1

T.C.

SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL ÜNİVERSİTESİ

SOSYAL BİLİMLERİ ENSTİTÜSÜ

BATI DİLLERİ VE EDEBİYATİ ANABİLİM DALİ

KUR'AN-I KERİM'İN İKİ İNGİLİZCE ÇEVİRİSİNİN BİÇEMBİLİMSEL-

KARŞILAŞTIRILMALI ANALİZİ

Othman Mohammed Mahmood AL-ABBASİ

1330224071

YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ

DANIŞMAN

Asst. Prof. Dr. Philip GLOVER

ISPARTA 2017

2

T.R.

SULEYMAN DEMİREL UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

A COMPARATIVE STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF TWO TRANSLATED VERSIONS

OF THE HOLY QURAN

Othman Mohammed Mahmood AL-ABBASİ

1330224071

MASTER’S THESIS

ADVISOR

Assist. Prof. Dr. Philip Glover

ISPARTA 2017

ii

For the memory of Sarah

iii

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

(( ات للعلمين ياته خلق السموات والأرض واختلاف ألسنتكم وألوانكم إن في ذلك ليومن آ ))

22الروم:

“And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth,

and the difference of your languages and colours. Lo! herein

indeed are portents for men of knowledge” (30:22).

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would express my deep gratitude to Allah (SWT) for granting

me the grace of chance to discuss and shed lights as part of my contribution to Translation

Studies and intercultural nature of His Holy Book “The Holy Qur’an”.

Then, my appreciation and gratitude go to the members and staff of Western

Languages and Literature Department of Suleyman Demirel University (SDU), Isparta,

Turkey, headed by Associate Prof. Dr. Omer Şekerci, in particular Assistant Prof. Dr.

Philip Glover who apart from being my supervisor worked tirelessly towards the

accomplishment of the research.

I am also indebted to Prof. Dr. Huseynaga Rzayev for his continuous interest and

assistance at all stages of the research.

I am equally in gratitude to the management and Staff of University of Samarra and

Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for all their assistances

throughout my study.

I will never forget humble generosity and supplications of my colleagues and course

mates at SDU, especially Mr. Ahmed M. Bedu, Mr. Ayaad Enad Al-Luhaibi, Mr. Ilker

Ozçelik as well as Mr. Hameed H. Jasim Aldulaimy for their good companionship

throughout my study trip.

To my beloved wife and children, my thanks for all your patience and immense

sacrifice. I really acknowledge that you defied all odds to stand beside me to add value and

happiness to achieve a success. Once again, I thank you for these efforts.

v

(AL-ABBASI, Othman M. Mahmood, “Kur'an-ı Kerim'in İki İngilizce Çevirisinin

Biçembilimsel-Karşılaştırılmalı Analizi”, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Isparta, 2017)

ÖZET

Bu çalışma, Vinay ve Darbelnet'in (1958)’de iki İngilizce Kur’an tercüme

versiyonunda uygulanmış karşılaştırmalı üslüp teknikleri araştırmaktadır. Tercümelerin iki

versiyonu da Marmaduke W. Pickthall (1930) ve Abdullah Y. Ali (1934)’dir.

Tez, hem diller arası hem de diller arası konularla ilgilendiği ve şu araştırma

sorularına cevaplamak için birçok tercüme prensipler ile alakalı literatürler gözden

geçirmiştir.

1. Kur'an-ı Kerim'in Arapçadan İngilizce’ ye çevirisinde tercüme eden çeşitli

çeviriciler kullandığı tercüme lisansı nedir? 2. Üslup aletleri çevirmenlere kaynak dilinden

hedef dile tercüme edebilmek için nasıl yardımcı olur? 3. Kaynak dili (SL) metini hedef

metinlerde (TL) özellikle dini ile ilgili bağlantılı bilgilere çevirirken konuşma üstün

yetenek gücü ne derecede kullanılmıştır?

Sonuç olarak çeviri projesinde yer alan diller Vinay ve Darbelnet'in (1958)

teknikleri, tercümenler’e kaynak dilsel (SL) birimlerin yapısını bozdurmaları ve aynı

zamanda hedef diller (TL) arasında doğru bir şekilde aktarımı sağlamak için doğrudan ve

eğik çeviri yöntemlerini kullanabilir.

Aynı zamanda dini metinlerin tercümesinde özellikle Kur'an-ı Kerim gibi bazı dil

faktörlere rağmen, çevirmenlere etkilenerek daha somut ve güzel metotlar gelişmelerine

sağlar.

Anahtar Kelimeler: (Literal çeviri, Calque çeviri, Dinamik çeviri, Modülasyon, Eşdeğerlik)

vi

(AL-ABBASI, Othman M. Mahmood, “A Comparative Stylistic Analysis Of Two

Translated Versions Of The Holy Quran”, Master’s Thesis, Isparta,2017)

ABSTRACT

This study explores the utilization of comparative stylistic techniques of Vinay and

Darbelnet (1958) in two English translated versions of the Holy Quran. The two versions of

the translations are by Marmaduke W. Pickthall (1930) and Abdullah Y. Ali (1934).

As the thesis deals with both interlingual and intralingual issues, it reviews various

literatures relate to principles of translation in order to provide answers to the following

research questions:

1. What are the various translation licenses that translators utilize in the translation

of the Holy Quran from Arabic to English? 2. How do stylistic devices help translators to

achieve accuracy in meaning transfer from the source language to target language?

