Translating Quranic Texts: Towards A Multidimensional Textual Approach

 

Belqes Saif Al-Sowaidi

Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at Taiz University, Yemen

*Corresponding Author E-mail: balkis.20@gmail.com

Abstract:

The study explores the textual aspects of three different Qurānic translations of sūrat Yasin on the basis of a suggested text linguistic and a translation model. It aims to examine the problems that three professional translators namely, Yusuf Ali, Pickthall and T.B. Irving, encounter while translating a number of selected examples drawn from sūrat Yasin into English. With reference to a number of authoritative Qurānic translations, it has been possible to provide a solid linguistic-translational groundwork for textual verification of the selected examples.

 

The study adopts an eclectic approach-which uses a combination of text-analysis and translation-oriented approaches; those used by Beaugrande and Dressler (1981), Neubert and Shreve (1992); Halliday and Hasan (1976); Abdul Raof (2001); Martin and Rose (2002-2007); Nida (1964); Beekman and Callow (1974) and Gutt (1991) have all contributed to our eclectic approach. The modal  is primarily based on  the seven standards of textuality as discussed by Beaugrande and Dressler's (1981) and Neubert and  Shreve (1992). The study also attempts to focus on the strategies adopted by the translators to ensure interaction between the translated texts and the Arabic socio-cultural contexts and compensate for the loss of meaning, which seems inevitable in Quran translation.

 

 

 

 

1.1 INTRODUCTION:

The Holy Quran, like other revealed books such as the Bible and the old testament, is a unique literary masterpiece that stuns critics. The purity of its style and elegance of its diction have attracted and continues to attract the attention of a considerable number of researchers. Its linguistic and artistic vivacity  which abounds in religious beliefs, moral values, religious social orthodoxy and historical backgrounds poses a great challenge for any translator and makes the task of translating and interpreting it overwhelmingly arduous; if not unattainable. This is perhaps the cause behind the proliferations of Quranic exegesis and translations.

The study explores three different Quranic translations of sūrat Yasin with a view to finding out to what extent the textuality aspects have been rendered in those translations. It attempts to develop a model for the analysis, description, and assessment of Quranic translations on the basis of both text linguistics theories and  translation theories.

 

In line with modern trends in research methodology, the researchers opt for eclecticism, instead of confining the research to a particular rigid approach and use combination of the text-analysis and translation-oriented approaches of Beaugrande and Dressler,¹ Neubert and Shreve,² and incorporate insights from the models of cohesion of  Halliday and Hasan,³ Martin and Rose,⁴ Martin and Rose⁵  and Abdul Raof’s⁶  approach to Quranictexture. The study examines the seven standards of textuality in the translated verses as discussed by Beaugrande and Dressler¹ and Neubert and Shreve.² Those standards are cohesion, coherence, informativity, intentionality, acceptability, situationality, and intertextuality). In so far as cohesion is concerned, different sub-criteria are dealt with on the basis of adopting an across-the-board approach drawn from the approaches of the above mentioned linguistic and translation theorists that can serve for analyzing and evaluating the translation problems of the Quranictexts.

The study also draws upon multiple theoretical implications of Nida’s dynamic equivalence; Beekman and Callow’s⁷ historical and dynamic fidelity and Gutt’s⁸ relevance theory; the emphasis on communication as mainly context-dependent and Martin and Rose’s “periodicity (information flow)”.^4;5 These translation approaches are combined with text linguistic approaches with modifications while analyzing the problems in the translated texts.

 

Nida’s two types of translational equivalence formal and dynamic equivalence are essential in any analysis of religious texts. The first “focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content while the second aims at complete naturalness of expression”.⁹

Nida’s functional or dynamic model of Bible translation is important for the translation of the meanings of the Quran because of its focus on the context and communicative effect.

 

Beekman and Callow⁷ paid special attention to exegetic fidelity (the meaning of the ST) and dynamic fidelity (the naturalness of the linguistic structures of the TT and the ease with which the readers can understand the translated message) while translating sacred texts (Beekman and Callow).⁷ Beekman and Callow’s approach, although based to a great extent on Nida’s formal vs. dynamic equivalence model, provides useful insights for the present study. While examining the translated verses, the issue of truthfulness cannot be ignored. The translator has to try his/her best to remain faithful to the historical and cultural elements of the ST even if annotations are needed; and even if these annotations may hamper the naturalness of the translated text. It is an accepted fact that the translator, however skillful, cannot produce a translation which is as natural to the TR as the original is to the TR. While translating the Quran, an exegetic translation is, therefore, unavoidable. Gutt’s main idea is that communication is highly context dependent which should be emphasized to produce a successful translation that attempts to convey the contextually derived implications of the ST to the target readers.

 

The integration of the above theoretical trends certainly contributes to analyze the   problems that encounter translators   in a systematic and organized way; As far as I am aware, there is not even a single study that has attempted to tackle the rendition of the Quranictexture. A considerable number of studies tend to focus on the lexical problems in translating the Quran but they ignore the effect of those problems on the coherence, cohesion, informativity and situtionality of the verse and the entire sūra. Other studies approach those problems from a sectarian and prejudiced  perspectives. The proposed model is based on the tenet that   ensuring maximum and effective communication of the Quranicmessage should be the crux of the matter in any translation of the Quran. Even if equivalence in its scientific sense cannot be attainable in the context of the Quran and the Bible simply because Divine words cannot be equated with the words of the mortals it is incumbent upon a translator to render the Divine message naturally in terms of form, texture and dynamic force.

 

 

 

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE:

The present paper aims at investigating the problems encountered by the  translators of the Quran with special reference to sūrat Yāsīn It also examines the extent to which translators have, in their translations, preserved the textuality standards. The study has, therefore, given adequate attention to lexico-grammatical, textual and extra-textual aspects of the verses under investigation. In addition, the study attempts to focus on the strategies adopted by the translators and to what extent they the application of those strategies helps  ensure interaction between the translated text and the Arabic socio-cultural contexts and to what extent those strategies compensate for the loss, which seems inevitable in the translation of Noble Scriptures.

 

1.3 DATA COLLECTION:

The researchers have selected  sūrat Yāsīn to answer the questions of the study. This chapter has been particularly selected for potency when recited on specific occasions. It is the core of the Quran that concerns with the central figure in the teaching of Islam and the central doctrine of revelation and the Hereafter: it contains very important messages about the Resurrection, and post-death  life; and any misunderstanding of the Quranicmessage will affect negatively the translated texts. Due to its significance, this chapter is given a lot of attention and it is almost taught at the primary schools in different Arab and Muslim countries. So the researchers attempt to find out to what extent the translators have been able to reflect the Quranicmessages of this sūra which they had learnt at a tender age, and they reverberate on different occasions.

