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George Sale

جورج سيل

Notable figure 1697–1736 · Source: Najib al-Aqiqi, al-Mustashriqun, 3rd ed. (Cairo: Dar al-Maʿarif, 1964), vol. 2, p. 471; Yahya Murad, Muʿjam asmaʾ al-mustashriqin, p. 710 · Second source: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, GND authority record: Sale, George (1697-1736)

Field: Translation

Affiliation

Translator of the Qurʾan into English (1734)

Biography

A lawyer who studied Arabic in his spare time, he built up a large collection of Arabic manuscripts, later placed in the Oxford libraries. He helped revise the Arabic New Testament printed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (London, 1726), translated the Qurʾan into English (London, 1734), a version reprinted many times, and wrote the articles on the Arabs in an English general dictionary.