Alessandro Bausani ’s translation and commentary on the ( ) represents a landmark in Islamic studies, blending linguistic precision with a deep, empathetic understanding of the religious and cultural history of the Middle East. The Significance of Bausani’s Scholarship
For students, researchers, or those interested in interfaith dialogue, the "Bausani edition" is the primary reference point in the Italian-speaking world. Bausani Il Corano.pdf
The central thesis of Bausani’s introduction and his notes throughout Il Corano is the acknowledgment of the Quran’s structural inimitability (i‘jāz). Classical Islamic doctrine holds that the Quran is a miracle of language; its rhymed prose (saj‘), its abrupt syntactic shifts, and its phonetic density cannot be reproduced. Traditional Western translators—from Rodwell to Pickthall—often smoothed over these features to produce fluent, readable prose. Bausani, however, embraced the roughness. Alessandro Bausani ’s translation and commentary on the
Scholarly Introduction: You can find a detailed analysis and introduction to Bausani's work in this scholarly PDF from IRIS (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia). He uses footnotes to explain obscure Arabic terms
It is important to remember that Bausani published his first edition in 1955, during a period of decolonization and intense Western reconsideration of the “Orient.” Italy, with its colonial past in Libya and the Horn of Africa, was grappling with its identity. Bausani’s translation was an act of intellectual decolonization. He rejected the Orientalist habit of dismissing Quranic repetitions as “monotonous” or its legal passages as “primitive.” Instead, he showed that the repetitive structure is a liturgical device: a verbal rhythm designed for recitation (tajwīd), not silent reading.
The PDF usually presents the text in a specific format:
Alessandro Bausani’s 1955 translation of the Qur’an is recognized as a seminal Italian version, prized for its philological rigor and deep literary understanding of the text. It remains a critical academic and cultural resource, characterized by detailed commentary and a scholarly introduction that provides essential theological context. For a deeper look at the scholarly impact of this work, see the academic review at Academia.edu