 

For the purpose of this study, the researchers select the translations of Yusuf Ali (Ali), Irving and Pickthall, which are all readily available on the internet (See Appendix for the relevant internet sources). Ali’s The Holy Quran: Translation and Commentary¹⁰ is considered by a number of scholars to be one of the earliest and the most popular Quranictranslation while Pickthall, the translator of The meaning of the Glorious Quran¹¹ is widely known in the world as a western scholar who converts from Christianity to Islam. In addition, Irving’s¹² The Quran: The First American Version is one of the most recent translations of the Quran and the first American version.The three translations represent two different common trends in the field of translation. That is to say, while Ali’s translation is source-oriented- in the sense that Ali has attempted to retain the force of the source text and puts little emphasis on the naturalness of the translation to the TR. The translations of both Irving and Pickthall are deemed target-oriented translations-in the sense that those two translators have both tried to accommodate the TR to the extent that not even a single footnote is given.

The following procedures have been followed in the analysis of the translations. First, the numbers of the quoted Quranicverses (āyāt) in which the problematic areas appear are identified. Then, the   extracted verses have been analyzed on the basis of the suggested text linguistic and translational approaches. The researchers firmly believe that the analysis and comparison of translations will be difficult, biased or even inaccurate unless the different  authentic classical and modern exegeses of the Quran are consulted.

 

1.4 COHESIVE DEVICES:

1.4.1 Recurrence

The corpus of the study has shown several   instances of recurrence. Recurrence is a very common cohesive strategy widely used for emphatic purposes(Halliday and Hasan;³ Martin and Rose⁵). The Quran abounds in the use of recurrence and such use poses several difficulties for translators. There is a straightforward repetition in the given verses (Q36:5, 9, 10, 18, 19, 47, 78) which enhances the cohesive aspect of the text. While the translators have attempted to replace the recurrence of content or form with similar recurrence of form, they have  sometimes  failed to find out  accurate equivalent forms. For instance, while translating sadan as “a bar” by Ali and Pickthall and “a barrier” by Irving, it becomes evident that it is better to use “barrier” as suggested by Irving which means literally the barrier between two things (http://www.qurancomplex.org/Quran/tafseer/Tafseer.asp?nSora=36&t=tabary&l=arb&nAya=10#36_10)  (al-abarī, Muhammad ibn Jarīr)

 

In (Q36:5and10) āndhartahum and tundhrhum have been used as repetitive items which have been translated by Ali as “admonish” and “warn” by Pickthall and Irving. Though,  āndhartahum and tundhrhum have been repeated in the translated texts, the rendition of the word  as “admonish” does not match the original context of situation and it does not seem to be well integrated with the overall  message of the verse.

 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “admonish” as “to express warning or disapproval to [something] especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner”.¹³ Hence, Ali’s translation does not only differ in its evoked meaning but also  reduces the informativity factor of the ST. On the other hand, “warn”  sounds  more apt in the context of this verse.

 

The purpose of this recurrent expression is to facilitate reading the verses and to strengthen and emphasize the idea of warning the disbelievers. It also adds richness to the Arabic style which may threaten the English style and render it redundant.

 

1.4.2 Conjunction

Conjunctions act as “cohesive tie between clauses or sections of text in such a way as to demonstrate a meaningful pattern between them” (Bloor and Bloor).¹⁴ The ST contains a number of connectives, mostly of (fa and wa), which have been translated with varying degrees of accuracy by the translators.

 

 

Table 1.1. The Translators' renderings of connectives in Sūrat Yasin

Translator	Omission of Connectives	Verse  No.	Incorrect Rendering of Connectives		Verse No.
Ali	fakadhbuhmā faqālū wain walaw walaw	14 14 43 66 67	ST	TT	37 43 66 66 67
			fadhā falā fastabaqū fanā famā	and then then but then
Pikthall	wa āyatan	37	fakadhbuhmā faqālū fadhā falā fanā famā	and and and and then (,)	14 14 37 43 66 67
Irving	fahiya wajaalnā wasawāun fakadhbuhmā faqālū Wa āyatan wain Walaw walaw	8 9 10 14 14 37 43 66 67	falā fanā famā	and yet so	43 66 67

 

 

 

There are a lot of conjunction markers of wa (and) and fa (so) in the Arabic text. The conjunction wa indicates an additive relationship between the items it coordinates, regardless of whether or not these items are phrases, clauses, sentences or paragraphs. At the sentence level, there is a loss in the additive relationships signaled by wa at the head position in (Q36:9,10,37,43,66,67) as is clearly shown in the table (1). Irving has dropped the connectives in most of the translated verses; while Ali and Pickthall have mostly preserved the flow of discourse, so that the statement or “the argument is still ongoing with no major breaks” (Al- Batal).¹⁵ Such omission at the head position violates the flow of ideas in the preceding and succeeding verses and further leads to sacrificing the overall steady flow of the whole text.

At the word level, most of the Arabic connectives are absent in the English TT, or have corresponding punctuation marks as in Pickthall’s example famā (Q36:67) which is translated as (,) to produce a style which is acceptable in English. However, the translators have sometimes omitted the connectives or produce incorrect rendering, replacing them with punctuation marks, which results in a loss of meaning.

 

In fact, it is difficult, if not impossible, to supplant all the connectives in the translation. However, the translators can minimize the loss and maintain most of the connectives or replace them with proper punctuation to produce an acceptable coherent and cohesive text.  Holes said that “the repetition of fā and  wa may be considered redundant in the TT, in such case, punctuation or capitalized phrases between them perform the identical functions of chunking the text and making explicit the logical relationships between the chunks.”¹⁶

 

1.4.4 Hysteron and Proteron

Hysteron and Proteron is another rhetorical and cohesive device which is extensively used in the Quran. The use of this device can be regarded as a kind of inversion in which the texture of the Quranictext and its sense are likely to be modified. That is to say, some elements of the Quranicverse will be given more attention and focus than others. This makes the translations more problematic at the textual level: consider, for instance, the rendition of the Quranichysteron proteron, which reflects the sublime style and effective texture in (Q36:8) inaā jaalnā fī anaqahum aghlalā where Ali and Irving have not maintained this aspect. Ali and Irving respectively have foregrounded  aghlalā in “yokes and “fetters”; and “their necks” has been backgrounded. Both translations have failed to preserve  the grandeur style of the Quran; due to the linguistic norms of English which impose limitations on the translatability of the Quranictext (Abdul-Roaf).⁶

 

In (Q36:9) wa jaalnā  min bayna aydihim sadan wa min khalfihim sadan fghshaynāhum fahum lāubṣirūn , all the translators have failed to maintain the backgrounded and foregrounded information in min bayn aydihim sadan wa min khalfiham sadan. Pickthall has rendered it as “set a bar before them and a bar behind them”; Ali’s rendering as “put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them” while Irving’s has “placed a barrier before them and another barrier behind them". In (Q36:31), all the translators have not preserved the hysteron and proteron aspect of the original text, alam yaraw kam ahalaknā qablahum min alqurūn inahum ilayhim lāyarjiʿūn. However, the translators, perhaps guided by the restrictions of the TL, have failed to maintain this Quranicfeature because of the limitations of the TT linguistic system. In this case, the translations violate the semantic shift, focus and emphasis of the ST.

