{"id":18628,"date":"2022-11-25T11:30:42","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T11:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/?p=18628"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:11:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T16:11:54","slug":"a-quran-manuscript-with-full-malay-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/a-quran-manuscript-with-full-malay-translation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Qur\u02bean manuscript with full Malay translation"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are pleased to introduce this week’s blog by Dr Annabel Teh Gallop, a member of RAS Council.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Royal Asiatic Society holds a Qur\u02bean manuscript (Arabic 4), which is of exceptional importance as being the only known single-volume Qur\u2019an with a full interlinear translation in Malay.\u00a0 The manuscript has just been fully digitised in honour of Professor Peter Riddell, in recognition of his pioneering work on the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia (Riddell 2001) and in particular on Malay commentaries on the Qur\u2019an (Riddell 2017), and in conjunction with the publication of a Festschrift. The digitisation was sponsored\u00a0 by Annabel Teh Gallop, supported by the Merdeka Award 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Peter Riddell at Pembroke College, Cambridge, 8 November 2022, at the announcement of the publication of the Festschrift, organised by the co-editor Majid Daneshgar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The manuscript is inscribed \u2018Presented by Admiral C. M. Pole, Bart., June 19, 1830\u2019. Sir Charles Moris Pole (1757\u20131830) served in the East Indies Station from 1773 to 1778, and it is most likely that the manuscript came into his possession during this early period. The first two folios have suffered severe damage, and in rebinding what remains of the first folio was reversed.<\/em> Each subsequent page contains nine lines of Arabic text in a careful wide hand with the Malay text sloping beneath in a much smaller, very fine, hand.\u00a0 Text frames are of one or two ruled red ink lines; surah<\/em> headings are in red ink and set in rectangular panels with red ink frames; and verses are separated with small gold roundels outlined in black.\u00a0 The laid paper is probably of Asian manufacture: hatched mold marks are visible but there are no visible chainlines or watermarks.<\/p>\n

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Royal Asiatic Society, Arabic 4<\/a>, showing Surat al-Kahf v. 75, the start of juz\u2019 16 (image 334).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the basis of a Malay commentary on the 18th<\/sup> sura of the Qur\u2019an, Surat al-Kahf<\/em>, in a manuscript from the Erpenius (d. 1624) collection held in Cambridge University Library, Peter Riddell traces a gradual chronological development, in both quantitative and qualitative aspects, in the field of Qur\u02be\u0101nic exegesis in Malay: \u201cSo by the middle of the 17th century, the Malay world was actively producing Qur\u02be\u0101n manuscripts, translations of certain verses, and at the very least exegesis at the level of the Surah<\/em>.\u201d The second half of the 17th<\/sup> century saw the composition in Aceh of the first full Malay commentary on the Qur\u02bean \u2013 the Tarjum\u0101n al-Mustaf\u012bd <\/em>by \u02bfAbd al-Ra\u02be\u016bf \u2013 but the next major Malay work of Qur\u02beanic exegesis identified by Riddell does not appear for another 250 years, when the Tafs\u012br N\u016br al-I\u1e25s\u0101n<\/em> was published by Muhammad Said bin Umar of Kedah in 1925\u20131927.<\/p>\n

This framework is anchored firmly on evidence of \u201cextended Qur\u02bean exegetical activity in Malay\u201d (Riddell 2017: 48), but the question nevertheless arises as to how less \u201cextended\u201d efforts at Qur\u02beanic interpretation, in the form of the few known Qur\u02bean manuscripts with interlinear translations in Malay \u2013 which can certainly be dated to this long interregnum \u2013 might fit into this exegetical framework. Ervan Nurtawab (2020) has recently proposed that Qur\u02bean manuscripts with interlinear translations should certainly be regarded as tafs\u012br<\/em>, as they were evidently created with the explicit intentions of explicating the meaning of the Qur\u02be\u0101n. This was explored in a study of two 18th<\/sup>-century Qur\u02bean manuscripts from Banten, in west Java, now held in the National Library of Indonesia (PNRI A.51 and W.277), both with exactly the same Malay translations, where Ervan identified elements of interpretation and presentation of variant views over and above the pure translation of the Arabic text, demonstrating the exegetical intent of the Malay texts, which were composed independently of \u2018Abd al-Ra\u2019uf\u2019s work. A comparison with the RAS Qur\u2019an shows that Arabic 4 contains almost exactly the same Malay translation as found in the two Banten Qur\u02bean copies.\u00a0 One example is shown below, of Surat al-Kahf<\/em>\u00a0 verse 11 (in the text of Arabic 4, words not found in A.51 are underlined; lacunae compared to A.51 are indicated by * at the appropriate place).<\/p>\n

