Title: Article on Translation of Quran

Submitted to: Dr. Farhat Mehr

Submitted by: Group 1

Group Members:

1. Dur e Shahwar 2344-FLL/MAENG/F19

2. Shehr Bano- 2355-FLL/MAENG/F19
3. Sidra- -FLL/MAENG/F18
4. Rida Zahra- 2323-FLL/MAENG/F19
5. Jawaher Ahmed- 2402-FLL/MAENG/F19

Dated by: May 1st 2021

Quran comes from an ''Arabic'' word ‫راء‬333‫ ق‬means both ‘’recitation'' and
''reading''. Similarly, Quran is both orally recited and written down in book form.
Quran is the Muslim scripture that is revealed on Prophet Muhammad(SAW) by
Allah through the agency the angel Gabriel(A.S).It is revealed partly in Mecca and
partly in Madina. The Quran is composed of 114 parts or chapters of unequal
length. Each chapter is called Surah and each sentence or phrase is called Ayah.
Quran is not revealed in a linear sequence instead it is revealed according to the
situation as the first Surah which is revealed on Prophet Muhammad (Saw) is
Surah Al Alaq but the first Surah of Quran is Surah Al Fatiha. Similarly the last
Ayah that is revealed on Prophet Muhammad SAW is from Surah Al Maidah
declaring the completion of Deen. But the last Surah of Quran is Surah al Nas.
Quran is divided in to 30 parts by scholars after the death of Prophet Muhammad
(SAW).
Quran is a special book and thus its translation must also be handled with great
care. Scholars have spent lives in debating the issue of translatability of Quran.
This paper intends to investigate the history of Quranic translations and to
explicate the resistance faced by translators. It shall encompass the special features
of Quran that make it uniquely inimitable. We shall also discuss the standards set
by authorities for translating the Holy Book.

LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF QURAN (Sheher Bano)

At the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW they were 17 different forms of Arabic
language. The unique aspect of Quran is that it doesn’t confirm to any of these
formats or pattern like poetry, prose, rhymed prose or rhetoric. Quran is written
in a unique literary form it is not written either in poetry or prose. It cannot be
called by any other name. Quran is written in dense highly allusive and elliptical
speech. Even some terms have no exact counterpart. So Quran challenges the
Arab to bring something which is comparable to it.

'' If you doubt any part of what we have bestowed from high step by step Upon our servant
(Muhammad SAW) then produce a Surah of similar merit.''

At that time Arab were the masters of language. They have understood the
challenge. But they were unable to respond. So Quran still retains the position of
being a unique form of language.
Rhythm in Quran:-
Quran is not poetry but we find rythm at the end of the verses Rhyming pattern
changes with the beginning of a new topic .
Example:-

Here in first 7 verses instructions are given to Muhammad SAW and the last word
of all ayahs is rhyming to eachother. In 8th verse Allah reminded us when the
trumpet will be blown it marks the beginning of new topic and the rhyming scheme
is also changed.
Interconnection in Quran:-
Sarah al fatiha is the first Sarah of Quran. And Sarah al Naas is the
last Sarah.

An interconnection between the first and last Surah of Quran is found.In the first
verse of Sarah Al fatiha. Allah is addressed as Master of Nations. In the first verse
of last Sarah Allah is called as lord of people.In Sarah al Fatiha Allah is called as
Master of the day of judgment.In Surah al Naas Allah is addressed as the Master
of people.

In third ayah Surah al Fatiha it is said that we worship You and we are in need of
Your help.In Surah al Naas He is declared as the Ilah of people (the One who is
worshipped)
In Surah al fatiha we pray to guide us towards right path. In Surah al Nass we are
seeking the help from inside negativity. So in Surah al Fatiha guidance is needed
for out side influences and in surah al Naas refuge is asked from internal
influences. All the ayahs of first and last Surah of Quran are corresponding to each
other.

Use of literary device Palindrome in Quran:-

In Surah al Mudassar it is said'' Declare the greatness only of your Lord''.