 

1.4.5 Parallelism (Rhymed Prose)

Another formal  link within Quranicdiscourse is effected through the use of parallelism. This device contributes effectively to the overall cohesion of the text, not only at the syntactic level but also at the rhetoric level. Johnstone added that the repetitive parallel structures can be “the principal text-building strategy in the text”.¹⁷ It is no wonder then that speeches, hymns, prayers and the like tend to use this useful aide-memoire (Cook) extensively.¹⁸

 

This parallel structure is clearly visible among the pattern of concepts within verses as well as at the end of verses:

a.      Parallelism within verses:

-Wjaalnā  min bayna aydihim sadan wa min khalfihim sadan fghshaynāhum fahum lāubirūn(Q36:9).

-Wa idhā qila lahum anfiqū mimā razaqakum ālah qāla aladhina kafarū liladhīna amanū anuimu man law yashā ālah aamahu in antum ilā fī alalin mubīn(Q36:47(.

-Alyawm nakhtam ala afwāhahim watukalimnā aydīhim wa tashhad arjuluhim bimā kānū yaksibūn(Q36:65).

-Walaw nashāu lamasakhnāhumala makānatahim famā ast aū muiyan wa la yarjiūn(Q36:67).

-Falā yazunuka qawluhum  inā nalam mā yusirūn wa mā yulinuūn(Q36:76).

-Wa araba lanā mathalan wa nasiya khalqihu qalā man yuyiī aliam wa hiya ramiīm(Q36:78).

-Awa laysa aladhī khalaqa alsamāwāt walar biqādirn alā an yakhluqa mithahum balā wa hauwa alkhalaq alalīm(Q36:81).

 

b. Parallelism at the end of the verses

Another common form of parallelism in the Quran is that of sound parallelism which can be realized through rhyme, rhythm and other prosodic features.The Quraniccorpus of sūrat Yasin shows a unique use of  end parallel structures   which reflects the Quranic“inner music and … balance [that] is so delicate that even a little change in word order [can] destroy the harmony” (Sheikh).¹⁹ This does not mean that it is confined within the bounds of poetry; rather, it exhibits qualities of both prose and poetry. At other times, the Quranicsound system reflects a grandeur Divine and inimitable style that defy both the language of poetry and prose. Phonologically speaking,   (http://www.alukah.net/ literature_language/0/39818) both /m/ and /n/ are mostly avoided in Arabic connected speech because of their heaviness. However, the corpus of the study obviously shows that the whole sūra ends with two letters mīm and  nūn.The number of the verses that create end parallel structure and end with mīm are: (Q36: 2, 4, 5, 11. 18, 38, 39, 58, 78, 79, 81) and the verses that end with nūn are: (Q36: 3, 6, 7, 12-17, 19-37, 40-57, 59-77, 80,82, 83). Such rhythmic pattern disappears throughout the entire English translation. Thus, the structural and stylistic levels are negatively affected.

 

1.4.6 Cryptic Letters

One of the mysteries of the Quran is al ūrf al muqaa’āt, or fawāti asūwar (i.e., the cryptic disjoined Arabic letters which head some chapters of the Quran, including the chapter under investigation. A lot of interpretations have been attempted by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars to untangle their sense , but none of them is satisfactory.  It stands to reason then that if those disjoined letters have baffled renowned scholars of tafsīr, they will also pose a difficulty once translated  into English. “Yasin” for instance, has  been translated by Ali and Pickthall as “Yasin” and Irving as “Y.S”. Ali has supplemented his translation with  a commentary, explaining that these letters constitute one of  the titles of the holy Prophet. Pickthall, on the other hand has opted for the  foregnization or transliteration of the letters.   While the strategies employed by Ali and Pickthall seem plausible to some extent, Irving’s   translation seems inaccurate. Such letters are a “part of metalanguage; therefore they cannot be translated but they can only be metatranslated” (House).²⁰

 

1.4.7 Polyptoton

Repetition  in the Quran can take different forms and it can convey  didactic, ritualistic, textual and rhetorical functions, among others (Johnstone).¹⁷  One prevalent form of Quranicrepetition is that of polypoton. It is  a  rhetorical cohesive device which  refers to “the use of lexical items which are morphologically derived from the same root but have distinct grammatical functions.” (Abdul-Raof). ⁶

 

Qālū inā   taayarnā bikum (Q36:19)  ….Qalū ṭairukum maakum…(Q36:19).

Both Ali and Pickthall have maintained the morphological form of the ST in “we augur” and “your evil augury”. Irving, on the other hand, has not preserved the form of the ST and has opted for paraphrasing the lexical items as “the bad luck you sense…” In a different context, all the translators have failed to maintain the aspect of polyptoton and its grammatical function in (Q36:28). While Pickthall has rendered the verse as  wa mā anzalnā wa mā kunā munazilīn .Ali has translated it as wa mā kunā munazilīn “nor we ever send”; Pickthall  “nor was it needful for us to do” and Irving as “nor do we ever send”. It seems that the translators are averse to the repetition of forms  due to the differences of genre in both languages which put burdensome restrictions on the translators, leaving them at loss while rendering Quraniccohesive forms. Despite the fact that polyptoton is common in both Arabic and English, Arabic in general and classical Arabic in particular seems to tolerate it more.

 

1.4.8 Metaphor and Simile

The translation of Quranicfigurative expressions in sūrat Yassin includes several shifts. In some contexts, the figurative expression has been rendered by means of explicitation. In other contexts, it has been rendered implicitly. In some other contexts, however, it has been entirely lost in the translation. As an instance of the first case is the translation of verse 39.

 

-Walqamar qadarnāhu manāzila ata āda  kalurjūn alqadīm (Q36:39).