3. To what extent is the utilization of perlocutionary effect of speech acts useful in

redressing the semantic information of the SL text in the TL text in religious related text

translation?

The findings of the study suggest that Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1958) techniques will

afford the translators various licenses to deconstruct the SL linguistic units and at the same

time transferring them into TL units using both direct and oblique methods of translation to

achieve accurate transfer of meaning between the languages involved in the translation

project.

The study’s findings equally establish that in religious related texts translation,

translators are influenced to carefully deploy the suitable methodology of translation to

ensure proper execution of the translation activity, and, consider accuracy as the good

translation calibre. The study also claims that the utilization of dynamic lexemes in TLT

may sometimes does not fit the ST accurate author’s intention.

Keywords

(Literal translation, Calque translation, Dynamic translation, Modulation,

Equivalence).

vii

ABBREVİATİONS LİST

A : Abdullah Y. Ali

P : Marmaduke W. Pickthall

DL : Donor language.

RL : Recipient language.

SL : Source language.

TL : Target language.

SLT : Source language text.

TLT : Target language text.

ST : Source text.

TT : Target text.

TR : Text receptor.

LT : Literal translation.

TP : Translation procedure.

TPs : Translation procedures.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. iv

ÖZET...................................................................................................................................... v

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... vi

ABBREVİATİONS LİST .................................................................................................... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... viii

TABLES And FIGURES ..................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Motivation for the Study ........................................................................................ 1

1.2. Research Questions ................................................................................................ 2

1.3. Data ........................................................................................................................ 2

1.4. Methodology .......................................................................................................... 2

1.5. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................... 3

1.6. Ethical Consideration............................................................................................. 5

1.7. Audience of the Surah ........................................................................................... 5

1.8. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 7

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 8

PART ONE ............................................................................................................................ 9

SOME ISSUES FOR TRANSLATION ................................................................................ 9

2.1.1. Translation as a Field of Studies .............................................................................. 9

2.1.2. What is Translation Studies ...................................................................................... 9

2.1.3. What is Translation ................................................................................................ 11

2.1.4. Principles of Translation ........................................................................................ 13

2.1.5. Translation as a Process ......................................................................................... 15

2.1.5.1. Translator’s Competence ............................................................................. 16

2.1.6. Translation and Equivalence in Literature ............................................................. 17

2.1.6.1. Types and Levels of Equivalence ................................................................ 19

ix

2.1.7. Translation Loss and Gain ...................................................................................... 20

2.1.8. From Untranslatability to Translatability ............................................................... 20

2.1.9. Accuracy ................................................................................................................. 22

2.1.10. Naturalness and Unnaturalness (Naturalization) .................................................. 23

2.1.11. The Purpose of Translation .................................................................................. 24

2.1.12. An Analogy of Form and Meaning ...................................................................... 24

2.1.13. Main Approaches to Translation .......................................................................... 25

2.1.13.1. Semantic Approach ................................................................................... 25

2.1.13.2. Types of Meaning ...................................................................................... 26

2.1.13.3. Pragmatic Approach .................................................................................. 27

2.1.13.4. Cultural-Intercultural Approach ................................................................ 28

2.1.13.5. Linguistic Approach .................................................................................. 29

2.1.14. Style and Stylistics ............................................................................................... 30

2.1.14.1. Approaches to Style .................................................................................. 32

PART TWO ......................................................................................................................... 33

The Tradition of Translation in Islam .................................................................................. 33

2.2.Introduction ................................................................................................................ 33

2.2.1. History and Development of Islamic Translation ............................................... 33

2.2.2. Translation in Religious and Historical Traditions ............................................. 34

2.2.3. History of Translation of the Holy Quran in Brief.............................................. 35

2.2.4. Many Translations for One Text ......................................................................... 37

2.2.5. Style of the Quranic Language ........................................................................... 38

2.2.6. Context and Comprehending the Holy Quran .................................................... 39

2.2.7. Theoretical Application in the Study .................................................................. 41

2.2.8. Toward a Methodology of Translation ............................................................... 41

2.2.8.1. Direct Translation ........................................................................................ 42

2.2.8.2. Borrowing .................................................................................................... 42

2.2.8.3. Calque .......................................................................................................... 43

2.2.8.4. Literal Translation ....................................................................................... 48

2.2.8.5. Oblique Translation (TL-oriented procedures) ........................................... 49

x

2.2.8.6. Transposition ............................................................................................... 49

2.2.8.7. Modulation .................................................................................................. 51

2.2.8.8. Equivalence ................................................................................................. 54

2.2.8.9. Adaptation ................................................................................................... 56

2.2.9 Summary and Prelude to Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis in Brief ........... 57

CHAPTER THREE

DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 58

3.1. The Purpose of this Chapter ................................................................................... 58

3.2. Methodology of the Study...................................................................................... 59

3.3. Stylistic Analysis ................................................................................................... 60

3.4. Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 62

3.4.1. Direct Translation Presentation ‘The Formal Analysis’ ................................... 62

3.4.2. Borrowing ......................................................................................................... 63

3.4.3. Analysis of Structural and Stylistic Calque ...................................................... 64

3.4.4. LT in the Data ................................................................................................... 66

3.4.5. Structural Equivalence in LT ............................................................................ 67

3.4.6. Summary and Discussion ................................................................................. 69

3.5.Analysis of Data (Oblique Translation) .................................................................. 69

