Denise Masson: A Translator of Quran, A Pioneer of Interfaith Dialogue
She was born into a wealthy family in Paris on August 5, 1901 and died on November 1994.
Her father was a famous lawyer who collected historical art and she inherited his love for historical art.
Her mother was a pianist who played the piano at art circles and in parks.
Because of Denise's illness, the family had to move to Algeria, then a French colony. There she began living among Arabs and learning the Arabic language.
After her parents’ divorce in 1925, she chose seclusion and settled in a church, studying holy books.
She became a nun and a nurse and then began to study Orientalism.
After learning Arabic well, Denise translated the Holy Book of Islam into French and had the Gallimard publishing house, one of the best known in France, publish 1,000 copies of the translation.
Out of humility, and because it was unusual for a woman to study Orientalism and translate the Quran, Denise did not print her name on the translation and only had a "D" printed on the cover of the book.
Many researchers and scholars consider her Quran translation to contain a deep understanding of the Quran and Islam, to be fluent and easy to understand, and to have spirituality. Lebanese thinker Subhi Salih has described it as the best translation that remains faithful to the meanings of the Quran.
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French Orientalist Jean Grosjean writes in a preface to a book by Masson that the Quran is a miracle, wondering if a translator of the Quran can repeat the miracle.
He says it seems that Masson has managed to do it through her patience in relating to the meanings and conveying them.
In her translation, Masson used some Quran interpretations such as Al-Kashshaaf by Zamakhshari, Anwar al-Tanzil by Baydhawi and Tafsir al-Jalalayn by Suyuti.
In the long preface to the translation, she explains the similarities and differences between the Quran, the Torah, and the Bible. There are also many footnotes in her translation explaining the possible ambiguities.
Her translation was praised for its simple style and for its literary features.
According to Islamologist Félix Arin, she has felt the Quran in French in her work and that is what distinguishes it from other translations done for academic purposes.
In 1977, Masson’s translation, which was published in Beirut along with the original Arabic, was lauded by Al-Azhar scholars as a “unique effort for translating the Quran”.
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Masson said her deep respect for Muslims’ Holy Book was her main motivation for translating it, adding that she made every effort to remain faithful to the original meaning and the features of the style of the Quran.
In 1938, Denise Masson began living in a building next to a park in a city in west of Morocco. The park has been named after her now.
She was a supporter of the national movement of Morocco that strived for the liberation of the Arab country from French colonialism.
She also organized a conference on dialogue among religions and civilizations.
She was a respected figure among Muslim scholars and personalities.
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