The image of  urjūn, here,  has been paraphrased as “lower part of a date-stalk” in order to “situationalise it to the environment around” (Hatim and Mason).²¹ In other words, the source figurative expression has been replaced by its content meaning in Pickthalls translation. He has provided a word for word translation for the metaphoric word urjūn as “a palm-leaf” to mean sifaha in Arabic which is completely different from the intended SL message urjūn. Irving, on the other hand, has rendered it as “a palm frond” which also does not convey the metaphoric sense of the ST. The image of urjūn sounds unusual in the TL culture and the sense it conveys may mislead and deceive the reader to guess the exact meaning. Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl Bin ʿumar said that the moon should pass through different phases as Allah has decreed.²² “At the beginning of the month, the moon appears small when it rises. It gives off little light, then on the second night its light increases and it rises to a higher position. The higher it rises, the more light it gives-even though it is reflected from the sun until it becomes full on the fourteenth night of the month. Then it starts to wane until the end of the month, until it appears like the old dried curved date stalk”. It is “like the stalk with a date cluster when it ages, becoming delicate, arched and yellowish” (al-maaī,jalāl aldīn and al-suī,jalāl aldīn ). (http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=36&tAyahNo=39&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2)

 

Rendering  the ST image into a dissimilar image in the TT reduces the informativity standard and results in a  translation that looks odd  and  uncertain.

-Inā  jaalnā  f ī anāqihim  aghlalān fahya ila alʾdhqān fahum muqmaūn(Q36:8).

 

There is a sustained metaphor in both verses in which Allah compares the unbelievers who reject His message to those whose necks are stiff because of the yokes around them. The barriers symbolize their evil acts so they cannot see the truth of Allah’s path. The translators should refer to this sustained metaphor and the meaning behind it, so the meaning will be clear to the reader. Pickthall and Irving have tried to render the metaphor as follows:

 

Lo! We have put on their necks reaching unto the chins, so that they are made stiff-necked."(Pickthall)

We have placed fetters around their necks which reach up to their chins till they seem to be out of joint."(Irving)

 

Though both translators have tried to render the metaphor of the ST, the denotative and associative meanings and the emotional tone of “carcans”,“fetters”, “they are made stiff-necked” and “till they seem to be out of joint” sound different in both translations. A footnote or a commentary would have made the meaning clearer. The awareness of the contextual and cultural meaning of this context would have helped them to find such a relevant equivalent.

 

Ali’s translation as “We have put yokes round their necks right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up and they cannot see” is supported by a commentary  that “the yoke of sin is fastened round man’s neck, and it gets more and more tightened, right up to the chin.

The head is forced up and kept in a stiff position, so that the mind becomes befogged”.  (http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yes&SoraNo=36&Ayah=8&toAyah=8&Language=2&LanguageID=2&TranslationBook=4) Ali’s translation in this context seems contextually driven and he seems to have consulted the broader contexts of situation and culture.

 

Wa  āyatan lahum  ālayal  naslakh  minhu  anahār  fadhā hum  mulimūn (Q36:37).

The word  naslakh has been changed in the TT in a non-effective metaphor as “withdraw” by Ali and “strip” by Pickthall and Irving. It is noticeable that the translators have not maintained the same effect of the ST. In this verse there is a sustained metaphor in which Allah, the Exalted, compares the day to the skin of the sheep. The daylight hides the darkness of the night as the skin covers what is under it. And He compares removing of the daylight as stripping off of the skins of the sheep. When the skin is stripped off, the flesh appears. Similarly, when the daylight is removed the darkness appears.The translation of this metaphor as “Withdrawing the Day from the Night” by Ali or as “strip it of the day” by Pickthall and Irving is not effective.  It does not convey the metaphoric sense of the ST. Ali uses the verb “withdraw from” as rendering the Arabic metaphorical expression naslakh while it means “to take or draw back or away; remove”; it means ysaab in Arabic, so it is inappropriate here as it doesn’t convey the same effect the original text provides.Likewise, Pickthall and Irving’s “strip”- which means  yanza or yujarad - is inaccurate in this context because it does not convey the same denotative and associative  impact of what is implied in the ST.

 

In lisāan alarab and  maqāīīs alughah,it means salkha, kashaa alihāb (aljild)aw nazza ”. (http://www.baheth.info/web/all.jsp?term=نسلخ) The Free Online Dictionary defines “strip” as: (a) to remove clothing or covering from; (b) to deprive of (clothing or covering)”. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/strip) The ignorance of both the context of situation, the context of culture, Quranicexegeses, and the theological and emotional context has led all the translators to digress from the main point. Such a digression produces loss or irrelevant denotative and connotative shades of meaning and thus affects the translation negatively.

 

1.5 Coherence

1.5.1 Use of Thematic Patterns

It is noticeable that there is a gradual development of consistent theme in the TT which has a reference to the overall theme of the sūra. The hyper theme of sūrat Yasin is the inevitability and certainity of  Resurrection and the Hereafter (The Holy Quran: English Translation of the meanings and Commentary, 1984).²³It focuses on the Resurrection “because this is what the disbelievers rejected in particular and, because of this, rejected the Prophet who warned about it, calling him a poet and claiming that the Quran was mere poetry. This hyper Theme is made clear at the beginning of the sūra” (Abdel Haleem).²⁴ It also tells us that there are those who believe and those who disbelieve through various signs. The aspect of warning is prevailing and conspicuous; along with the repeated warnings-arguments which have been given for the correct understanding (Mawdūdī, Sayyid Abul alā). (http://www.biharanjuman.org/ Quran/tafheem-ul-quran-English-pdf.htm) In other word, this hyper theme or macro theme (Martin and Rose)⁴ is made clear through the use of different micro themes.

At the paragraph level, the translators attempt to transfer the progression of theme without omitting any paragraph. The idea of the guidance of the QuranicRevelation to the right path,  the story of the City where the one righteous man from the outskirts bore witness to Truth and the signs of Allah on earth and in the Heaven all prepare us for the Hereafter; and the action of the judgment for both of the believers and disbeliever have been transferred in a sequence of events as in the ST (The Holy Quran: English Translation of the meanings and Commentary).²³ That is to say, the  hyper theme of the whole sūra, other derived themes or sub themes have been rendered in the same sequence as given in the sūra. The three translations maintain the steady progression of theme without omitting any paragraph. It should be noted that the translation reflects the order of themes of the original but the dynamic equivalence of the Divine source text cannot be achieved. Thus, rendering the same periodicity of the original is impossible, as is clear in 1.5.2 below.

