M. I. Verevkin’s Translation of the Qur’ān (1790) — the Pearl of the Russian Enlightenment
https://doi.org/10.22311/2074-1529-2026-22-2-23-54
Abstract
The study is devoted to M. I. Verevkin’s translation of the Qur’ān (1790) — a landmark work of the Russian Enlightenment that had a decisive infl uence on the reception of the Qur’ān in Russia in the late 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries. Based on the classic French edition of the Qur’ān by A. du Ryer, M. I. Verevkin’s work refl ected the fundamental principles of the source text: a focus on a secular interpretation of the meanings of the Muslim Holy Scripture and a distancing from the polemical paradigm. On the other hand, the work on the translation of the Qur’ān provided M. I. Verevkin, one of the founders of the Russian literary language, with a unique opportunity to demonstrate that the language norm established by Russian Enlighteners can express profound religious and philosophical meanings.
About the Author
D. V. MukhetdinovRussian Federation
Damir V. Mukhetdinov, Dr. Sci. (Theol.), rector; head at the Department
Department of Religious Studies
109382; 12, Kirov Lane; Moscow
References
1. Al Koran Magomedov, perevedennyi s arabskogo jazyka na angliiskii. S priobshheniem k kazhdoi glave na vse temnye mesta iz”jasnitel’nykh i istoricheskikh primechanii, vybrannykh iz samyh dostoverneishikh istorikov i arabskikh tolkovatelei Al Korana Georgiem Seilem, i s prisovokupleniem obstoiatel’nogo i podrobnogo opisaniia zhizni lzheproroka Magomeda, sochinennogo slavnym doktorom Prido [The Al- Koran of Magomedov, translated from Arabic into English. With explanatory and historical notes for each chapter, covering all obscure passages, selected from the most reliable historians and Arabic commentators on the Al- Koran by George Sale, and with the addition of a detailed and comprehensive account of the life of the false prophet Muhammad, composed by the renowned Dr. H. Prideaux]. (1792). G. Sale; A. Kolmakov (transl. from English into Russian). St Petersburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk Publ. In 2 vol. Vol. 1. [2], XXXII, [2], 120, 194, 164 p.; Vol. 2. [2], 293, [1], 192 p. (In Russian)
2. Alekseev P. V. (2013). “Le Coran” Savary kak istochnik “Podrazhaniy Korana” A. S. Pushkina [“Le Coran” Savary as Source of A. S. Pushkin’s “Imitations of the Qur’ ān]. Sibirskiy fi lologicheskiy zhurnal [Siberian Journal of Philology]. No. 3, pp. 36–43. (In Russian)
3. Alekseev P. V. (2015). Koran kak istochnik liroepicheskikh form i metatekstovyh struktur russkogo orientalizma XIX veka [Koran as a Source of Lyric- Epical Forms and Meta- Textual Structures of Russian Orientalism of the XIX Century]. Al’manah sovremennoi nauki i obrazovaniia [Almanac of Modern Science and Education]. No. 12(102), pp. 11–13. (In Russian)
4. Alkoran o Magomete, ili Zakon turetskii [Al- Koran of Mahomet, or the Turkish Law]. (2022). Transl. from French; Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation; Moscow Islamic Institute; St Petersburg State University. Reprint edition of 1716. Moscow: ID “Medina” Publ. 350 p. (In Russian)
5. Alkoran o Magomete ili Zakon turetskii. Prevedenyi s frantsuzskogo iazyka na rossiiskii / Napechatasia poveleniem tsarskago velichestva. V Sankt”piter”burgskoi tipografi i, dekabr’ 1716 [Al- Koran of Mahomet, or the Turkish Law. The Qur’an Translated from French into Russian / Printed by order of the Tsar’s Majesty. At St Petersburg Printing Houses, December 1716]. (1716). (In Russian)
6. Cantemir D. K. (1722). Kniga Sistima, ili sostoianie mukhammedanskiia religii / Napechatasia poveleniem ego velichestva Petra Velikago imperatora i samoderzhtsa vserossiiskago. SPb.: V tipografi i tsarstvuiushchago Sankt”piterburkha, 22 dek. 1722 [The Book of Sistima or the Condition of the Muhammadan Religion / Printed by order of the Tsar’s Majesty. At St Petersburg Printing Houses, 22 December 1722]. [4], 5, 12, 8, 379 p. (In Russian)
7. Cantemir D. K. (2025). Kniga Sistima, ili Opisanie musul’manskoi religii [The Book of Systima, or Description of the Muslim Religion]. Moscow: Izdatel’skii dom “Medina” Publ. 536 p. (In Russian)
8. Hamilton A. (2005). The Quran in early modern Europe. Oostersche weelde: De Oriënt in westerse kunst en cultuur: met een keuze uit de verzamelingen van de Leidse Universiteitsbibliotheek. Leiden: Primavera Pers., pp. 131–143.
