On Tuesday 5th March the Muslim Institute teamed up with publishers W. W. Norton & Company to host Bruce Lawrence and M.A.R. Habib for the London launch of their new ground-breaking publication The Qur’an: A Verse Translation.

The event, open to Muslim Institute fellows and the public, took place in the beautiful surroundings of the library at Conway Hall, central London. The chair, Farhana Mayer, engaged the two authors in an introductory conversation, interspersed by readings from their new translation. This gave the audience a fascinating insight into their 10 year endeavour to render the Qur’an into verse.

The conversation was followed by an audience Q&A that made for a wide-ranging and deep engagement with the speakers and their newly wrought text.

M.A.R. Habib is a Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University. Among his many books is a volume of poetry, Shades of Islam: Poems for a New Century (2010). He lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Bruce B. Lawrence is the Marcus Family Humanities Professor of Religion Emeritus at Duke University and adjunct professor at the Alliance of Civilizations Institute, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of sixteen books about Islam, including The Koran in English: A Biography (2017). He lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Farhana Mayer is a published author in her field of Qur’anic Hermeneutics. Her latest publication An Introduction to Qur’anic Ecology and Resonances with Laudato Si’ (Laudato Si’ Research Institute | Randeree Charitable Trust, 2023) compares Qur’anic principles applicable to integral ecology with the themes of Pope Francis’ ecological epistle Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Her earlier publications include: Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur'an Commentary Ascribed to Ja`far al-Sadiq (Louisville, Fons Vitae, 2011) and Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries: On the Nature of the Divine with F. Hamza and S. Rizvi (Oxford, Oxford University Press | Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2008). Her recent research at Oxford University explores a Qur’anic perspective on the qualitative and ontological relationship between God and humankind. Farhana was formerly a lecturer in Sufism at SOAS (2010–2012) and also at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (in Sufism and Qur’anic Exegesis), where she headed the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (2012–2015). She has a long-standing involvement in interfaith dialogue and promoting understanding and cooperation.

www.musliminstitute.org