A J. Arberry

Arthur John Arberry was a prominent British scholar specializing in Arabic literature, Persian studies, and Islamic studies. Born on May 12, 1905, in Portsmouth, he was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge. Arberry’s notable achievements include serving as the Head of the Department of Classics at Cairo University and later becoming the Assistant Librarian at the Library of the India Office. During World War II, he worked as a Postal Censor in Liverpool and then joined the Ministry of Information. Arberry held the Chair of Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and eventually became the Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. He is well-known for his English translation of the Qur’an, “The Koran Interpreted,” which is widely appreciated by academics worldwide. Additionally, he introduced Rumi’s works to the West and translated significant works of Arabic poetry. Arberry passed away on October 2, 1969, in Cambridge.