 

1.5.2 Continuity of Senses

The configuration of and relations between concepts must be mutually accessible and relevant to the ST. De Beaugrande and Dressler believe that “a text makes sense because there is continuity of senses among the knowledge activated by the expressions of the text”.¹ The correlation of propositions in the ST is a vital component of the periodicity and texture of the entire sūra . Therefore, the misplacement or mismatch of any expression would reduce the continuity of propositions and disturb the wave of periodicity and coherence of the text . Abdul-Raof  states that “the absence of continuity of meaning may result in a meaning-impaired text, due to a lack of textual harmony and sequentiality of concepts between the propositions expressed in a given text”.²⁵ The translator’s ability to maintain the steady progression of the thematic pattern does not imply that they have successfully retained the continuity of senses. Needless to say, cohesive ties in a text cannot only be created through periodic waves but also through  other devices such as  conjunctions, reference, and lexical cohesion (Halliday and Hasan).³ The problems that the translators have encountered while rendering conjunctions (See Table 2), for instance, can affect the coherence of the text. Besides, the translations themselves show instances of serious mismatches of the pattern of concepts and expressions as shown below:

Table 1.2 Mismatched concepts in the translated contexts of Sūrat Yasin

 

 

 

 

In translating a sacred text like the Quran, “the coherence relations should whenever possible remain constant” (Megrab).²⁶ If the translators fail to maintain the condition of coherent relations, this may result in an ineffective translation. They should, therefore, be aware of how the apparent meaning is conceptually relevant to the intended message of the ST. The above examples show how mistranslations can destroy the coherence of the sensitive and sacred text. There is a deviation in the appropriateness of concepts used and their relations to each other. The translation of yasīn (Q36:1) by Irving as “Y.S” does not correspond to the overall context of situation; rather, it sounds odd for the TR. Had he transliterated these cryptic letters and explained them in a footnote or a commentary; his translation would sound relatively closer to the ST.

 

The term ṣayḥa (Q36:29) has been translated as “mighty blast” by Ali, “shout” by Pickthall and “blast” by Irving, which all three cannot be relatively equivalent to the Quranic ṣayḥa (torment, awful scream). The translation of Pickthall and Irving cannot be relatively equivalent to the Quranic ṣayḥa (awful scream), which accompanies God’s punishment and torment. Even Ali’s commentary when he said “a single mighty Blast – either the rumbling of an earthquake, or a great and violent wind” is insufficient .To al-maḥaī and al-suṭī, it is the Cry of Gabriel that seized the cities at sunrise (http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yes&SoraNo=36&Ayah=39&toAyah=39&Language=2&LanguageID=2&TranslationBook=4) while to al-ṭabarī it means the Cry of punishment. Ali’s translation, though unclear, has been supported with a commentary to explain the word in context which can be useful for a non-Muslim TR.

 

Pickthall has mistranslated the word alzwāj (Q36:36) into “sexual pairs”. He added  “sexual”  makes the pairs limited to human kind only and looks taboo in a sacred text like this. The adjective “sexual”, according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, means: “relating to the physical activity of sex, or relating to the social relationships between men and women”.²⁷ This adjective determines the existence of male and female only in human beings, but the verse indicates that Allah created everything in pairs. As mentioned in Ibn Kathīr²², the Almighty says:

wa min kul shayn  khalqnā  zawjayn lalakum tadhkurūn (Q51:49).

 

“And of everything We have created pairs, that you may remember” (Q51:49). Irving, on the other hand, has mistranslated it into “every kind of species”. This translation is different from the intended meaning of the verse. The word species’, according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English means: “a group of animals or plants whose members are similar and can breed together to produce young animals or plants”.²⁷ However, Ali’s translation as “in pairs all things” sounds closer and his commentary supports the idea in the ST.

Notwithstanding, there are also instances where the translators have not preserved the continuity among senses, thus producing a dubious translation. A good example of this is the metaphoric expression ālayal  naslakh  minhu  anahār (Q36:37) where the translators have failed to render the metaphor . Instead, they have produced non-effective metaphors which result in the interruption of the flow of text continuity. As it is mentioned earlier (See Table 2), Ali’s translation of “withdraw” weakens the relation of the words with each other in the verse in question on the one hand, and the relation of this verse with other verses in the sūra, on the other hand. This lack of coherent relation is repeatedly visible in Pickthall and Irving’s translations and results in the reducing of the metaphor into a general word as “strip”. Using flay’ instead of ʻstrip off’ (take off clothes or remove) sounds more specific and accurate in this context. In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “flay” means: “formal: to remove the skin from an animal or person, especially one that is dead”.²⁷

 

In addition, Pickthall and Irving’s translation of alfulk almashūn (Q36:41) as “laden ship” needs to be clarified or paraphrased whether Ali’s translation as “loaded Ark” sounds closely related since the term “Ark” refers to Noah in most of the dictionaries and exegeses. An explanation is given in Ali’s commentary about Noah’s unique story to teach a lesson of destiny of both obedience and disobedience. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defined “ark” as “a boat or ship held to resemble that in which Noah and his family were preserved from the Flood”.¹³ As for The Free Online Dictionary, it is “the boat built by Noah for survival during the Flood”. Ibn Kathīr indicated that it was “the ship of Noah which is filled with luggage and animals, in which Allah commanded him to put two of every kind”.²²

 

The translated texts show an observable degree of disconnectedness, or, rather discontinuity, among senses which leads to a lack of the strength degree of word linkage. In fact, the difficulties the translators encountered arise from the processing of unexpected or discrepant occurrences which, as a result, affect the economy of the text. Such unexpected patterns cannot be handled appropriately by the translators as well-integrated stored patterns. The translators could have provided a translation which fully reflects the original coherent thematic forms without loss or mismatch of concepts if they had taken into account the authentic Quranicexegeses in order for them to arrive at cogent and consistent thematic forms.

 

In short, the ST shows a strong sequential relation among the concepts and ideas around which the hyper theme and sub-themes of the sūra revolve. The researchers  further remind the reader that the translators should bring this sequential relation and continuity of meaning among concepts into focus, since the Quran requires a great deal of effort and concentrated application of text linguistic strategies.

 

1.6 Intentionality and Informativity

The sūra - in its sequence of events - instructs, teaches, warns and asserts the Resurrection and the Hereafter to those who believe and those who disbelieve through various signs. The translators should be precisely faithful to the intentions of the ST message. This productive intention as mentioned by Neubert and Shreve  is the purpose of the Quran behind producing such a sūra.²

 

All the translators - particularly Pickthall and Irving - have violated both the intentionality and acceptability aspects in most of the translated verses. With respect to intentionality, the translators have sometimes translated some verses in such a way that the communicative goal is threatened or even distorted. Consider, for instance:

-wa irab lahum mathālan aāb alqaryah idhjāahā almursalūn(Q36:13).