9. Hamilton A., Richard F. (2004). André Du Ryer and Oriental Studies in Seventeenth-Century France. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 192 p.
10. Hazard P. (1935). La Crise de la conscience européenne (1680–1715). Paris: Boivin et Cie, pp. 15–19. (In French)
11. Istoriia Turetskaia, nachinaia vremenami, kak ona sostavilas’, do zamireniia mezhdu Sultanom Karlom VI, v 1740 godu, sochinennaia Abbatom Minyotom; perevel s frantsuzskogo M. Verevkin. V 4 ch. [The History of Turkey, from Its Foundation to the Peace Concluded with Sultan Charles VI in 1740, Written by Abbot Minyot; Translated from the French by M. Verevkin. In 4 Parts]. (1789). St Petersburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk Publ. (In Russian)
12. Karimullin A. G. (1992). U istokov tatarskoi knigi: ot nachala vozniknoveniia do 60-kh godov XIX v. [Karimullin A. G. At the origins of the Tatar book. From the Beginning of the Emergence to the 60<sup>s</sup> of the 19<sup>th</sup> Century]. Kazan: Tatarskoe knizhnoe izdatel’stvo Publ. 206, [2] p. (In Russian)
13. Kashtaleva K. S. (1930). «Podrazhaniia Koranu» Pushkina i ikh pervoistochnik [Pushkin’s “Imitations of the Qur’ān” and Their Original Source]. Zapiski Kollegii vostokovedov pri Aziatskom muzee Akademii nauk SSSR [Proceedings of the College of Orientalists at the Asiatic Museum of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR]. Leningrad. Vol. 5, pp. 243–270. (In Russian)
14. Kniga Al-Koran aravlyanina Magometa, kotoryi v shestom stoletii vydal onuyu za nisposlannuyu k nemu s nebes, sebya zhe poslednim i velichayshim iz prorokov Bozhiikh : Perevod s aravskogo na frantsuzskiy yazyk Andreya dyu-Ryuera-de-la-Gard- Malezera <…> Pechatana v Amsterdame i Leyptsige v 1770 godu, po-rossiyski zhe perelozhena, Moskovskogo namestnichestva, Klinskoy okrugi, v sel’tse Mikhaleve [The Book of the Al-Koran of the Arabian Muhammad, Who in the 6<sup>th</sup> Century Presented It as Revealed to Him from Heaven and Himself as the Last and Greatest of God’s Prophets : Translated from Arabic into French by André du Ryer de La Garde Malézair <…>; Printed in Amsterdam and Leipzig in 1770 and Rendered into Russian in the Village of Mikhalevo, Klin District, Moscow Vicegerency]. (1790). St Petersburg. Vol. 1–2. (In Russian)
15. L’Alcoran de Mahomet, translaté d’arabe en francois. Par le sieur Du Ryer, sieur de la Garde Malezair. (1647). Paris: Antoine de Sommaville. 708 p. (In French)
16. L’Alcoran de Mahomet. Translaté d’Arabe en François. Par le Sieur du Ryer. Paris: Antoine de Sommaville. (1649). 686 p. (In French)
17. Osson I. M. de. (1795). Polnaiia kartina Ottomanskiia imperii : V dvukh chastyakh : Pervaiia zamykaet v sebe zakonopolozhenie magometanstva; drugaiia istoriiu Ottomanskiia imperii [A Complete Description of the Ottoman Empire : In Two Parts: The First Containing the Laws of Islam, the Second the History of the Ottoman Empire]. St Petersburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk Publ. (In Russian)
18. Mazaev M. N. (1892). Verevkin (Mikhail Ivanovich) [Verevkin (Mikhail Ivanovich)]. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ Brokgauza i Efrona [Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]. Vol. VI: Ventsano — Vinona, p. 20. (In Russian)
19. Manassein P. (1830). Ad i rai Magometov [Muhammad’s Heaven and Hell]. Tsarskoe Selo: al’manakh na 1830 god / Izdan N. Konshinym i B. Rozenom [Tsarskoe Selo: Almanac for the Year 1830 / Edited by N. Konshin and B. Rosen]. St Petersburg: Tipografi ia Plyushara Publ., pp. 39–48. (In Russian)
20. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2021). Ocherk istorii traditsii perevodov Korana na slavyanskie yazyki v intellectual’nom prostranstve Vostochnoy Evropy XVI–XVIII vv.: Rech’ Pospolitaiia, tsarstvo Russkoe, Rossiyskaia imperiia [The Slavic Qur’an Translation of the 16<sup>th</sup>-18<sup>th</sup> Centuries: Poland and Russia]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 17. No. 3, pp. 45–82. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2021-45-82
21. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2021). Ocherk istorii traditsii perevodov Korana na russkii yazyk v XIX — seredine XX vv.: vekhi i perspektivy [The History of Russian Qur’аn Translations (19<sup>th</sup> Century — Middle 20<sup>th</sup> Century). Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 17. No. 4, pp. 41–62. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2021-17-4-41-62
22. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2024). Istoriia islama Rossii : monograpfiia [A History of Russia’s Islam : A Monography]. 2<sup>nd</sup> edition, revised and expanded. Moscow: ID “Medina” Publ. 344 p. (In Russian)
23. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2024). Pervye perevody “Korana” na russkii iazyk, vypolnennye v Petrovskuiu epokhu: tekushchee sostoianie issledovanii i perspektivy dal’neishego izucheniia [The First Translations of the Qur’an into Russian Made in the Era of Peter the Great: The Current State of Research and Prospects for Further Study]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 20. No. 2, pp. 27–56. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2024-20-2-27-56
24. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2024). Pervyi rossiiskii islamoved Dmitrii Kantemir — provozvestnik khristiano- musul’manskogo dialoga v Vostochnoi Evrope pervoi poloviny XVIII v. [The First Russian Scholar in Islamic Studies Dmitry Cantemir — the Forerunner of the Christian- Muslim Dialogue in Eastern Europe in the First Half of the 18<sup>th</sup> Century]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 20. No. 3, pp. 27–70. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2024-20-3-27-70
25. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2025). Ekaterinskie Korany — povorotnyi punkt v istorii bytovaniia koranicheskogo teksta [Catherine’s Qur’ans: A Turning Point in the History of the Qur’anic Text.]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 21. Iss. 1, pp. 23–48. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2025-21-1-23-48
26. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2026). Innovatsionnoe issledovanie pervogo izdannogo perevoda Korana na russkii iazyk (1716 g.). Retsenziia na: Pentkovskaia T. V., Babaeva E. E. Perevod Korana Petrovskoi epokhi (M.: MAKS Press, 2022) [An Innovative Study of the First Published Qur’ān Translation into Russian (1716). A Review of A Translation of the Quran of the Petrine Era by T. V. Pentkovskaya, E. E. Babayeva (Moscow: MAKS Press Publ., 2022)]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 22. No. 1, pp. 211–219. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2026-22-1-211-219
27. Mukhetdinov D. V. (2026). Perevod Korana na frantsuzskiy yazyk Andre dyu R’ie (1647 g.) — klyuchevoi etap rozhdeniia svetskoi retseptsii Korana v Evrope [The Translation of the Qur’ān into French by André du Ryer (1647): A Key Stage in the Emergence of a Secular Reception of the Qur’ān in Europe]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 22. No. 1, pp. 23–57. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2026-22-1-23-57
28. Pentkovskaya T. V., Babayeva E. E. (2022). Perevod Korana Petrovskoi epokhi [A Translation of the Quran of the Petrine Era]. Moscow: MAKS Press Publ. 800 p. (In Russian); DOI: 10.29003/m33010.978-5-317-006849-3
29. Pervoe tyurko- tatarskoe pechatnoe izdanie v Rossii : manifest Petra I 1722 goda [The First Turkic- Tatar Printed Publication in Russia : The Manifesto of Peter the Great of 1722]. (2010). I. G. Khadiev (compil.); M. A. Usmanov (sci. ed.). Kazan: Tatar. kn. izd-vo. 117 p. (In Russian)
30. Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiyskoy imperii. Sobranie pervoe. S 1649 po 12 dek. 1825 g. [Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. First Series. From 1649 to 12 December]. (1830–1851). Vols. XVI, XIX, XX, XXII. St Petersburg: V tipografi i Vtorogo otdeleniia Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva kantseliarii Publ. (In Russian)
31. Postnikov P. V. (2026). Alkoran ili zakon magometanskii [Al- Koran or the Mohammedan Law]. Moscow Islamic Institute; D. V. Mukhetdinov (introductory article, sci. ed.). Moscow: Izdatel’skii dom “Medina” Publ. 448 p. (In Russian)
32. Prideaux H. (1697). The true nature of imposture fully displayed in the life of Mahomet… London: Printed for William Rogers. [8], 192 p.