‫ و‬Letter stands for capital letter..First and last letters are the same. Similarly
second and second last , third and third last are identical. This backward and
forward movement is called palindrome.So the words of Quran can be translated
but the linguistic miracle of Quran is inimitable.
 Levels in Understanding the Quran
(JawaherAhmed)

The Quran is perfect. It covers every aspect of life and provides valuable lessons
for all mankind in all-time. The Quran itself can be Defined as a book of guidance
for every individual in this World and there is no doubt about it, as mentioned in
the Second chapter of Al Quran in Surah Al-Baqarah: 2

“This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a Guidance for those conscious of
Allah.”
Differences in the levels of understanding of the Quran reflect the different levels
of understanding this vital source of Islam. Ibnu Qayyim (1996) highlighted That
for some groups of people, they do not need any additional references such as
Tafseer, Hadith and others To capture the meaning of the Quran. Meanwhile, for
Others, these references are needed. Ksar (2008) explained that there are many
levels of understanding of the Quran; from literal understanding to The maximum,
in-depth level of understanding. In addition, Zaid (2016) in his article
‘Understanding the Holy Quran and its level’, mentioned that the Quran had
descended in Arabic language and this fact will never Change. Therefore, in order
to understand the messages of the Quran, Muslims should learn the Arabic
language in Order to understand the messages given by Allah s.w.t. Omar (2016)
provides five levels of understanding of The Quran.
First: Tafseer An-Nusus bin Nusus (interpretation According to other verses) as
mention in Surah Ar-Rahman 55: 3-4:

“He has created man (3) He has taught him speech (and intelligence).” (4)
At this level, the interpretation is simple within the Single tiered understanding of
the verses of the Quran. The Description of interpretation is made by referring to
other Related verses in the Quran.
Second: Ta’wiilul An-Nushush (interpretation of the Allegorical statement)
which is based on: Saadah Abd Rahman et al, Sains Insani 2017, Vol.2 No.1: 61-
65

“…and teach you the interpretation of narratives.” (Al-Quran, Surah Yusuf 12: 6)
This level of interpretation interprets the verses from The Quran based on the
understanding multi-tiered Understanding on any verse that indicates ambiguity of
Meaning, such as verses of Mutasyabihaat (verses that have the possibility to be
interpreted in many ways). The Description of interpretation of this level is done
until it shows the soul of its meaning. Reference to other related Verses from the
Quran is made.
Third: Iqtithaful barakat (quoting the blessings) which is mentioned in: Al-
Quran, Surah Sad 38: 29)
“This is a blessed Book which We have revealed to You.”
This level is where the interpretation is made with the Purpose to get a blessing.
For instance, the blessing when Reading Kursi verses which can cure illnesses.

Fourth: Litadabburil Ayah (reflecting verses) based On: (Al-Quran, Surah Sad
38: 29)
“that they might reflect upon its verses.”
The interpretation of the passage from the Quran is Made at the level of interpreter
(Tafseer). First, the Interpretation is simple and focuses on single-tiered
Understanding. Then, it is explained into multi-tiered Understanding until it shows
the definition soul of Meaning referring to other related verses from the Quran.
Fifth: Litazakkuri Ulil Albab (reminder for open-Minded people and
intellectuals). The interpretation is Based on the depth of understanding of the
spiritual Meaning required: (Al-Quran, Surah Sad 38: 29)
“This is a blessed Book, which We have revealed to You, [O Muhammad], that
they might reflect upon its Verses and that those of understanding would be
Reminded.”
At this stage, verses from the Quran are interpreted at The level of scholars who
are open-minded.

Translatibility of Quran (Dur e Shahwar)

