'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali is most famous for his monumental English translation of the Qur'an, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, later published, printed and distributed on an unprecendented scale. Born in Gujrat, India to a Bohra family (a mercantile community in India), Yusuf 'Ali belonged to both East and West, had an abiding faith in the British, acting as a publicist for the Allied cause. In his childhood, he became well-versed in Arabic, and later went to an English school. At 19, he obtained a first-class degree in Classics and that won him a scholarship to England, where his relationship with the British Empire began. He wrote extensively on social, political and historical issues, as well as articles and reviews on Islam, in various journals. But it was his translation and commentary of the Qur'an now available in countless editions which stands out as the most widely circulated work of 20th century Islamic scholarship. Despite his public acclaim, Yusuf 'Ali died a lonely man. He was found on a cold winter as a confused old man outside a house in Westminster, England. The police took him to a home for the elderly, but days later, on 9 December 1953, he died of heart attack.