33. Pushkin A. S. (1826). Podrazhaniya Koranu [Imitations of the Qur’ān]. Stikhotvoreniia [Poems]. St Petersburg: V Tipografi i Departamenta Narodnogo Prosveshcheniia Publ., pp. 175–189. (In Russian)
34. Rotchev A. G. (1828). Podrazhanie Koranu [Imitation of the Qur’ān]. Moscow: Tipografi ya Avgusta Semena Publ. 31 p. (In Russian)
35. Safiullin Ya. G. (1998). Ob istochnikakh “Podrazhanii Koranu” Pushkina [On the Sources of Pushkin’s “Imitations of the Qur’an”]. A. S. Pushkin i vzaimodeistvie natsional’nykh literatur i iazykov : tez. Mezhdunar. nauch. konf., posviashch. 200-letiiu so dnia rozhd. A. S. Pushkina. Kazan’ [A. S. Pushkin and the Interaction of National Literatures and Languages: Abstracts of the International Scientific Conference dedicated to the 200<sup>th</sup> Anniversary of the Birth of A. S. Pushkin]. Kazan: UNIPRESS Publ., pp. 65–66. (In Russian)
36. Samarin A. Yu. (2015). Deyatelnostʼ “Aziatskoi tipografi i” I. K. Shnora (1785–1797) v svete novoi arkhivnoi nakhodki [The Activities of “the Asian Printing House” by I. K. Shnor (1785–1797) in the Light of a New Archival Discovery]. Tipografshhiki I knigochety [Typographers and Book Readers]. Moscow: Pashkov dom Publ., pp. 244–252. (In Russian)
37. Slovar’ Akademii Rossiyskoi [Dictionary of the Russian Academy]. (1789–1794). St Petersburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk Publ. In 6 vols. [5] p., 1064, [4] column, [62] p. (In Russian)
38. Tupikov N. M. (1895). Mikhail Ivanovich Verevkin : Istoriko-literaturnyi ocherk [Mikhail Ivanovich Verevkin : A Historical and Literary Sketch]. St Petersburg. 31 p. (In Russian)
39. Valiev G. V. (2026). Perevody tekstov, prilagaiuschikhsia k izdaniiu frantsuzkogo perevoda Korana A. diu R’e (izdanie 1649 g.) [Translations of the Texts Accompanying the 1649 Edition of André du Ryer’s French Translation of the Qur’ān]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 22. Iss. 1, pp. 223–232. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2026-22-1-223-232
40. Veltman A. (1829). Megemmed («Nisshel prorok, poslannik novyi neba…» [“A New Prophet, Messenger of Heaven, Descended…”]). Moskovskii telegraf [Moscow Telegraph]. No. 5, p. 45. (In Russian)
41. Vladimirov V. V. (1867). Istoricheskaia zapiska o 1-i Kazanskoi gimnazii. XVIII stoletie [Historical Note on the First Kazan Gymnasium. Eighteenth Century]. Kazan: Universitetskaia tipografi ia Publ. Part I. [4], 162 p. (In Russian)
42. Yakubovich L. (1829). Iz Al- Korana, glava XCI [From Al- Koran, Chapter XCI]. Atenei [Athenaeum]. Moscow. No. 6. Part 2. (In Russian)
43. Zapiski Maksimiliana Betyuna gertsoga Syulli, pervago ministra Genrikha IV: Privedennyia v poryadok i primechaniyami snabdennyia, noveyshago vnov’ prosmotrennago i ispravlennago izdaniia v Londone / Na rossiyskii zhe yazyk s frantsuzskago prelozhennyia, i potom v 1770–1776 godu napechatannyia, po vsevysochayshemu poveleniiu [Memoirs of Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, First Minister of Henry IV: Arranged and Annotated from the Latest Revised and Corrected London Edition; Translated from French into Russian and Published in 1770–1776 by Supreme Imperial Command]. (1770–1776). Moscow: Pri Imperatorskom Moskovskom Universitete Publ. In 10 vols. (In Russian)
44. Zaytsev I. V. (2025). Neizbezhnost’ klassiki, ili Zachem nuzhno chitat’ starye knigi. Retsenziia na: Kantemir D. K. «Kniga Sistima, ili Opisanie musul’manskoi religii» (ID «Medina», 2025) [The Inevitability of Classics, or Why We Need to Read Rare Books. A Book Review of Dmitry Cantemir «The Book of Sistima, or the Description of the Muslim Religion» (ID «Medina» Publ., 2025)]. Islam v sovremennom mire [Islam in the modern world]. Vol. 21. No. 2, pp. 221–226. (In Russian); DOI: 10.22311/2074-1529-2025-21-2-221-226
45. Zorin A. L. (2001). Kormia dvuglavogo orla. Russkaia literatura i gosudarstvennaia ideologiia v poslednei treti XVIII — pervoi treti XIX veka [Feeding the Double-Headed Eagle: Russian Literature and State Ideology in the Last Third of the Eighteenth and the First Third of the 19<sup>th</sup> Century]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ. 414, [1] p. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Mukhetdinov D.V. M. I. Verevkin’s Translation of the Qur’ān (1790) — the Pearl of the Russian Enlightenment. Islam in the modern world. 2026;22(2):23-54. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22311/2074-1529-2026-22-2-23-54
JATS XML


