Quran is a book meant to be read and understood by all nations, a guide for the
whole mankind, irrespective of religion, races and languages. Keeping in view the
fact that there are thousands of languages in the world, even in Arabic, hundreds of
varieties, it is not possible for everyone to understand the original Arabic Quran. It
could be read again and again for His blessings, but the purpose would not be met.
Quran is not a book just to be read or learnt by heart, but it is to be read,
understood and acted upon. Without understanding the language and meaning of
Quran, one cannot grasp the essence of the message. As Allah SWT mentions in
Quran:
“It is an admonition for the whole world” (81 :27)
Inimitable Arabic Quran
Scholars who oppose the translation of Quran express their views by referring to
this ayah that is aya number 2 of the sura of Yusuf:
‘We have sent it down / as an Arabic Qur’ān’.
Here, Quran declares itself, however, to be an absolutely unique and inimitable
Arabic Qur’an the like of which cannot be reproduced in Arabic, nor, or course, in
any other language. Quran announces its languages in this ayah and that is Arabic.
Scholars base their argumentative stance on this ayah that it cannot be in any other
language except Quran. The Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another
language or form. The Qur’an could not have been revealed in a non- Arabic
tongue, for,
“If we had made it a non- Arabic (a’jami) Qur’an, they (the pagan opponents)
would have said, ‘Why are the verses not expressively spelt out? Can a dumb
Qur’an be given to an Arab?’ “(41:44)
Divine Character of Quran
Divine character of Qur’ān and the clearly human character of the hadith are
basically the reasons for these two diametrically opposed views towards translating
them. Quran is the only authentic book alive that is undoubtedly the word of Alllah
swt, the Creator of everything. His words can never be like human words as he is
Exalted above it. His words can never be reproduced or altered. As Allah SWT
says:
“If you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down onto Our servant
(Muhammad), then produce a chapter of the like thereof, and call your witnesses,
supporters, who are apart from God, if you are truthful. (al-Baqara, 2.23)
Also at many other places, Allah SWT discusses it as “Kalam ULLAH,” AND
Kitab ULLAH. Hadith has also a special status but it is not directly the word of
Allah. Human character of Hadith makes its translation, interpretation and
explanation much easier and acceptable.
Linguistic Difficulties that Lead to Untranslatibility
Lexical Problems
The major problem encountered by the translator of the Quran is the difficulty in
rendering some lexical items. One of lexical problems in translating the Holy
Quran is the lack of equivalence or the absence of the equivalent of some Islamic
terms. These terms have no direct counterpart in English, compelling the translator
to convey them in a communicative manner. The following are some examples of
these Islamic terms: taqwā (piety - ‫ تقوى‬,( kufr (disbelief – ‫ آفر‬,(shīrk (associating
other gods with God – ‫شرك‬
Metaphor
Metaphor is as ‘a word or phrase used to describe something else, in a way that is
different from its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same
qualities and to make the description more powerful’, (Oxford Advance Learner’s
Dictionary, 2010, p. 965). The use of metaphor in the Quran, along with other
rhetorical usages, is a feature of the Quranic text. Therefore, translators should not
ignore its use when attempting to translate the Quranic text (Al-Misned, 2001, p.
145). Consider this example: {‫َت ِمن‬ْ ‫ت َوأَ ْنبَت‬ ْ ‫ض هَا ِم َدةً فَإِ َذا أَ ْنزَ ْلنَا َعلَ ْيهَا ْال َما َء ا ْهتَ َّز‬
ْ َ‫ت َو َرب‬ َ ْ‫ اأْل َر‬3‫َوت ََرى‬
Thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when we pour down rain on it, it is
stirred (to life), it swells and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth in pairs.
(Yusuf Ali’s translation, 2000) (Surah al-Hajj: 5). The trembling of the earth after
a long quiescence is compared to an animal that calms down after moving. Here,
the Almighty God borrows some features from an animal to describe what happens
to the earth after it rains. In this case, the literal translation cannot convey the exact
meaning of the verse to the audience.

Ellipsis
According to al-Sāmīrāīy (1983), ellipsis refers to the omission of some parts of a
sentence that can be understood either from the surrounding text or the situation
itself. In the translation of the Holy Quran, due to the way English uses ellipsis, it
is sometimes necessary to add the elided words (which usually appear in brackets)
to complete a sentence in the translation. Sadiq (2010, p. 33) claims that the
language of the Holy Quran has many examples of ellipsis. For example,
َ ‫ } َواسْأ َ ِل ْالقَرْ يَةَ الَّتِي آُنَّا فِيهَا َو ْال ِع‬Ask at the town where we have
َ َ‫ير الَّتِي أَ ْقبَ ْلنَا فِيهَا َوإِنَّا ل‬
{ َ‫صا ِدقُون‬
been and the caravan in which we returned, and (you will find) we are indeed
telling the truth. (Yusuf Ali’s translation, 2000) (Surah Yūsūf 12: 82) In this verse,
there is a deletion or ellipsis of the word (people). The complete sentence can be
formed as ( ‫ أهل وأسال القرية‬-ask the people in the town) , but the word people is
deleted, as its deletion will not affect or change the meaning of the verse.
However, in English, it is better to retrieve the deleted word to understand the deep
meaning of the verse. Literal translation or word-for-word translation is not
applicable her