3.5.1 Transposition ..................................................................................................... 70

3.5.1.2. Unit Shift Analysis .................................................................................... 73

3.5.1.3. Class Shift ................................................................................................. 74

3.5.2. Structural Shift and Conformity ....................................................................... 77

3.5.3. Review .............................................................................................................. 78

3.6. Semantic Modulation ............................................................................................. 80

3.7.Adaptation ............................................................................................................... 81

3.8. Equivalence ............................................................................................................ 82

xi

CHAPTER FOUR

4. Findings ........................................................................................................................ 88

4.1. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 89

REFERENCE ....................................................................................................................... 93

APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................... 98

ÖZGEÇMIŞ ...................................................................................................................... 110

CURRICULUM VITAE .................................................................................................... 111

xii

TABLES And FIGURES

Table 1: The Vinay and Darbelnet SL-oriented TPs

Table 2: The Vinay and Darbelnet TL-oriented TPs

Table 3: The Holmes’ Map of Translation Studies

Table 4: Types of Equivalence

Table 5: The Quantitative Coding of Data

Table 6: Transposition Techniques

Table 7: Transposition in the Data

Table 8: Structural Distribution in the Data.

Figures

Figure 1: Nida’s Diagram of Translation Process.

Figure 2: Types of LT.

Figure 3: Dickin’s Diagram of Cultural Translation.

1

CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction

This study undertakes an intralingual comparative stylistic analysis of two different

English-translated versions of the Holy Quran to explore the theoretical principles adopted

in two English-translated versions. The first translated version chosen for investigation is

by Sir Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872-1953) which is a widely distributed English-translated

version of the Holy Quran. It is approved by ‘Ri'asat idarat al-buhuth al-ilmiyya wa al-ifta

wa al-da'wa wa al-irshad’ (The General presidency of Call and Ifta), Saudi Arabia. The

other English-translated version is by Marmaduke William Pickthall, later, Muhammad

Pickthall (1875-1936). The version is approved by the administrations of Islamic research

in Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

As translations involve a transfer of meaning from source language (SL) to target

language (TL), a piece of translation of one text into the target/receptor language (TL) by

two different translators may exhibit a wide range of distinctive stylistic devices that can

allow a different meaning be achieved for the same sentence. This is what prompted the

study to investigate how two translators try to achieve consensus in their translation

considering their different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

1.1. Motivation for the Study

The importance of acknowledging cultural and linguistic differences in translation

cannot be overstated. Translations are both inter- and intralingual and such differences are

manifested since semantic and semiotic signs always have a wide range of different

representations (Jakobson, 1959, 1971a). The science of translation is to provide a remedy

to communication problems due to linguistic, cultural and ecological differences of the

languages involve in the translation. Many scholars note that there are divergences when

two translators of different linguistic, cultural and ecological backgrounds are involved in

the translation of a text of the same SL into one TL. As many translators of different

backgrounds have been engaged in translating the Holy Quranic text from Arabic into the

2

English language, this suggests that there must be stylistic differences. A comparative

analysis to explore the stylistic differences will provide insights about the science and art of

translation.

1.2. Research Questions

Since there are various forms of English translated texts of the Holy Quran with

Arabic as SL, the thesis sets out to look for answers to the following research questions:

1. What are the various translation licenses that translators utilize in the translation of

the Holy Quran from Arabic to English?

2. How do stylistic devices help translators to achieve accuracy in meaning transfer

from the source language to target language?

3. To what extent is the utilization of perlocutionary effect of speech acts useful in red-

ressing the semantic information of the SL text in the TL text in religious related text

translation?

1.3. Data

The present research work is an interlingual and intralingual comparison of two

English translated texts of the Holy Quran. Chapter 19 (Surat Merriam) of the two

translated texts forms the data of the present study.

1.4. Methodology

This is a comparative stylistic study which uses in its empirical part the models for

stylistic translation of Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet (1958, 1995) as a methodology

of translation. It also relies on Catford’s (1965) approach to translation as it relates to

Arabic-English translation and supplies the tools by which the data analysis at

microstylistic level can be implemented. In addition to the Vinay and Darbelnet model, the

study uses Nida’s (1969) dynamic equivalence. The importance of Nida’s to the study is

3

that his approach relies on the utilization of the perlocutionary effect of speech acts in

religious related texts translation to reflect the effect of SLT in TLT as a mean to achieve

success verbal communication.

1.5. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet ‘Stylistique

Comparée du Français et de l' Anglais’ (1958), later translated and edited into English

under the title Comparative Stylistics of French and English in (1995) by Juan C. Sager and

M. J. Hamel. The book is centered on a comparative stylistic analysis of the different

translation strategies and procedures. It presents the main framework of the present study.

The strategies and procedures in the framework contain both Direct and Oblique models of

translation analysis which can handle the data of the study. The samples of the tools of the

framework are provided in the following table quoted from Vinay and Darbelnet’s book.

Below are Table (1) and Table (2) exhibiting the seven categories methodology of Vinay

and Darbelnet (1995).

4

Adapted from Vinay and Darbelnet (1995).

DIRECT PROCEDURES

1.Emprunt or

Borrowing

Most borrowings are already integrated into the lexicon (e.g. le weekend ).

Often gradually becomes acceptable in the language (fautif ... emploi critiqué ...

admis).

