New Books Network Shawkat M. Toorawa, "The Devotional Qur'an: Beloved Surahs and Verses" (Yale UP, 2025)
Dec 5, 2025
Shawkat M. Toorawa, Brand Blanshard Professor of Near Eastern Languages at Yale and author of The Devotional Qur'an, discusses his multilingual roots and how they shaped his literary journey. He shares insights on translating key surahs, focusing on musicality and emotional resonance. Toorawa explains the curated selection of verses based on devotional use and the book's intended audiences, including Anglophone Muslims. He also reflects on the contemporary relevance of the Qur'an's apocalyptic themes and its moral teachings.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
How His Academic Path Began
- Shawkat M. Toorawa describes choosing Arabic at Penn after being urged by faculty and mentors.
- He recounts how multicultural childhood and advisors shaped his scholarly path toward literature and translation.
Sound Shapes Translation Choices
- Toorawa realized most translations miss the Quran's sonority and rhyme, and this shaped his approach.
- He began translating short surahs to foreground sound, rhythm, and musicality in English.
Building The Devotional Corpus
- He explains assembling the book by selecting surahs used devotionally and checking prayer books worldwide.
- Peer feedback led him to add Surah Mulk late in the project under community pressure.