Von Denffer’s Reasons of Untraslatibility

He indicates that “[t]here is agreement among Muslim intellectuals that it is
impossible to transfer the original Qur’an word by word in an identical fashion into
another language” (p. 143). He puts forward the following three reasons for such
impossibility: -
 Words of different languages do not express all the shades of meanings of
their counterparts, though they may express specific concepts. –
 The narrowing down of the meaning of the Qur’an to specific concepts in a
foreign language would mean missing out other important dimensions. –
 The presentation of the Qur’an in a different language would therefore result
in confusion and misguidance (p. 143).
Therefore, a word-by-word Qur’ān translation, according to von Denffer (1983),
would not be sufficient. The last limitation is inadequacy of the translation to
express all the meanings of the Qur’ān in languages other than Arabic due to the
distinctive shades of meanings words carry in different languages (p. 145)
Abdul-Raof’s Analysis
He provides a comprehensive analysis of the limits of Qur’ānic translatability by
explaining the linguistic and rhetorical limitations that shackle the Qur’ān
translator. He tackles this issue from all its possible perspectives, including:
“Style, stylistic mechanism of stress, word order, cultural voids, problems of literal
translation, syntactic and semantic ambiguity problems, emotive Qur’anic
expressions, disagreement among Qur’an translators, different exegetical analyses,
morphological patterns, semantico-syntactic interrelation, semantic functions of
conjunctives, semantico-stylistic effects, prosodic and acoustic features, and most
importantly the shackles imposed by the thorny problem of linguistic and
rhetorical Qur’an-specific texture (p. 1).”
Furthermore, Abdul-Raof (2001) indicates that the translation of the Qur’ān is not,
and should not be considered as, the replacement of the original Arabic version of
the Qur’an as “we cannot produce a Latin Qur’an no matter how accurate or
professional the translator attempts to be” (p. 1).

It is important to have immense and authentic knowledge of Arabic language,

Quran, Islamic history, background The Quranic message is conveyed with various
literary structures and devices. There are occasional misinterpretations
mistranslations and even distortions. A Quranic word may have a range of
meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more
difficult. These shorter passages are not connected with each other: consecutive
passages treat different subjects and no smooth connection exists between them.
Some other errors resisting the translation
 Translating the words not the meaning.
 Ignoring the Arabic context.
 Rearranging the Suras (chapters).
 Lexical errors, Syntactic errors
  Having insufficient knowledge about Islam.
 Using free translation.
 Not knowing the special features of the Quranic style

For example according to the report of Imam Bukhari (1986f:29) when the verse
‫تى‬33‫ ح‬dawn of thread white the Until( ‫ود‬33‫بین لكم الخیط األبیض من الخیط األ س‬33‫ یت‬Al-Qalam
December 2013 Tafsir in the Age of Sahabah.. (5) appear to youDistinct from its
black thread 2:187) was revealed, ‘Adi b Hatim asked the Holy Prophet (S.A.W)
what is meaning of the white thread distinct from the black thread? Are these two
threads? The Holy Prophet replied it is the darkness of the night and the whiteness
of the day

Views of scholars on Translatability of Quran

Regarding the translatability of Quran, scholars stand divided. Two extremes

school of thoughts appear with one allowing the translation and the other totally
rejecting the idea of doing it. Some scholars are of the view that Quran should not
be translated in the first place. Even if it is translated, should only be done by a
muslim translator. Some scholars suggest that such translation should never be
without quotation marks, indicating its distinct status from the original Quran. It
should be placed side by side with the original text and not published separately as
a whole book. Let us now look at some important Islamic scholars and their
viewpoints.

Imam Abu Hanifa

Abu Hanufa, the Iraqi scholar and theologian (c.700–67), believed it was
legitimate to translate all the verses of the Qur’ān into a foreign tongue but ‘it was
not lawful to put the whole together in one volume unless the Arabic text was
placed opposite the translation throughout. (but he retracted later and followed the
more orthodox line according to which a muslim who cannot read Arabic Quran is
virtually illiterate)

Imam Shatbi
Shatby (c.1133–93), for example, based his view that the Qur’ān is untranslatable
on the premise that the book has ‘senses’ that are exclusive to Qur’ānic Arabic, so
that attempting to render such senses even in non-Qur’ānic Arabic is doomed to
failure (Mehanna 1978). However, he did not object in translating the Quran if the
translation was to be seen as the “meaning” of the book. For that purpose, words
such as paraphrasing, interpretation and explanation were to be used.

Rector of al-Azhar (the authoritative, traditional centre of Islamic studies in

Cairo) gave his consent only when he was told that Pickthall would not call his
1930 translation ‘Al-Qur’ān’ but would call it ‘ma’aniu’l-Qur’āni’ l-majid’ (The
meanings of the Glorious Qur’ān)
1925-1936
It was an important decade in Egypt regarding translations of Quran (Senior Azhar
personalities expressed strong views, arguing for or against the legitimacy to the
extent that some demanded burning of English translations.

Kemal Ataturk (1881–1938)

The translation of the Qur’ān into Turkish brought matters to a head: one view held
at the time was that the translation was designed to distance Muslim Turks from
their holy book in its original language Mustafa Kemal, the Ataturk, as part of his
bid to “nationalize” and “secularize” Islam in Turkey, intended to produce an
“authoritative” Turkish translation of the Qur’an. It was also thought that this
process will bring Turkish people close to other Muslims of the Arab world.

