Marmaduke Pickthall was a Western Islamic scholar noted for his English translation of the Quran. A convert from Christianity, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and religious leader. As a schoolboy at Harrow School, Pickthall was a classmate and friend of Winston Churchill. Pickthall travelled across many Eastern countries,. Before declaring his faith as a Muslim, Pickthall was a strong ally of the Ottoman Empire. He studied the Orient, and published articles and novels on the subject. While in the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Pickthall published his English translation of the Quan with the title 'The Meaning of the Glorious Quran'. The translation was authorised by the Al-Azhar University in Egypt. Pickthall died in 1936 and buried in the Muslim section at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England, where Abdullah Yusuf Ali was later buried.