Texts of Islam

The Qur'ân, ed. Palmer (SBE9): XX. The Chapter of <...

Summary only - full text stays on its own separately-gated source. Read the full text at the source »

This is an excerpt from E.H. Palmer's 1880 English translation of the Qur'an (Surah Ta-Ha, Chapter 20), published as part of Max Müller's Sacred Books of the East series — a Victorian scholarly project rendering major world religious scriptures into English. The passage covers God's revelation to Moses at the burning bush, Moses's mission to Pharaoh (including the staff-to-serpent miracle and the contest with Egyptian magicians), the Exodus and parting of the sea, and the episode of the golden calf during Moses's absence on Mount Sinai. It closes with eschatological passages describing Judgment Day — the trumpet blast, the gathering of sinners, and the fate of believers versus wrongdoers — and briefly references Adam's covenant with God and the Fall. The translation reflects 19th-century Orientalist conventions: formal, slightly archaic English prose that prioritizes literal fidelity over literary fluency, with numbered verses and footnotes (indicated by superscript numbers in the text). The passage is notable for its compressed, non-linear storytelling style — events from Moses's life are narrated as reminders already known to the listener, interspersed with direct divine address, which is characteristic of Qur'anic rhetoric rather than sequential biblical narrative. Readers interested in Islamic scripture in accessible historical translation, or in comparative Abrahamic religious texts, would find this a useful primary source.

The Qur'ân, ed. Palmer (SBE9): XX. The Chapter of <...

Related pages View as graph →