Sheikh Mustafa al-Maraghi

Rector of al-Azhar, formally announced in a letter to the prime minister of the time
that rendering the meanings of the Qur’ān into any language could not be termed
‘Qur’ān’ (Mehanna 1978; al-Zafzaf 1984). Sheikh Maraghi’s views eventually
resulted in a fatwa (formal legal opinion) to the effect that translating the Qur’ān
was allowed from a Shari’a (religious jurisdiction) point of view (Shorter
Encyclopaedia of Islam 1974) One of the stipulations attached to this approval was
that any such translation must be called ‘a translation of an interpretation of the
Qur’ān’ or ‘an interpretation of the Qur’ān in language X’, and not ‘a translation of
the Qur’ān’ (Mehanna 1978; al-Zafzaf 1948). T
History of Quran Translation (Asma Tariq and Sidra)

The first fully attested complete translations of the Qurʻan were done between the
10th and 12th centuries into Classical Persian. The Samanid emperor, Mansur I
(961–976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-
Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11 th century, one of the
students of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Qurʻan in
Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din ‘Umar al-Nasafi translated the Qurʻan
into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been
published several times.
Robert of Ketton
Known in Latin as Rodbertus Ketenensis translated several works of Arabic into
Latin, including the first translation of the Quran into any Western language. In
1141, Robert and Hermann met Abbot Peter the Venerable on the banks of the
Ebro, probably at Logroño, and he convinced them to translate some Islamic texts
for his collection, which has become known as the Toledan Collection. For this
project, Robert translated a history of the early Caliphate under the title Chronica
mendosa Saracenorum (Lying Chronicle of the Saracens) and the Quran itself
under the title Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete (Law of the False Prophet
Muhammad). For the latter work he was assisted by a certain Muhammad. His
translation is very free and he does not subdivide the text according to the suras.
The entire Toledan Collection was printed by the Protestant printer Theodore
Bibliander at Basel in 1543.
The translation- dubbed Lex Mahumet Pseudoprophetes [Law of Muhammad the
False Prophet]- is most notable for its tendency to paraphrase rather than stick
strictly to the wording of the original Arabic. To take al-Fatiha as an example: To
compare with the original, Robert of Ketton has omitted ‘in the name of’
(bismillah) from the opening line, and renders al-raheem (‘the compassionate’) as
‘pious’ (pius). In a similar vein, ‘lord of the worlds’ (‘rab al-alameen’) is rendered
‘creator of the Universe’ (creator universitatis), while maliki l-youm ad-deen
(‘king/lord/master of the Day of Judgment’) is paraphrased ‘whose judgment the
last day expects’ (iudicium cuius postrema dies expectat). One could go on as
regards this sura.

