issued by the

. He acquired a library with valuable rare manuscripts of Persian,

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, and Arabic origins, which is now held in the Bodleian Library,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He assisted in the writing of the ''

Universal History Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...

'' published in London from 1747 to 1768. When the plan of

universal history Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...

was arranged, Sale was one of those who were selected to carry it into execution. Sale wrote the chapter, "The Introduction, containing the Cosmogony, or Creation of the World". Critics of the time accused Sale of having a view which was hostile to tradition and the Scriptures. They attacked his account of

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...

as having a view giving currency to heretical opinions. His books:
The Koran
First Edition, 1734. (ed. high resolution scans from the Posner Memorial Collection.) * George Sale (Translator) and Claude Etienne Savary (illustrator), "
The Koran
Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed''". J.W. Moore, 1856. 670 pages * George Sale, et al., "
Sacred Books of the East: With Critical and Biographical Sketches
'". Colonial Press, 1900. 457 pages * Sale, George, Bower, Archibald and Psalmanazar, George
''An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time''
Millar, 1747. * George Sale, "
Selections from the Koran of Mohammed
'". Priv. print. by N.H. Dole, 1904. 211 pages. * George Sale, et al., "
Arabic Reading Lessons: Consisting of Easy Extracts from the Best Authors
'". Wm. H. Allen, 1864. 103 pages.

Legacy

In 1760 the Radcliffe Library, Oxford acquired his collection of mainly 13th-18th century Persian and Arabic manuscripts, mostly poetry and belles-lettres. They were transferred to the Bodleian Library in 1872. Richard Alfred Davenport wrote his biography. Works included in Sales library include Ibn Khallikān’s ''Wafayāt al-ayān'' (MSS Sale 48–49); selection of hadith (MS Sale 70); collections of the stories of saints and martyrs (MS Sale 77–78); the sayings of Alī (MS Sale 82); biographies of Shi'ite, ''Majālis al-mu'minīn'' by Nūr Allāh b.'Abd Allāh Shushtarī (MS Sale 68); instructions on use of the Quran for divination (MS Sale 69), and a treatise on the merits of visiting the Prophet's grave (MS Sale 56). Sale's translation of the Qur'an has been reprinted into modern times. In January 2007, Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, was sworn in using a 1764 edition of Sale's translation of the Quran, sold to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in 1815 by

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. In January 2019 newly elected Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were sworn in using the same edition of Sales's translation of Qur'an.

References

External links

The Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed (first edition 1734)
London: ''Printed by C. Ackers in St. John's-Street, for J. Wilcoy at Vivgil's Head overagainst the New Church in the Strand.'', original Quran translated into English. * Bot
Online Quran Project
an
IslamAwakened
include the Quran translation of George Sale. * The Nativity of Jesus, Blesséd be He, in the Koran

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sale, George 1697 births 1736 deaths Arabic–English translators English orientalists English solicitors English translators Members of the Inner Temple People educated at The King's School, Canterbury People from Canterbury Translators of the Bible into Arabic Translators of the Quran into English 18th-century British translators 18th-century English male writers British Iranologists