It was recommended when I was studying ME politics at uni, so I figure it must be okay. It's a translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. We got told to read it in conjunction with Karen Armstrong's 'A Short History of Islam'. I did to the Qur'an what I did to the Bible, go through it with a highlighter, picking out bits that made me glad I'm an atheist

Here's an online version http://al-quran.info/

If I'm not mistaken I believe that most devout Muslims feel one should read the Qur'an in it's original language of the prophet. Since I'm not really a scholar of other languages that would be an insurmountable obstacle for me. Yep, typical English American guy here. I do have some abilities in Spanish after my over a decade living in Miami though.

I'm sure translation loses something for us.

I am not at all surprised one of my fellow MIRT people chose to study the ME at university. I have loved being on MIRT and getting to know others. It's such a great group of people and I feel certain it's a great group of people who do their best to be open and honest to other people.

I just want to point out this online source (Internet Sacred Text Archive) where they have five English translations to choose from. They also have a fine collection of related books and material on the same page.

First translation I read and the one I still prefer the most is:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Quran-Translation-English-only/dp/0940368188/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371732951&sr=8-2&keywords=quran+shakir

I believe this is the Kindle edition of it and people have said they like the kindle presentation with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Quran-Parallel-Translation-ebook/dp/B00640OMSQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The reviews are often biased by people who were told one version is legit and another isn't because the translator was born in so-and-so. Nonsense.

Hope you try that version, I feel it nicely approaches the meanings without the translator trying to put their own impressions in to the text.

as it gives you various translators. I read all of them, and listen as you read. You can choose to see all translations at the same time.

I hope this helps

http://quran.com/

they have changed things around. If you wish to see my original suggestion...look here
http://legacy.quran.com/

This is by far the best translation for the Quran as it does a better job of engaging the reader but also gives a flow in the English translation that mimics that of the Arabic version.

Here is a link OP:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Quran-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199535957

Holy Quraan- transleted by Tahereh saffar zadeh