André du Ryer,
He published a French translation of the Quran. He published the first integral
translation of the Quran into a European vernacular language, the previous two
translations from the Arabic had been into Latin. As the title of his quran
translation L’Alcoran de Mahomet (Quran of Muhammad) itself shows the
manipulations in the very title of the book. In making his text accessible to French
readers than in its linguistic or structural accuracy, du Ryer moreover made
numerous mistakes in translation and did not divide the text into suras and verses.
Still, for the first time in the history of Oriental studies in Europe, the Qur’an was
interpreted with reference to the writings of Muslim exegetes; and du Ryer’s
achievement was so original and unexpectedly popular that many of the later
translations of the Qur’an into European languages relied on his text.
According to Hamilton and Richard (2004):
“Du Ryer had to present his works—above all his Turkish grammar and his
translation of the Quran—as having been composed for the benefit of the
missionaries in the Levant. He would seem to have had to attack Islam and to
perpetuate anti-Islamic myths even when the many years he had spent in the
Islamic world, the sources he used, and his friends both in France and in the East,
suggest a genuine knowledge of, if not sympathy with, the teaching of the Quran.”
Alexander Ross
He translated Qur’an from Du Ryer’s French translation into English in 1649 in
London. Alexander Ross (1590–1654) was a Scottish christian cleric, orientalist
and a chaplain to King Charles I, known for making the first complete English
translation of the Quran on May 7, 1649. The translation was named “The Alcoran
of Mahomet” and is actually translated from a French translation by André du Ryer
published in 1647, and not from original Arabic (Ross did not know Arabic). Some
have stated that the original author of this translation is anonymous, but it is
attributed to Ross due to his writing a caveat to it. The translation is at times
widely different from the original. Notwithstanding the protestant missionary and
combative tone of the translation, it stands out as the first English translation of the
Quran.
According to IIkuna Savaskan (2019):
“Although Ross’s translation was highly influential in its era, it embeds biased
expressions and is found to be an unfaithful translation.” Although Du Ryer in his
commentary “The French Epistles to the Reader” explains Qur’an as word of God,
the title of Ross’ translation The Alcoran of Mahomet indicates this false belief
that Qur’an is Mohammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) own word instead of word of
God. The time in which Ross was translating Qur’an there was religious and
political chaos in the country. The church was dealing harshly with its rivals and
Ross has also taken full advantage of that. Dy Ryer concludes his commentary
as:
“Thou shalt finde the exposition in this version; Thou wilt wonder that such
absurdities have infected the best part of the world, and wilt avouch, that the
knowledg of what is contained in this Book, will render that Law contemptible.”
While Ross concludes his commentary as:
“Such as it is, I present to thee, having taken the pains only to translate it out of
French, not doubting, though it hath been a poison, that hath infected a very great,
but most unsound part of the universe, it may prove an Anti-dote, to confirm in
thee the health of Christianity.” Both of them are speaking of Islamic religion as
“Poison” which has infected the world.”
George Sale
He translated Qur’an into English in 1734. George Sale (1697–1736) was a British
oriental, anglican and lawyer by profession, and became with his translation “The
Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohamed” a landmark in the history of
the Quran translations in English. Although the translation was popular, it is
claimed that Sale based his translation on a Latin translation by Catholic priest
Ludovico Maracci (1612–1700), and not from original Arabic. For many years this
was one of the most successful translations, in both the UK and the USA, and it
continued to be printed throughout the first half of the twentieth century. His motif
was also polemic as it is evident from his own statement:
“imagine it almost needless either to make an apology for publishing the following
translation, or to go about to prove it as a work of use as well as curiosity, it is
absolutely necessaty to undeceive those who, from the ignorant or unfair
translations which have appeared, have entertained too favorable an opinion of the
original, and also to enable us effecnially to expose the imposture. For the Koran
being so manifest a forgery! The Protestants alone are able to attack the Koran
with success, and for them, I think Providence has reserved the glory of its
overthrow.”
He distorted meaning of Qur’an in his translation by replacing “O men” or “O
mankind” with “O men of Mecca”. In the same way he translated “Ye (Muslims)”
as “O Arabians” or “of Mecca”. Similarly in verse 191, chapter 2 “ Persecution in
faith is worse than war” is distorted by Sale as “ For temptation to idolatry is more
grievous than slaughter”. So his whole work is full of such faults.
J.M.Rodwell
He translated Qur’an into English in 1861.He utilized some techniques; literal
translation, amplification, calque, adaptation, reduction, transposition, modulation,
and compensation. For example he used literal translation of word /waq til/ in Al
Baqarah: 190. He omitted the word /wa/ which means “and”. This imperative verb
means ‘to fight, to combat, to kill, to battle (against) or to force’. Although it does
not affect equivalence but Non Arabic speaker should be careful to understand this
kind of word because as can be sensitive or negative because the influence of the
cultural background or difference in point of view.
The second technique used by Rodwell is amplification or paraphrase technique,
such as in translating the word / zalimū/ into “have suffered outrages” which is
found in Al Hajj:39. The word / zalimū/ means ‘being wronged, being oppressed,
or being persecuted’ (Baalbaki,1995). It has been said that fight is only permitted
to those who have been persecuted in a war. This employs amplification technique
where it is expressed in another word retaining the equivalent meaning.
The third technique used by Rodwell is calque, such as in translating the name of
place that is stated in Al Baqarah:191 that is /Al-Masjid/. He translates it
into“Sacred Mosque”. However,/ Al-Masjid/ is also a proper name of a sacred and
inviolable place of worship and most Muslims prefer to say it in Arabic as sound in
Quran.
The fourth technique used by Rodwell is adaptation, such in translating a sacred
word /Allah/ into God. Muslims reject this translation because they believe that
there are no words which can substitute the word /Allah/ even in translation. As the
Holy Quran states that Allah is the great name of the Lord of the world.
The fifth technique used by Rodwell is reduction, such as in translating the
word /inna/. This word means ‘indeed’ or ‘verily’ (Baalbaki, 1995). In the Holy
Quran, the word /inna/ is often used to emphasize the statement and it is also a
style of language in Quran. However, Rodwell does not translate / inna/ into
English. In other words, he reduces the meaning of the word / inna/. In the context
of this verse, Al Baqarah: 190, is the emphasis of the statement that “Allah loveth
not the transgression”. If this emphasis is reduced or omitted, the sense of the
attributes of Allah can also be reduced in the context of this translation.

