text: With relations between the West and the Islamic world worsening rapidly, a better understanding of Islam and its roots is badly needed in the West.  
  
  One major barrier between understanding Islamic culture is the key sacred text, the Q'uran, has been little studied in the West, and until recently, good translations were unavailable.  Many Qurans were translated into the same sort of english as the King James Bible, and not a glint of the Quran's revevered poetic beauty was reflected in such translations.
  
  Thankfully, better translations in modern English are being made by leading Islamic scholars who have a more sensitive ear to the poetry of the Quran, as well as a better understanding of the influence and appeal this text has for believing Muslims.  
  
  Like all great works of literature, especially a poetic one like the Quran, its power and beauty can only be appreciated in its original language.  This is why Muslims often say the Quran is untranslateable, but when one hears a verse of the Quran being sung aloud with a little knowledge of Arabic, the beauty (while unfortunately not fully understandable) does start to become apparent.  
  
  But, even in translation, when read carefully the Quran still has great beauty from a literary viewpoint.  The most beautiful part of the Quran in my view is the 'Light' surah, which compares God to a light whose glory fills the entire cosmos.  This surah has been a favourite with Sufis, Islamic theologians like Al-Ghazzali, and also Muslim philosophers as well.  
  
  While the Quran does contain descriptions of violence and its style is often difficult to read for the Westerner, it is important to study this work with patience and try and see it as an organic whole rather than a fragmented jumble of poems.  It is in this sense the deep underlying unity of the Quran and its theology (which reflects the unity of Allah, the divinity in Islam) becomes apparent, especially in the names of God.  
  
  A good knowledge of this religious classic is becoming indispensible in a world where Islam is becoming more important to understand from a global perspective
  