1- Set forth to them, by way of a parable, the (story of) the Companions of the City. Behold! There came messengers to it. (Ali)

2- Coin for them a similitude: The people of the city when those sent (from Allah) came unto them. (Pickthall)

3- Compose a parable for them about the inhabitants of the town when emissaries came to them. (Irving)

 

Literal translation is undoubtedly misleading in religious texts to both Muslims and non-Muslims. Pickthall and Irving do not reflect the intentionality of the original text, which intends to inform the readers about a particular city, namely Antioch, “in which there was a king called Antiochus, the son of Antiochus, who used to worship idols. Allah sent to him three Messengers, whose names were Sadiq, Saduq and Shalum, and he disbelieved in them. It was also narrated from Buraydah bin Al-Husayb, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and Az-Zuhri that it was Antioch” (Ibn Kathīr).²²  Ali, on the other hand, has supported his translation with a sufficient commentary, preserving the intention of the ST and clarifying the meaning to the TR.

 

In fact, the meaning cannot be totally equivalent; so, , an attentive translation should “represent varying degrees of paraphrase” (Nida, 1997) in (Simms)²⁸ to clarify or indicate, at least, which city is meant and who the messengers  mentioned in the ST are. In other words, the translator should try his best  to extract the intentionality of the sacred text. This requires consulting authentic exegesis. Otherwise, the discrepancy between some of those exegeses can create several problems to the translators and make their effort of deciphering the exact intentionality of the text extremely difficult.

 

The translators’ attempts to maintain the informativity of the Quranictext are sometimes reduced and this is clearly seen through the transfer of some concepts and images, especially in Pickthall and Irving who do not provide footnotes or use any other translation strategy. Here, paraphrase or the use of footnotes can be very useful “to maximize the informativity of translation and elevate target audience response…” (Abdul-Roaf).⁶

 

(2) Walqamar qadarnāhu manāzila ata āda  kalurjūn alqadīm.(Q36:3)

1-And the Moon, We have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk.(Ali)

2-And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. (Pickthall)

3-And We have designed phases for the moon so it finally appears again like an old palm frond. (Irving)

 

As far as intentionality is concerned, the Quranicverse aims to instruct as well as to teach people by giving some signs from natural phenomena to assert the reality of the Resurrection. In this verse, Pickthall and Irving have reduced the intention of the ST, providing a detached translation to some extent, which affects the communicative goal of the TT. The translation of “an old shrivelled palm-leaf” and “an old palm frond” does not capture the denotative and associative meaning of  alurjūn alqadīm in the ST.

 

Ali, on the other hand, to a great extent, has tried to reflect the intentionality of the text through his commentary which is necessary in such a context. Although Ali has tried to paraphrase the expression in his translation, his translation alone does not capture the intended meaning of the ST. Ali has clarified the metaphoric expression as “Urjan: a raceme of dates or of a date-palm; or the base or lower part of the raceme. When it becomes old, it becomes yellow, dry, and withered, and curves up like a sickle. Hence the comparison with the sickle-like appearance of the new moon. The moon runs through all her phases, increasing and decreasing, until she disappears, and then reappears as a little thin curve”.( [1]http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yes&SoraNo=36&Ayah=39&toAyah=39&Language=2&LanguageID=2&TranslationBook=4)

 

He also added “the lunar stations are the 28 divisions of the Zodiac, which are supposed to mark the daily course of the moon in the heavens from the time of the new moon to the time when the moon fades away in her “inter-lunar swoon”, an expressive phrase coined by the poet Shelley”. (http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yes&SoraNo=36&Ayah=39&toAyah=39&Language=2&LanguageID=2&TranslationBook=4)

 

1.7 Situationality

Situationality is one of the major textuality standards in deciding the cultural and historical background of the text under investigation. The translation of a sensitive text cannot be successful Ali has tried to maximize the  informativity of the target text in his commentary, though his translation is not as highly apt and informative as the original image; however, it does convey the poetic image and is closer to the ST than Irving’s translation. Pickthall and Irving’s translations, on the other hand, reduce the informativity factor of the ST. Their translations cannot only affect the informativity standard  but threaten  also the coherent and acceptability of the whole text.The translators must, therefore, possess the ability and sufficient background to understand the Quranicintention and interpret it in such a way that effective communication can still occur. Their task is to use a suitable strategy to avoid inaccurate translation that may hinder a successful transfer of the ST intention. The translation would sound relatively closer to the  ST, had the translators transliterated the term  alurjūn and explained it in a footnote.

 

The translator should resort to footnotes “as a concession to communicative requirements” (Hatim and Mason)²¹ which have a vital significance to the communicative process of translation. unless the translator considers all the surrounding aspects of meaning. In this instance, the translators have not considered this feature of the Quranictext which affects the informativity and the intertexuality of the text. Consider for instance:

Inā  nanu nuī ī almawtā wanaktubu mā qadamū wa aāthārahum wa kul shayan aynaāhu fi imām mubīn (Q36:12).

 

1-Verily We shall give life to the dead, and We record that which they send before and that which they leave behind, and of all things have We taken account in a clear Book (of evidence) (Ali).

2- Lo! We it is Who bring the dead to life. We record that which they send before (them, and their footprints. And all things We have kept in a clear Register (Pickthall).

3- We revive the dead and write down whatever they have sent on ahead and [left] as traces; We calculate everything in an open ledger (Irving).

 

The translators have ignored the situationality of the ST because they undermine the relevance of the text to its situation. It would have been more explicit had they gone beyond the surface meaning of the verse to its and  referred to the reason behind its  revelation and the context of culture with the overall theme of the verse. The verse is about Abu Sa'id al-Khudri who said: The tribe of Salamah was settled in the outskirts of the city and wanted to be closer to the mosque [of the Prophet]. They complained to the Messenger, so when this verse was revealed, the Prophet said to them: “All your deeds will be recorded (that means, walking farther to the mosque). So, why do you want to change your place?” (al-waidī, alī bin amad).²⁹

 

Therefore, the translation would have been more apt if a footnote had been added to explain its situationality. Ali has noticeably given a general comment; but he did not mention the situation of the story and the situation of Abu Said al-Khudri, which needs further clarification for the uninformed reader. Pickthall and Irving, on the other hand, have not referred to the situationality factor in their entire translation of the Quran. This situational and contextual background is undoubtedly decisive in the understanding of the target text and undamming it will affect the communicative effect of the target text.

