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Title: Distortion of message
Review: Dawood, a translator of Arabic folklore (like One Thousand and One Nights) seems more interested in preserving the grandeur of the phrases than transmitting the true meaning of the text. Dawood often distorts the message. He turns observations about wartime activity into commands of aggression. He transforms passages regarding the natural love between husband and wife into suggestions that women are soley for a man's pleasure.Those who want to appreciate the poetry are best off reading the orginal Arabic (or buying a taped version so they can listen to it without having to learn Arabic) Those who are interested in a translation that preserves the beauty of the language and an accompanying in depth explanation should read "The Message of the Quran" by Muhammad Asad. By virtue of being a translation, it too has its faults, but it considered the best thing short of learning Arabic.
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