EXAMPLES: le bulldozer (borrowed from English), a fuselage (borrowed from

French), réaliser (dans le sens anglais de se rendre compte de quelque chose -use

first attested 1920s).

Rare as a translation procedure per se, but this technique can be used when the

translator wants to add la couleur locale.

2.Lexical Calque

Borrowing a known expression that exists in a different language, but translating it

literally. For example ‘compliments of the season’ being taken into Canadian French

as ‘compliments de la saison’.

3.Literal

Translation

This is the default position, the first point of call for a translator.

Note that it is crucial to respect English grammatical and word order

differences when translating from the French (eg adjectives, articles).

OBLIQUE PROCEDURES

1.Syntact

ic

transposit

ion

Changing one part of speech for another. For example:

- Verb to adjective: il se méfiait - he was supicious.

- Noun to adjective: il a faim – he was angry.

2.Semantic

modulation

Changing the viewpoint.

-Lexical: bois de chauffage – firewood; un polar - a whodunnit ; un poisson

rouge – a goldfish; peu profond - shallow.

-Grammatical : n'hésitez pas à m'appeler – do ring me ; elle est parfois casse-pieds –

she can be a nuisance.

3.Equivalence

Sur le plan linguistique.

Technique for translating idioms or fixed expressions. Find an equivalent lexical

formulation which performs the same function in the target language: je vous en prie =

you’re welcome. Comme un chien dans un jeu de quills – like a bull in a china shop.

4.Adaptation

Sur le plan culturel.

Technique for translating ‘sociocultural realities’ that are not shared between the two

cultures. Find an approximate equivalent, so that you adapt one cultural universe to fit

another one:

‘A’ level > baccalauréat. Bon

appétit > hi! (or bye!)

5

1.6. Ethical Consideration

Any text can be seen as an organized stream of language utterances or statements

that manifest the ideologies of individuals or institutions. Thus, the social settings, cultural

norms and values and even political ideologies that a translator bears in mind may in one

way or another, unwittingly or wittingly be transmitted by translated texts (Van Dijk 1998).

Contrastive and comparative studies in addition to critical analysis should be carried out

even for texts which are presumably translated well by professionals. This is of crucial

importance particularly for the very important works of translation such as those of the

Holy Bible or the Holy Quran.

Since translating from one language to another with complete equivalence is

unachievable, the process of translation is affected by the way a translator encodes and

subsequently decodes a text. Thus, this study is an academic step to analyse two English

translations of Chapter 19 of the Holy Quran presenting a systematic analysis.

This thesis has a pure academic purpose. The selected translated texts are chosen

because of their high distribution and usage as frequently revisited and revised texts. Thus,

the study explores to what extent translated texts can be adopted as an unchangeable

presentation.

1.7. Audience of the Surah

As a part of the global message of the Holy Quran, Surat Maryam came to represent

an intercultural contact between the two bodies of Islam and Christianity. The subject and

contents of the Surah portray the importance of a common ground between Christianity and

Islam. This Quranic chapter also shows to its audience the way how Allah (SWT) explains

in detail about Christianity and at the same time addresses its followers. And for Muslims,

it helps them to have a proper understanding of Christians’ perspective towards Jesus, the

Christ (PBUH) while on the other hand helping Christians as well to understand how Islam

and its followers see Christianity and its doctrines towards Jesus the Christ. These can help

to bridge cultural gaps between the two religions.

6

The first intercultural contact took place in the year (615 AD). Some of the disciples

of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that formed the first generation of Muslims migrated to

the kingdom of Aksum in present Ethiopia to seek asylum. As Nuge, the Christian king of

the Aksum Kingdom heard Surat Maryam, the emperor not only accepted their request for

asylum but also converted to Islam and refused to repatriate them to Mecca as demanded by

the authorities there. This suggests that the message of the Surah helped to establish a

common ground between the two religions.

The Surah discusses issues of dogma such as monotheism. It also narrates the story

of the prophets of the children of Israel (PBUT). The reader will see those issues from

another perspective that will draw attention to the message that the Surah as a whole wants

to convey. In this sense, the translation of the Surah should be prefaced by a non-linguistic

context containing the occasion of revelation. The translation also should be followed by

adequate commentary as a step to sound communication.

Jakobson (1960, 1987:66) in Malmkjar (2005) postulates that “any act of verbal

communication involves six factors: (1) The addresser, (2) The addressee, (3) The context,

which makes the message operative, that is, which makes the expressions involved into a

message about something, (4) The message itself, (5) The contact, which is the ‘physical

channel and psychological connection between the addresser and the addressee, enabling

both of them to enter and stay in communication’, and (6) The code which the language

shared more or less fully by the participants”.

Al-Hassan bin Ali bin Abi Talib (PBUT), (Cited in Arabic text of Al-Nawawii,

1996) reflects that type of verbal communication regarding the occasional revelation of the

verses of the Holy Quran saying,

“The first Muslim generation caught up the verses of

the Holy Quran as their lord’s messages, recite them

by night and apply them the day next”.

7

1.8. Conclusion

Studies of translated divine texts hold importance in relation to their attribution to

human life. Believers from varying social, lingual and cultural settings need translated

versions of holy books to perform their religious rituals. Moreover, academics play a role,

where they need to examine, verify or deny those renderings that take place. This thesis is

interested in studying and analyzing the religious rendering of ‘Surat Merriam’ with

reference to the theories and theorists who proposed the basics of the science of translation.

