George Sale

George Sale (1697, Canterbury, Kent, England – 1736, London, England) was an Orientalist and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Qur'an into English. He was also author of The General Dictionary, in ten volumes, folio.

He was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and in 1720 became a student of the Inner Temple. It is known that he trained as a solicitor in his early years but took time off from his legal pursuits, returning at need to his profession. Sale was an early member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Sale became seriously ill with fever for eight days before his death, and died at Surrey Street, The Strand, on November 13, 1736. Sale was buried at St. Clement Danes. His family consisted of a wife and five children.

He took the time to apply himself in the study of the eastern and other languages, both ancient and modern. Carolus Dadichi, the king's interpreter, helped Sale in his studies of oriental dialects. Sale reputedly spent 25 years in Arabia, thus acquiring his knowledge of the Arabic language and customs; this was the basis of Voltaire's statements in the Dictionnaire Philosophique (articles ‘Alcoran,’ ‘Arot and Marot’). On the other hand, Harold Lyon Thomson, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, stated that he never left his native country.

In 1734, Sale published the translation of the Qur'an, dedicated to John Lord Carteret. Sale provided numerous notes and a "Preliminary Discourse" which was manifest with in-depth knowledge of Eastern habits, manners, traditions, and laws. Voltaire bestowed high praise on Sale's version of the Qur'an. Sale did not, however, place Islam at an equal level with Christianity. He stated,

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