The sixth technique is transposition that Rodwell uses in translating /la yu hibbu/
into “loveth not”. It means ‘do not like’ or ‘do not love’ (Baalbaki, 1995), so
Rodwell uses transposition because he changes the position of grammatical
structure. Moreover, “loveth not” is the old English term while Rodwell produces
it as an eloquent translation of that term.
The seventh technique used is modulation, like in translating the phrase
/la`allakum tuflihūn/ into “that it may be well with you”. However, la`allakum
tuflihūn/, which is found in Ali Imran: 200, can be expressed literally in English as
“so that you may be successful” but Rodwell translates this sentence into “that it
may be well with you”. Here, the structure is changed where “be well” should be
placed at the end of the sentence.
The eighth technique is compensation. Rodwell uses compensation in translating
these words /ghafūrurrahīm/ into “Gracious, Merciful” which is found in Al
Baqarah:192. Again, he fails to keep the prestige in translating the name of God.
Rodwell makes an effort to relate his translation word to word, however the effort
becomes less prestigious. He uses compensation technique here because he
expresses those terms in another sense in the target language which are less
prestigious.
Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthal:
Kidawi (2017) assesses Pickthall’s approach in translating the Quran that Pickthall,
at times, did not wholly succeed in conveying the meaning of some culturally
specific concepts and some of the legal discourse in the Quran. For example, he
did not add any explanatory notes to clarify that the rite of animal slaughter forms
part of the tradition of Islamic pilgrimage. Furthermore, in his treatment of Surah
An-Nisa, which deals with women’s rights, Pickthall does not present any
explanation, failing to show how the Quran established gender equality, giving
Arab women entitlement to inheritance. A further shortcoming of his translation is
that some of the footnotes are short and inaccurate, omitting important
information. For instance, in Surah Al-Qasas (28: 15), which proclaims that Moses
was guilty of a crime when he killed a Copt (an Egyptian Christian) – ‘So Moses
struck him with his fist and killed him’ – Pickthall’s translation presents the
prophet in a poor light. He should have clarified that Moses had unintentionally
killed the Copt and that, as the Quran adds, he soon repented and Allah accepted
his repentance.
Generally speaking, Pickthall seems to adopt a literal translation method and this
approach may sometimes risk distorting the implicit meanings in the Quran and
misleading the target reader.Pickthall (19:38: i) states that “the book is here
rendered almost literally and every effort has been made to choose befitting
language.” Indeed, Abdullah Ali (1975, xv) himself has criticized Pickthall for this
omission, claiming that ‘he has added very few notes to elucidate the text. His
rendering is almost literally.’
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
He translated Quran in 1934. Al-Khatib’s (2010) critique of Ali’s translation of the
Quran is focused on his adoption of semantic and literal approaches. Al-Khatib
believes that the semantic approach ignores the target reader, who needs a more
communicative translation to understand the message of the sacred text, while
observing that Ali also adopts a literal translation technique at times, using
footnotes to clarify the original text and a translation style that seems ‘overly
poetic’ and ‘romantic’. His translation also contains a number of
misunderstandings of sharia and Islamic doctrine. Al-Khatib (2010, 178) illustrates
his criticism with the following example from Surah 44: 54: ‘So; and We shall join
them to Companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes’ (Ali: 1936). Al-Khatib
(2010) notes that the Quranic text describes the bliss of paradise (for Muslim men)
in terms of marrying the hūr (beautiful young women); however, Ali translates this
verse as ‘join them to’ rather than ‘marry’, and also translates the word hūr as
‘companions’ rather than ‘wives’. More importantly, however, Ali comments that
there are in fact no real people or objects – or any physical reality at all – in
paradise. According to Al-Khatib, Ali also commits an error when translating
Surah Az-Zukhruf as to ‘have satisfaction’, noting that he contravenes the
rhetorical rules of Arabic which reject the use of metaphor and figurative language
unless the literal meaning is unable to convey the intended message. In this verse,
the correct meaning is ‘eat’ because it is collocated with fruit: ‘Ye shall have
therein abundance of fruit, from which ye shall have satisfaction’ (Ali: 1936). Al-
Khatib states that when he looked at other translations ¬– such as those by
Pickthall, Al-Hilali and Khan, Arberry, Asad, and others – he found that all of
them had translated the verb as ‘eat’, raising the question of why Ali chose to
render it differently.