An approach to translation that is suitable for analyzing the data of this thesis is by E. Nida,

because Nida sets out from the notion that equivalence is the relation that holds between ST

and TT. The adjustment technique he proposed can help convey the intended meaning from

one language to another (See Nida, 1982, Shuttleworth and Cowie, 1997).

Vinay and Darbelnet’s seven models for analysis look to provide an additional set of

techniques. Those techniques opened the scope of linguistic analysis of literary texts

because different renderings of one ST translated by more than one translator yield texts

with different stylistic forms. Nida’s approach to translation and Aissi’s (1987) attribution,

among others who’s cited in the study also resemble important reference for this thesis.

This thesis is a contribution to highlight the issues of the ongoing research questions, and to

stand beside the similar studies to represent a contribution of analyzing two translations of

Surat Maryam to be an example of how translations analysis can benefit accurate meaning

transfer between languages differ in their linguistics and cultural norms.

8

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2. Introduction

Readers of translated texts as well as novice translators need to have a background

in translation literature which will give a chance for more understanding about the way

translation of texts is performed, and the role that style plays in conveying the message that

the ST aims to convey. In order to achieve this goal, chapter two will be divided into two

parts, which are:

Part One: Some issues of Translation.

Part Two: General Translation, Quranic translation with reference to stylistic

literature.

In part one, the reader may find a brief overview of how changes in attitudes to the

concept of translation shared in the surge of the interdisciplinarity of translation in the

second half of the 20th century.

In part two, this thesis looks back to its subject matter with reference to the

historical side of the science of translation, to enrich the information provided and to

preview the analysis in this thesis. The part contains information about linguistic stylistics

proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet (1958). The thesis talks about translation with specific

reference to religious genre texts. It provides references that acquaint readers with more

information about the field. It is a step toward an evaluating view of translations of the

Holy Quran, and how deploying specific stylistic devices attribute to the text decoding

operation.

9

PART ONE

2.1. Some Issues for Translation

2.1.1. Translation as a Field of Studies

Translation as an academic discipline emerged in the second half of the 20th century and

started to flourish in the 1990s (Bassnett: 1999). The early years of the 1960s of the last

century witnessed significant changes in the field of translation studies. The study of

linguistics and stylistics within literary criticism led to developments in critical

methodology and also to the rediscovery of the work of the Russian Formalist Circle. The

groundwork, done by groups in Russia in the 1920s and subsequently by the Prague

Linguistic Circle and its disciples led to the rise of translation studies in the late 1950s

represented by the work of Jakobson. Since 1965, great progress took place in translation

studies by virtue of the work of scholars in Western Europe, in the Netherlands, Germany

and in East Europe as Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. That was in addition to the

contributions which started in the 1930s. Bloomfield, represented by the early studies of

contrastive linguistic studies in the United States, indicates the emergence of clearly

defined schools of translation studies. They place their emphasis on different aspects of the

whole vast field. Moreover, translation specialists have benefited a great deal from work in

marginally related lingual and scientific areas (Bassnett, 1996).

2.1.2. What is Translation Studies

Baker (1998) defines ‘Translation Studies” in its relevance to the academic branch of

translation science. Hatim (2001:3-10) goes further to embrace both theory and practice of

translation, saying that, “it is a multi-aspect interdiscipline”. Snell-Hornby (1988) portrays

the present metadiscipline of translation to embrace the whole picture of language. In her

study, she pleads for an “integrated approach,” which bridges linguistic and literary

orientations to make it interdisciplinary. This could be described as an early step which

shapes the multidisciplinary oriented studies later carried out by many scholars.

10

The shift in translation status from being a mere practice to a discipline took place when

the Dutch-based US scholar James S. Holmes (1924-1986) wrote his study ‘‘The Name and

Nature of Translation Studies’’. It was presented in 1972 to the translation section of the

Third International Congress of Applied Linguistics in Copenhagen. It was published and

known only from 1988 (Holmes 1988:71). In his study, he drew the map of translation in a

highly appreciated academic step. It was widely accepted among his contemporary scholars

because; it could remove the complexes gathered around the field.

He primarily divides the discipline into two major areas of study which are ‘Pure’ and

‘Applied’. He defines two objectives for the pure area of study. The first objective is to

debate all known translation phenomena which lie under DTS or Descriptive Translating

Studies. The latter objective is to establish general principles by which these can be

explained. Three issues are subsumed under DTS: The first is about what relates to text-

centered studies interests in the products of the process of translation. The second is

process-centered which represents the metacognitive aspects. And. The third is about the

functional-centered studies which refer to the function of rendered texts in the target

cultural environment.

The applied translation studies subsection of Holmes’s map is principally concerned with

translation training including teaching methods, testing techniques, and curriculum

planning, translation aids, referring to IT applications, dictionaries, translation software, on-

line databases and the use of the internet. By translation policy, Holmes also talks about the

role and the place of both translators and translations in society. The Assessment or

Criticism, as well, mainly addresses issues of revision and evaluation of translations.

Despite the fact that translation as a discipline has developed and took a more important

role in both academic and other real life aspects, one cannot deny that most of what have

been achieved after Holmes is built on his basis of his general framework of the discipline,

(See El-Dali 2010).

11

Table (3) below illustrates the way Holmes characterized the translation studies map.

