The present study aims at investigating the field of Qur'ân translation
through holding a semantic comparison of four English translations
attempted by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, 'Abdullâh Yûsuf 'Alî, Arthur J.
Arberry and Muhammad Mahmûd Ghâlî of Sûrat Ad-Dukhân (the Chapter of
Smoke). The study is divided into three chapters, an introduction, and a
conclusion. Chapter One deals with a number of the linguistic (lexical,
syntactic, semantic and stylistic) and cultural problems that may arise
during translation, with special reference to Qur'ân translation. It was
found that the problems directly related to Qur'ân translation are
polysemy, semantic change, proper names, tenses - especially the use of the
past tense in Arabic - word order, syntactic ambiguity, ellipsis,
redundancy, extraposition and culture-bound words. In addition, there is an
attempt to suggest some solutions to the problems investigated. Chapter Two
tackles the principles of translating the Qur'ân, mainly focusing on the
team of translators, the techniques of conveying the content and the format
of translation. In Chapter Three, a semantic comparison is held, with sixty
eight lexical, syntactic and stylistic selections. The comparison depends
on a number of different-oriented Qur'ân interpretations and Arabic
dictionaries to decide the precise meaning(s) of the words and
constructions selected. Then, a translation is suggested, and the four
translations are judged: the correct ones are acknowledged and the mistaken
shown, along with the reasons underlying the mistake(s). To reach the
precise meaning in English, and in order to judge the translations under
comparison accurately, a group of English dictionaries are relied on.
Finally, the comparison shows that the best translation in terms of the
precision of meaning and easiness of expression is that of Ghâlî, followed
by Pickthall's, then that of Arberry and, lastly, that of 'Alî.
|
E-mail this message to a friend
