Professor, writer, translator and activist best known for his translation of the Quran: First American Version (1985). Dr Irving who accepted Islam in 1950s and took the name Al Hajj Ta'lim Nasr learned and taught at universities across Canada and America and retired as a professor of Spanish and Arabic in 1980. He then served as the dean of the American Islamic College, Chicago (1981 - 1986). Dr. Irving authored a number of books and was considered a leading expert on the Arab-Islamic period in Spanish history with his book Falcon Spain. This was a Spain under Muslim rule, with a special emphasis on the Umayyad ruler, Abdur Rahman I, who Irving considered a 'great statesman.' He also wrote a number of other articles and essays published in various journals. Dr Irving was awarded Pakistan's Sitara-e-Imtiaz Award (Star of Excellence), in 1983, for his services to Islam. Thomas Ballantyne Irving, once a fixture of Muslim conventions, was born in Preston, Ontario, Canada and died in his Mississippi home suffering from Alzheimer's disease.