Pure Applied

a) Theoretical (translation theory)

i) General

ii) Partial

(1) Medium restricted

(a) By machine Alone /with human aid

(b) By humans written/Spoken consecutive

(2) Area restricted (Specific languages)

(3) Rank restricted (word/sentence/text)

(4) Text- type restricted (Genres literary,

business, technical translations)

(5) Time restricted (Periods)

(6) Problem restricted (Specific problems e.g

equivalence)

B) Descriptive (DTS)

i) product oriented (examines existing

translations)

ii) process oriented (What happens in the mind of

a translator)

iii) Function oriented (a study of

context/’socio–translation studies’/cultural-

studies-oriented translation.

a) Translator training

i) Teaching evaluation

methods

ii) Testing techniques

iii) Curriculum design

b) Translating aids

i) IT applications

(1) Translation software

(2) On-line databases

(3) Use of internet

ii) Dictionaries

iii) Grammars

c) Translation criticism

i) Evolution of translations

ii) Revision of student’

translations

iii) Reviews of published-

iv) Translations.

Adapted from Munday (2016).

2.1.3. What is Translation

“A translation is not a monistic composition, but an interpretation and

conglomerate of two structures. On the one hand, there are the semantic

content and the formal contour of the original, on the other hand, the entire

system of aesthetic features bound up with the language of translation"

(Levy:1963, 2011).

Earlier studies in translation by many scholars reflect not only their literary or linguistic

trends but also their views on translation and its position within the core language. Despite

these numerous studies, the field of translation as an academic discipline is strongly related

to linguistic studies, and the cultural contexts of languages. However, scholars, like Khalusi

12

(1982) still see translation as an ‘Art’ where ‘aestheticism' is necessary for rendering

process. Newmark (1988:63) like his counterpart Khalusi sees this type of translation as

‘semantic translation,' with an argument that it must take more account of the aesthetic

value.

Khalusi’s view portrays the issue of ‘Aestheticism' as the main issue in the process of

translating literary contexts. He further argues that syntactic structures are types of

changeable phenomena, so that writers, poets, and translators may break those grammatical

rules on behalf ‘aesthetic composition' and ‘aesthetic rendering'. To prove his view, he cites

examples of old structures of ‘passive voice' constructions in Shakespearean expression

"Whil’st this play is playing”; and Walter Scott’s “while these measures were taking” in

place of structure in modern English as in ‘while this play is played’ and ‘while these

measures were taken’ respectively (cited in Khalusi1982:14).

Khalusi, (1982) claims the emergence of the new transformation represented by linguistic

structures, as in Dicken’s statement “Somebody is always being murdered” and Eliot's “The

horses were being led". In this sense, he postulates that translators may adopt similar

approaches to translation in which he terms, the ‘aesthetic calibre' in rendering, considered

not merely an accidental phenomenon, but rather a necessity where ‘Aestheticism' is the

calibre of good translation. He defined translation as an ‘Aesthetic Art' by which a transfer

of semantic, stylistic and senses from one language to another takes place with an

awareness of what a ST contains.

Vinay and Darbelnet (1995: 8-9) see translation as “An exact discipline, with its own

methods and its particular problems”. They believe that describing it as an ‘Art’ denies one

of its basic properties which is its place in the realm of linguistics. They prefer to approach

the systematic exploration of both ST and TT and concluded that the use of translation

skills at the professional level is an art that relates to the art of writing. They see translation

skills can be utilized in the comparison between two different languages or different

translations of one SL text by exploring to what extent language reveals the situation

underlying an utterance.

However, recent translation studies go beyond that. Snell-Hornby (1995) describes

translation as a discipline related to other academic branches; therefore all available

13

definitions reflect the theoretical approach underpinning it. As Shuttleworth and Cowie

(1997) noticed throughout the history of research into translation, the phenomenon has been

variously delimited by formal descriptions, echoing the frameworks of the scholars

proposing them. Translation takes its position in relation to all other linguistic and social

contexts and one might establish a theory of translation in relation to any other field of

science (Malmkjaer, 2005). In addition, contemporary research in translation gives

significant importance to the argument between scholars which led them to explore to what

extent linguistic, functional linguistics, semantic, pragmatic and cultural approaches to

translation present improvements to give the discipline its recent form of integrity.

2.1.4. Principles of Translation

Some scholars see translation as a phenomenon that has a huge effect on everyday

life, being a vehicle that facilitates communication. The term translation can relate to both

intra- and extra- linguistic phenomena to bridge the communication gap between variant

forms of communication channels. According to the Word Web Dictionary, “translation is

written communication in a second language having the same meaning as obtained from the

written form in the first language”. This involves both the process of translation and the

product of that process (Hatim and Munday: 2004: 3).

According to Nida (1964, 1982), translation is essentially a means of

communication in which meaning that encompasses both linguistic and cultural norms,

values, and even beliefs between variant cultures is transferred from one language to

another. However, the practice of translation goes back to the rise of human life when man

needed a meeting-point to share his feelings and experiences with people who belonged to

different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. ‘Translation’ as a term focuses more on the

written texts, while the ‘interpretation’ as a term tends to refer more to the oral practice of

translation. Recently, there is a trend toward a parallel field of translation titled

‘interpretation studies’ (Pochhacker, 2009). The term translation as a discipline originates

from the Norman French word Translation or possibly derived from the Latin word

14

‘Translatio’ which means trans-porting. Recently, the term encapsulates three trends which

include the general field, the product and the process itself. (See Al-Safi, 1972: 25).