As for situationality of the verses under discussion, some examples are given below:

In kānat ilā ayatan wāda fadhā hum khāmidūn.(Q36:29).

Wa ayatan lahum anā  amalnā dhuriyatahum fī alfulk almashūn) Q36:41(.

 

Pickthall and Irving have not referred to the situationality factor of the above-given verses while Ali supported the translation of (Q36:29) with explanation, comparing the ayah given in this verse to that of Thamud. In (Q36:41), Ali has once again  discussed alfulk almashūn in a footnote the situation of Noah’s Ark as a sign to all people.

 

wa araba lanā mathalan wa nasiya khalqihi qalā man yuyiī aliami wa hiya ramiī (Q36:78).

 

1-And he makes comparisons for Us, and forgets his own (origin and) Creation: He says, Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)? (Ali)

2-And he hath coined for Us a similitude, and hath forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: Who will revive these bones when they have rotted away? (Pickthall)

3-He even says: Who will revive [our] bones once they have rotted away? (Irving)

 

Neither Pickthall nor Irving have referred to this allusion. Even in Ali’s commentary, no reference is given for the reason behind revealing this verse. The commentators of the Qur’an said that Obi Ibn Khalaf came to the Prophet with a dry bone and said, “Do you believe that Allah can raise this up alive again after it has decayed?” The Prophet replied, “Yes, the same as he can raise you up alive again to put you in Hellfire”(al-waḥidī).²⁹ Nevertheless, knowing the context of situation is essential in determining as well as examining the textuality standards.

 

As Neubert and Shreve put it, situationality is “the central issue in translatability. If translation is to succeed, there must be a situation which requires it”. Untranslatability occurs in texts “for which a receptive situation does not exist” (Neubert and Shreve).²

 

1.8 Acceptability

It is widely accepted that all types of propositions  do not possess the same degree of  informativity. For instance, the previous examples of inappropriate use of concepts, violation of the TT structures and  the replacing or expounding in the use of rhetorically poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, and personification may lead to the lack of acceptability. Megrab²⁶ indicates that, while intentionality requires that the translation should probe into the producer’s intentions, acceptability is concerned with the attitudes of the author and reader to the text. Hence, the translator is required to accommodate the receiver’s response: that is, an equivalent effect should be sought.

 

In terms of acceptability, some parts of the translations under investigation may be viewed completely differently in English, which leads to misunderstanding as the translation of yasin, alurjūn, naslakh  and so forth. The differences in both cultures as well as the absence of equivalence in the TT are likely to yield a non-accessible text for the TR. Thus, to avoid violating the acceptability factor and other factors, footnotes or commentary on the text is needed. For instance ayah in (Q36:29) should be translated in an acceptable way, especially for a non-Muslim audience whose beliefs about the Day of Judgment are completely different.

 

1.9 Intertextuality

De Beaugrande and Dressler state "intetextuality concerns the factors which make the utilization of one text dependent upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered texts".¹

 

Texts that abound with the use of intertextuality are expected to challenge translation. Most, if not all, of the texts under discussion are rich in the use of intertexuality and, as a result, create and present a number of challenges to translators. Regarding intertextuality, the dependence of this verse on other Quranicverses is decisive for the translation. The concept of ayah which is used twice in sūrat yasīn (Q36:29-49 (does not match the intended meaning of the ST. If the translators had considered the following Quranicverses, they might have avoided the use of “shout” or “blast” without footnotes or commentary. The term  ayah has been mentioned in different Quranicverses such as (Q15:73), (Q15:83(, (Q23:41), (Q29:40), (Q54:31),(Q38:15) and (Q50:42). This reflects the intertextual relation between the verses given in sūrat Yasin and other related verses of the whole Quran.

 

Despite the considerable number of verses (6,218 in total) in the Quran, the Quranicdiscourse is dominated by conceptual and textual connectivity (Abdul-Raof²⁵).Though alzwāj (Q36:36) for instance, has not been properly translated by Pickthall as “sexual pairs” and Irving as “every kind of species”, it evokes similar intertextual relation in other texts. This undoubtedly reinforces the necessity for the translator to possess a satisfactory knowledge of the Quranicexegeses in order to help the reader make corresponding predictions of what follows. Alzwāj (Q36:36),(Q43:12); zawjayn (Q11:40),(Q51:49), (Q13:3); azwājan (Q20:53) and zawj (Q 26:7) have been mentioned in several verses of the Quran to confirm the existence of pairs in everything on earth as indicated in (Q36:36).The translators should pay adequate attention to the intertextuality relation among verses of the Quran as they help to produce an accurate translation.

 

A more in depth study of the intertextuality of the Quranicverse will enable translators to avoid the  mistranslation and distortion  of the original message. When the reader develops the impression that a particular verse sounds wrong in an earlier translation, this is due to the fact that the translator has violated the reader’s textual expectations. In other words, the translators in the previous examples have failed to create the relative textual image the reader expects for such a sensitive text. The translator thus has to take into consideration  the verses which  bear close resemblance to the verse he attempts to translate and correlate them through his previous experiences to avoid odd or unrelated translation.

 

1.10 CONCLUSION:

The study concludes that the translators have mistakenly rendered most of the textual aspects in such a way that the translations violate the sacredness of the Quranicsūra. They have thus presented to the TR a mere external interpretation of the meaning. To achieve total lexical or textual equivalence is not tenable in ordinary literary texts, let alone in a sacred text like the Quran or the Bible. However, Beekman and Callow state that a faithful translation is one which transfers the meaning and dynamics of the original text.⁷

 

The translators have failed to produce a translation that communicates the same message that the QuranicST intends for its readership. Both Pickthall and Irving have not resorted to the use of footnotes, glossaries and end notes; perhaps wanting their translation to be read naturally without any interruptions. However, this might leave the reader with a serious dilemma.

 

The study has also shown that the problems involved in translating Quranicsūra into English have not affected only the lexical level. Rather, they are bound to affect the textuality and the texture of the Quranictext as a whole. The study has revealed that the translators, with varying degrees, have at times failed to preserve most of the standards of textuality. Though the translators have managed to render the steady progression of theme without omitting any paragraphs, the study has shown different instances of incoherence. This violation of coherence is attributed to the lack of appropriate relative continuity of senses and the loss of the ST cohesive devices such as: pro-form, conjunction, hysteron and proteron and so forth. In some cases, the standards of acceptability, informativity and intertextuality have also been violated. Besides these aspects, the standard of situationality has been “flouted”, in Grice’s terms, in the translations under investigation. In short, although the TTs are not expected to be as cohesive, coherent, informative and intertextual as the source Quranictext, they are not as cohesive, coherent, informative, and so forth as they should be. The study has shown that translating Quranictext is not a matter of rendering the lexical item per se, but also the consideration of the text as a whole. The translator should, therefore, pay attention to all the standards and not only the linguistic elements (i.e. cohesion). Instead, analysis should be extended to include coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informitivity, situationality and intertextuality. Any negligence or shift in one or all of these standards will ultimately affect the accuracy and acceptability of the translations.

