Revealed Knowledge has been provided to man ever since he made his appearance on the terrestrial scene. Arrangements have been made from time to time to maintain and restore its original purity. Carriers of Revealed Knowledge, whose duty it has been to mould the society accordingly, known as Apostles and Prophets (Ambia and Rusul) have uninterruptedly been sent to various countries and nations as and when required.

At last Revealed Knowledge reached its culminating point and was epitomized in the shape of the Quran, the Last Divine Message to humanity at large, irrespective of time, race, colour, country or nation. As every system of knowledge has a methodology of its own so has the Quranic knowledge which has to be scrupulously and faithfully followed if one desires to have a real and deep understanding of its letter and spirit.

Prophets are not sent to teach languages. They convey the divine message in the language spoken and understood by the people who are their original addressees. The Quran has been revealed in Arabic language. It uses the words, terms, style, and diction of Arabic. While approaching the Quran one is required to understand its language as Arabic language has to be understood. The meanings of the Quranic words, phrases, idioms, and literal or metaphorical expressions are to be understood in the same manner as they were understood by those to whom the Quran was originally and primarily addressed. Later semantic developments have to be ignored in this respect. It could best be understood by an example.

The Quran uses the word “fiqh” and its various declinations and forms in the sense of “penetrating insight, deep understanding”. Later “Fiqh” came to denote a particular Islamic discipline which deals with a whole system of rules and regulations derived from the Quran and the Sunnah governing overt human acts in their entirety. This concept of “fiqh”, though closely related to the Quran in the sense that it is the result of application of “penetrating insight” into the Quran, would have to be ignored while understanding and interpreting the Quranic word ‘fiqh’. This highlights the inevitability of a firm grip over the Arabic language for interpreting the Quran. It is no denying the importance of Quranic renderings into other languages which at their best could convey a rudimentary knowledge of the Quranic message and a familiarity with its basic concepts, values and ultimate objectives and the demands that it makes upon man in the sphere of belief and action. But there ends the function and significance and need of the translation and it is no mean an achievement.

Obviously howsoever brilliant, close, faithful and judicious a translation be it conveys a personal understanding of a particular individual and would be invariably conditioned by the translator’s level of understanding, knowledge of Arabic, academic achievements, the times and milieu he is living