To define the practice of translation in its classical form, it can be described as a

process of rendering an original written text (source text ST in the original verbal language)

into a written text, or the target text TT in a different verbal language Nida (ibid: 12). This

traditional form of translation has become known as ‘proper translation’ and is subsumed

under the term of the discipline as interlingual translation according to the early modern

taxonomy which was suggested by the renowned Prague School of Linguistics structuralist

scholar Roman Jakobson (See Aveling, 2004). In his seminal study ‘On linguistic aspects

of translation’ Jakobson classified translation into three categories which are:

1. Intralingual translation which is a form of rewording to reformulate a

translated text by means of other signs of the same target language TL.

2. Interlingual translation or ‘translation proper’ which refers to a written

communication in source language SL by means of foreign verbal signs

to mother language.

3. Intersemiotic translation refers to transferring of verbal signs by means of

non- verbal signs. (https://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/jakobson.pdf).

This study is concerned with the first and the second types which are interlingual

and intralingual branches of translation for two reasons. The first is that interlingual

translation helps to investigate how the transfer of semantic contents of SLT by means of

TL linguistic components can achieve equivalence. The second is that intralingual branch

of translation helps to shed light on the role of style because one's style heavily relies on his

ecological and religious background. That can tell us why different translations of one SLT

produce different TL texts, and, help to learn how to improve next works.

It also works to highlight the role of linguistic components in forming one’s style,

to probe the selected data validity and reliability using these analysis models and finally to

be an example of how Quranic translation might be approached.

15

2.1.5. Translation as a Process

In a simplified way, Catford (1978) cited in Baker (1995) sees translation as “the

replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in

another language (TL).” Actually, this seems insufficient when we can get the whole image

needed in the process to achieve the goals of good and successful communication. To

illustrate this, Nida (1964) sees translating as basically not a process of matching surface

forms by rules of correspondence, but rather a more complex procedure involving; analysis,

dynamic or mental transfer to an interlingual level of equivalence (translation proper),

restructuring and naturalization, later, he expand the definition to involve the pragmatic

aspect of meaning. Nida (1979: vii, cited in Khan: 2008) also says “translating is essentially

a process of communication because so much depends on the underlying presuppositions of

the respective source and target cultures”. However, since translation is essentially based on

and defined by meaning transfer between cultures, the following diagram exhibits Nida’s

three-stage vision which reflects the process of translation (Nida, 1982:33).

Figure (1) Nida’s Transformational-Generative model of translat

Figure (1) Adopted from Bassnett, (2002:25).

In Nida’s semantic-transformational model above, he exhibits three main processes

as decode, transfer and encode. The main concern of the first process is the analysis with

accuracy, i.e. what does that SL form actually mean? The second is the dynamic process of

transfer or the mental processing where he moves from SLT into TL equivalent choice, his

A (SOURCE LANGUAGE) B (RECEPTOR LANGUAGE)

(ANALYSIS) (RECONSTRUCTING)

Kernel transfer Kernel

16

choice is the reflection point of his own style. The two previously mentioned processes are

heavily relying on the translator’s understanding of ST content. The main concern of the

third or final process is reconstructing with TL natural equivalents, i.e. how this meaning

can be expressed most naturally in the TL form. Nonetheless, it is crucial to refer to

translators’ competence as a factor affects the translation process production quality.

2.1.5.1. Translator’s Competence

It is acknowledged in 2.1.5 above that translation could be grasped as a decision-

making process. As a translator, you need to be skilled by the required knowledge of

linguistic competence, comprehension competence, encyclopedic competence, and

rephrasing competence. In addition, as a mediator in an indirect communication process

between ST writer and TL reader, you should take into consideration the pragmatic and

extra-linguistic facts that surround the text under translation. That all is what can grant you

the scientific competence to make that decision. However, Al-jahiz (775 AD) in his book

‘Al-Hayawan’, argues about translators’ competence saying:

"وينبغي أن يكون أعلم الناس باللغة المنقولة والمنقول اليها حتـــى

يكون فيهما ســــواء وغاية ، ومتى وجدناه قد تكلم بلسانين علمنــا انه

قد أدخل الضيم عليهما ، لأن واحدة من اللغتين تجذب الاخرى وتأخذ

، وكيف يكون تمكن الـلســانمنها وتعترض عليـــــــــــها منهمـــا

مجتمعتين فيه كتمكنه لو أنه انفرد بواحـــــــــــــــــــــــدة"

(. 26:1)كتاب الحيوان ،

To paraphrase Al-jahiz, he states that, the translator should possesses the sufficient

knowledge of SL and TL equally to mastery level in order to avoid the influence of each

language on the other, and to ensure the accuracy of the meaning transfer process.

However, it is recognised in this study that in any accurate meaning transfer process, the

goal is equivalence.

17

2.1.6. Translation and Equivalence in Literature

Many recognized scholars give equivalence an important status in translation;

translation definition, and translating as a process itself. However, equivalence refers to the

idea that both ST and TT have a kind of sameness, and, the question is what kind and

degree of sameness. This gave birth to the different kinds of equivalence (Panou, 2013:1).