 

Insofar as the strategies adopted in the translations are concerned, it is clear that Ali’s translation is better than Pickthall and Irving’s, in the sense that it is more informative.The researchers  also conclude that a lot of the Quran translators’ problems while translating sūrat Yasin are attributed to the inadequate background of the contextual and socio-cultural factors. The awareness of the original meaning will certainly help the translator to find plausible relevant equivalents which reflect the spirit of the original text and the limitations which affect the target language audience. In any given translation,  the translator’s main aim is to communicate the ST message as clearly and effectively as possible. Whereas, a translator of a religious text has a more difficult task because the translation should meet the criteria of fidelity and accuracy. The translators are usually torn between creating faithful renderings and making their translation sound natural as well as fitting to the TT. The various challenges at the level of meaning may also be attributed to several other factors such as the complexity of the Quran as a genre, the ignorance of reliable exegeses, the unfamiliarity of the context of use and context of culture as well as the lack or absence of lexicalization in the TL. All these factors should be taken into account to communicate the ST message as faithfully and effectively as possible.

 

The researchers  suggest that the translators should employ a number of strategies to render the Quranictext into English and to achieve approximate equivalent to the ST. One of those strategies is transliteration. This strategy involves retaining the linguistic forms of Arabic while translating it into English (e.g. yasīn alʿurjūn).The Quran translators are obliged to consult genuine and reliable exegeses to arrive at appropriate semantic and textual relatedness and to remain faithful to the meaning of the original. The translator has to try his/her best to preserve and be more attuned to the historical and cultural elements of the original text. The use of annotated explanations is required, even if they are likely to impede the naturalness of the translated text. It is an accepted fact that the translator, however skilful, cannot produce a natural translation to the target audience which will match the naturalness of the original to the source audience. While translating the Quran, an exegetic translation is, therefore, unavoidable. The researchers  suggest that the loss of meaning can be compensated by exegeses, in addition to the marginal notes or clarifications in brackets or footnotes. Adding a footnote or a glossary is sometimes perceived as an unwanted interference in the flow of the translated text. However, translating religious texts without footnotes can appear sterilized and prove difficult to be accommodated by the TR. The translator should resort to footnotes “as a concession to communicative requirements”²¹ (Hatim and Mason) which have a vital significance to the communicative process of translation. Ali has given extended commentaries for all of the verses though such commentary sometimes does not give sufficient information of the historical and cultural background of the situation and context under analysis.

 

Along with the popular exegeses, Quran translators should also have sound knowledge of exegeses, ḥadīth, the life of the Prophet, books of Islamic law (sharīʿah) and the various Islamic terms. The Quran translator should also refer to all the massive Encyclopedia of Islam and World Religion, Arabic-English dictionaries of Islamic terms and various technological softwares which may facilitate the task of the translator.

 

Although the researchers  agree that too many items in the glossary or footnotes may disturb the flow of a fictional text, the researchers  believe that bland translation deprives the reader of the flavor of the original text. Moreover , in the case of a sacred text like the Quran and the Bible, fidelity should be given priority to the achievement of the effect on the target audience. What is called equivalence effect by some researchers (Nida ;⁹ Nida and Taber,³⁰ can hardly be achieved while translating the Quran.

 

1.11REFERENCES

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2-       Neubert A and Shreve GM. Translation as text. The Kent State University Press, 1992.

3-       Halliday  MAK and  Hasan  R. Cohesion in English. Longman, London, 1976.

4-       Martin, James Robert, and  Rose, David. Working with discourse. London: Continuum, 2002.

5-       Martin JR and Rose  D. Working with discourse: Meaning beyond the clause. Continuum, London,  2007.

6-       Abdul- Raof  H. Quran translation: Discourse, texture and exegesis. Routledge, London, 2001.

7-       Beekman, J. and  Callow J. Translating the word of God. Zondervan Publishing House, Michigan, USA, 1974.

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9-       Nida  EA. Toward a science of translating: with special reference to principles and procedures involved in Bible translating.  E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1964.

10-    Ali MY. The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary (3rd ed., Vols. 1-3). Sh. Muhammad Ashraf  Publishers, Lahore , 1934/1938.

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13-    Dictionary, Merriam Webster’S. Collegiate. "Merriam-Webster." Incorporated, 10th edition, 1996.‏

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16-    Holes  Clive. Modern Arabic: Structures, functions, and varieties.  Georgetown University Press, Washington, D. C., 2004.

17-    Johnstone  B. Repetition in Arabic discourse: Paradigms, syntagms and the ecology of language. Vol. 18. John Benjamins Publishing, 1991.

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22-    Ibn Kathīr  I. Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr,  (2nd ed., Vols. 1-30).  MSA Publication Limited, London, 2010.

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Appendix

Online Sources

http://www.altafsir.com/viewtranslations.asp?display=yesandsorano=36andayah=0andtoayah=undefinedandlanguage=2andtranslationbook=3andlanguageid=2

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/strip

http://www.biharanjuman.org/Quran/tafheem-ul-Quran-English-pdf.htm

http://Quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221andBookID=14andPage=1

http://arthursclassicnovels.com/koran/koran_irving11.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20071120111525/http://www.alsunnah.com/call_to_islam/Quran/pickthall/Sūrah36.html

http://www.Qurancomplex.org/Quran/tafseer/Tafseer.asp?nSora=36andt=tabaryandl=arbandnAya=10#36_10

http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0andtTafsirNo=74andtSoraNo=36andtAyahNo=39andtDisplay=yesandUserProfile=0andLanguageId=2

http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yesandSoraNo=36andAyah=8andtoAyah=8andLanguage=2andLanguageID=2andTranslationBook=4

http://www.baheth.info/web/all.jsp?term نسلخ=

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ark

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ark

http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yesandSoraNo=36andAyah=36andtoAyah=36andLanguage=2andLanguageID=2andTranslationBook=4

http://www.altafsir.com/ViewTranslations.asp?Display=yesandSoraNo=36andAyah=39andtoAyah=39andLanguage=2andLanguageID=2andTranslationBook=4

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/admonish

 

Received on 01.11.2015       Modified on 20.01.2016

Accepted on 18.02.2016      © A&V Publication all right reserved