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Royal Asiatic Society, Arabic 4<\/a>, showing Surat al-Kahf, second half of v. 11 at the top right (image 326).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q.18:11: Then We drew (a veil) over their ears, for a number of years, in the Cave, (so that they heard not);<\/p>\n

PNRI A.51:\u00a0 maka kami tutupi talinga marika itu supaya tiada did\u0115ng\u0115r marika itu sawara dan kami k\u0115rask\u0115n atas marika itu tidur dal\u0115m guha itu babarapa tahun lamanya kata sat\u0115ngah adalah tidur marika itu dal\u0115mnya tiga ratus sambilan tahun lamanya maka tiap-tiap satahun dibalikk\u0115n\u2009<\u2009addition in the margin\u2009>\u2009marika itu supaya jangan dimakan tanah tatapi pada marika itu saparti siang hari jua.<\/em><\/p>\n

RAS Arabic 4: \u00a0 maka kami tutup telinga mereka itu supaya tiada didengar mereka itu suatu<\/u> suara dan kami keraskan atas mereka itu \/\/ tidur dalam guha itu berapa tahun lamanya kata setengah adalah tidur mereka itu dalamnya tiga ratus sembilan tahun * maka tiap2 setahun dibalikkan Allah<\/u> mereka itu supaya jangan dimakan tanah tetapi pada mereka itu seperti siang hari juga<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Translation of RAS Arabic 4: Then We closed their ears so that they would not hear any sounds, and We deepened their sleep in the Cave, for a number of years; some say that their sleep lasted for 309 years, and every year Allah turned them over so that [their bodies] did not decay, but for them it was as if it was just the next morning.<\/p>\n

It is thus highly likely that Arabic 4 originates from Banten, for not only are two of the only four other known Qur\u02bean copies with interlinear Malay translations (all in multiple volumes) from Banten, so too are three of the eleven known Qur\u2019an manuscripts with Javanese translations, highlighting the association of Banten with this pedagogical tradition. The consistent use of gold verse markers is very rare in Southeast Asia, but notably has been recorded in two other Banten Qur\u02beans.\u00a0 Furthermore, the use of Asian paper, the unusual graphic layout, and the date of Admiral Pole\u2019s Asian encounters, all support an early dating in the 18th<\/sup> century, at a time when the sultanate of Banten was flourishing as a centre for Islamic scholarship.<\/p>\n

Further reading<\/strong><\/p>\n

This blog post was extracted from the following forthcoming chapter:<\/p>\n

Annabel Teh Gallop, \u2018Qur’an manuscripts from Southeast Asia in British collections\u2019.\u00a0 Malay-Indonesian Islamic studies: a Festschrift in honor of Peter G. Riddell<\/em><\/a>, ed. Majid Daneshgar and Ervan Nurtawab.\u00a0 Leiden: Brill, 2022.<\/p>\n

Ervan Nurtawab, Qur’anic readings and Malay translations in 18th-century Banten Qur’ans A.51 and W.277<\/a>.\u00a0 Indonesia and the Malay world,<\/em> 2020, 48(141): 169-189.<\/p>\n

Peter G. Riddell, Islam and the Malay-Indonesian world: transmission and responses<\/em>.\u00a0 Singapore: Horizon, 2001.<\/p>\n

Peter G. Riddell, Malay court religion, culture and language: interpreting the Qur’an in 17th century Aceh<\/em><\/a>. Leiden: Brill, 2017.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Annabel Teh Gallop, The British Library<\/em><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Bicentenary appeal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Society is currently inviting sponsorship for new digitization projects to help celebrate its bicentenary in 2023. Further information is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Readers may also wish to note that there is now less than a month to purchase the new edition of James Tod’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan<\/em> at the discounted price. The prospectus for the reissue is available here<\/a>. Fellows and friends of the Society are able to subscribe to the anniversary re-issue in advance of its publication for the discounted price of \u00a3725 (the standard list price will be \u00a3850). To qualify for the reduced price, full payment must be received by 16 December 2022. Subscribers will have their names published (if they so wish) in the List of Subscribers that will appear in the Companion Volume. Further information on how to subscribe and make payment can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are pleased to introduce this week’s blog by Dr Annabel Teh Gallop, a member of RAS Council.\u00a0 The Royal Asiatic Society holds a Qur\u02bean manuscript (Arabic 4), which is of exceptional importance as being the only known single-volume Qur\u2019an with a full interlinear translation in Malay.\u00a0 The manuscript has just been fully digitised in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[508],"tags":[2322,2325,887,473,2323,2324,2835],"class_list":["post-18628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collection-highlights","tag-annabel-teh-gallop","tag-islamic-manuscripts","tag-malay-manuscripts","tag-manuscripts","tag-peter-riddell","tag-quran","tag-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18628"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18634,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18628\/revisions\/18634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}