George Sale, 1680–1736, an English lawyer and a learned Orientalist, was a contributor (of the cosmogony, Oriental papers, &c.) to the “Universal History,” to the “General Dictionary, Historical and Critical,” and to other works, but is best known by his “Translation from the Original Arabick, with Explanatory Notes, taken from the Most Approved Commentators, with a Preliminary Discourse, of the Koran, commonly called the Alcoran, of Mahomed,” Lon., 1734, 4to.

Personal

  The learned Sale, who first gave the world a genuine version of the Koran, and who had so zealously laboured in forming that “Universal History” which was the pride of our country, pursued his studies through a life of want—and this great orientalist (I grieve to degrade the memoirs of a man of learning by such mortifications), when he quitted his studies too often wanted a change of linen, and often wandered in the streets in search of some compassionate friend who would supply him with the meal of the day!

General

  Our honest and learned translator, Sale,… who is half a Mussulman…. Sale had accurately studied the language and character of his author.

  Sale’s chief work, on which his claim to remembrance principally rests, is his version of the Koran. This first appeared in November 1734, in a quarto volume, and was dedicated to Lord Carteret. While apologising for delay in its publication, he stated that the work “was carried on at leisure times only, amidst the necessary avocations of a troublesome profession.” As a translator, he had the field almost entirely to himself. The only full translation of the Koran in any modern language previously published was the despicable French version by André Du Ryer, issued in 1649. A very poor English rendering of Du Ryer’s from French was issued by Alexander Ross (1590–1654) in London in the same year. Despite a few errors, Sale’s translation is remarkably accurate. Throughout he has made full use of native commentators, as regards both the interpretation of the text and its illustration in the notes. It may perhaps be regretted that he did not preserve the division into verses, as Savary has since done, instead of connecting them into a continuous narrative. Some of the poetical spirit is unavoidably lost by Sale’s method. But his version remains the best in any language. His translation was reprinted in octavo in 1764, 1795, 1801, and frequently afterwards…. Voltaire wrote in the “Dictionnaire Philosophique” that “the learned Sale had at last enlightened us by a faithful translation of the Alcoran, and a most instructive preface to it.” Sale’s preliminary discourse and notes display a remarkable acquaintance not only with the works of European writers upon mohammedanism and its history, but also with native Arab literature. The preface and notes are still reckoned among the best sources of information with regard to the faith of Islam and the mohammedan peoples.