Overall, In the introduction to his work The Glorious Quran: Translation and
Commentary (1934: 1975, xii-xiii), Ali refers to the most important tafsīrs or
exegeses that he uses and also mentions from time to time in his footnotes. He
states that some of these commentaries expound views with which he disagrees,
and he therefore adopts only their general sense, Ali also confirms that he is
aiming to transfer the meaning of the Quran, however, it does not seem that he
adhers to certain method in translating the Quran.
Arthur John Arberry
He translated Qur’an into English in 1953. According to Arberry, the Holy Qur’an
is neither prose nor poetry, but a unique fusion of both. He has tried to compose
clear and unmannered English, avoiding the Biblical style favoured by some of his
predecessors. There is one feature of antique usage which he has retained; it is
absolutely necessary, if confusion is to be avoided, to mark the distinction between
the second person singular and the second person plural. He did not add footnotes
anywhere.
There are many Lexical gaps in his translation. For example Arberry has
mistranslated the last part of 4:147 as “God is All-thankful, All-knowing”. 37He
has used ‘All-thankful’ as equivalent of Shakir. According to lexicographers God
is said to be Shakir in the sense of giving rewards to men for their obedience. 38
So, when it is used for God the translation should not be thankful or grateful.
In some verses Arberry has left out some Arabic words from the text either
knowingly or unknowingly. Example is quoted here In verse3:43,he has left out
ma‘ ar-raki‘in(with those who bow).His translation is as under: “Mary, be obedient
to the Lord, prostrating and bowing before Him.” 51 Its complete translation would
be “Mary, be obedient to the Lord, prostrating and bowing before Him with those
who bow.”
One of the most striking observations on the Arberry‟s translation is his lack of
understanding of the intended meaning of the names of the Suras in the Holy
Qur'an.In terms of the structures of words"Arberry dismissed "the definite-the" in
English in some of the names of the Suras while kept it in others, and the names of
the Suras–in his translation without giving clear linguistic justification. In addition
to the ambiguity in the grammatical structures of the names of the Suras, Arberry
also misinterpreted many of the meanings of these words.

Standards for Quran translation (Rida Zahra)

To reduce misinterpretations, mistranslations and distortions of meaning, Islamic
organizations such as Al-Azhar, Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs and
Endowments, King Fahad Quran selecting Quran translators, evaluating, approving
and publishing those translations. All these organizations work to avoid the
mistakes that takes place during the translation of Quran.
The translator should be a native-speaker of Arabic. If a translator is a native
speaker it is quite easier to understand the language at a deeper level, he can
interpret the words in a more suitable way. Native speaker can understand the
cultural affiliation of the words and can translate in a better way.

The person who is translating Quran must know and should be Proficient in both
Arabic & English grammar philology and rhetoric. He must know all the
grammatical rules and technicalities of the language both the source and targeted
language. Specialized in Quranic sciences, Principles of Islam, Sharia Law
(explications, stories behind verse & sura revelation, denotative and connotative
meaning of lexical items of the Quran) a person should know the literal meaning of
the source language as well as the cultural norms and emotional linkages of the
people. The stylistics of the language is one of the most important part of
translating the quran. Follow the unified Quran

Explication issued by the King Fahad Quran Complex to serve as a basis for
translators translating the Quran into other language translating the Quran into
other languagesThey mostly translate quran in English and many other languages
as well they copies more the100 copies and it is situated in Madina. Translation
should be based on accredited Arabic.

Explications of the Quran.

Give an introduction about the Quran and its content. Its is very important to give
a brief introduction about quran its revelation and occurrence and its context. Give
an introduction about each sura and whether it was revealed in Makkah or
Madinah, and the translation strategy Give the lexical and rhetorical meanings of
words.

Translators should not add scientific theories, scientific explanations of ‘lighting &
thunder’. Should not add what astronomers think of the sky and stars all the
scientific discoveries should not be included while transiting quran.
Should not use scientific technical terms.I f some verses need more clarification,
this can be
Added in a footnote. The scientific words are not considered in the translation of
Quran
Should refer to the story/occasion behind a vers ‫ ب النزول‬the stories and background
information should be given so it can convey a proper message of Quran
otherwise the translation will be without context and did not deliver the message
properly. Give the meaning of the whole verse or all the verses
Give the meaning of the whole verse or all the verses when they share a theme,
then give the lexical meaning, meaning of whole verse, why it was revealed.

THE END
 References

 M. Abdelwali, “The Loss in Translation of the Qurān,” in Translation Journal: Religious

Translation, vol. 11, no. 2, 2007.
 Some Linguistic Difficulties in Translating the Holy Quran from Arabic into English
Article  in  International Journal
 From the Word of Allah1 to the Words of Men: The Qur'ān and the Poetics of
Translation Author(s): AYAZ AFSAR and MUHAMMAD AZMAT