In contrast, Bassnett (1991:28) sees that equivalence in translation should not be

approached as a search for sameness, but as a dialectic between signs and structures within

and surrounding SL and the TL text.

Some scholars believe that translation theory cannot be addressed without

equivalence. Pym (2010) deems that both translation and equivalence work to define each

other for the inextricable connection between the two terms. Catford (1965) sees a

rendering process that requires equivalence between source language SL and target

language TL while transliteration is a one way process, i.e. the substitution of some sounds

or letters of SL, by some closer ones of TL.

In contrast to what is reviewed above, some scholars see equivalence from a

different perspective. Snell-Hornby (1995) refers to equivalence as an illusion in the

following terms:

“It means that the lexemes equivalent! or equivalence exist nowadays in

English above all as strictly delimited specialized terms, but at the same

time they oscillate in the fuzziness of common language, that is,

quantitatively relative in the sense of similar significance, 'virtually the same

thing'. And they entered the English specialized literature on translation with

the latter, blurred, common meaning”.

On the other hand, House (1997) argues that Hornby’s argumental notion of

equivalence is not totally convincing because the use of equivalence ‘does not refer to the

same thing’ where the use of equivalences expands to involve function and not necessarily

to represent complete identity as in Mathematics.

However, many scholars theorize new conceptions about equivalence types. Nida

(1982) suggests two types which are formal and dynamic equivalence, the first refers to the

18

semantic rendition and formal features of texts, whereas the second which he prefers

represents the communicative translation which seeks the achievement of equivalent effect.

However, it is notable that most of the equivalence definitions fall under two main

categories or types as either descriptive or prescriptive equivalence. Translation process as

it figured out by Nida in 2.1.5 of this study is composed of three stages, in the second stage

which is ‘the transfer' comes the translator's choice of equivalence which usually falls under

one of two categories or encompassing terms of equivalence; descriptive and prescriptive.

For naturalization, translators should look for the situational equivalence. In other words,

they should be aware how TL prescribes the similar situation of SL to ape it.

To illustrate, we may consider the English translation of the response of an

adjacency pair between sneezer and respondent in Arabic.

Sneezer: Alhamdulellah = ‘Praise to Allah’

Response:Yarhamkumu-llah. = ‘God bestows his mercy on you’ as a descriptive

equivalent.

Or, ‘Bless you’ ----------------- as a prescriptive equivalent.

The second response indicates the transfer of culture from English as illustrated in

the prescriptive equivalent ‘Bless you’ while the descriptive equivalent ‘God bestows his

mercy on you’ literally retains the semantic content of Arabic.

In this sense, Vinay and Darbelnet (1995:38) reflect on the ability of the translator

to replicate the same situation as in the original using completely different stylistics and

structural methods to produce an equivalent text.

19

2.1.6.1. Types and Levels of Equivalence

Table (4). Types of Equivalence. Adapted from Munday (1982).

Equivalence as a process of translation is approached by different theorists as opposing

dichotomies. According to Nida, it is Formal vs. Dynamic, according to House, it is Overt

vs. Covert. According to Newmark, it is Semantic vs. Communicative, and, according to

Pym, it is Natural vs. Directional. However, there also are levels of equivalence as the

semantic and stylistic ones. Table (4) above may better illustrate a brief perspective.

Types of

equivalence

What How attainable Research focus

Denotative Equivalence of the

extra- linguistic

content of a text

Analysis of

correspondence

and their

interaction with

textual factors

Lexis

Connotative Lexical choices e.g.

between near

synonyms

The most

difficult

Formality (poetic,

slang), social usage,

geographical origin,

stylistic effect

(archaic, plain),

frequency range

(general, technical),

evolution, emotion.

Text-

normative

Text types Functional text

analysis

Usage in different

communicative

situations

Pragmatic Nida’s dynamic

equivalence.

Situational

equivalence by

Vinay and

Darbelnet.

First of all:

particular

readership

Communicative

conditions for

different receiver

groups

Formal Related to the form

and aesthetic of the

text.

An analogy of

form of TL,

using the

possibilities of it

and creating a

new one.

Rhyme, metaphor

and other stylistic

forms

Cultural

materials

Availability of

materials in the

language inventory.

Near or similar

in function

Anthropology and

culture

20

2.1.7. Translation Loss and Gain

Jakobson reflects that ordinarily there is no full equivalence through translation, “even

apparent synonymy does not yield equivalence” (quoted by Panou, 2013). Due to the

inequalities between languages, equivalence seems to be the point that all translation works

seek. Since such a goal cannot be completely reached due to those inequalities, translation

loss or gain seems as an inevitable condition in the translation process even in terms of loan

words or ‘false-friends’. False-friends are two similar words used by two different

languages in different contexts. That because loan words lack in some cases part of their

original contextual, cultural or phonological identity. For instance; an Arabic, Turkish

false-friend lexeme as ‘دقــة’---‘dikkat' is utilized in RL in the form of a noun as ‘attention',

and the form of a verb as ‘look out', while in DL it acts as a noun meaning ‘accuracy'.

The phonological dissimilarities have their role in that gain or loss of sameness in

translation. That can be found even within the same language as in the pronunciation of

‘work’ as /wi:rk/ or /wurk/ in English. Another example is the Turkish borrowed namaza

çağrı (call to prayer) ‘hayya ala-lflaa’ meaning a ‘come for prosperity’. Saying ‘falaa’

instead of ‘falah’ with its fricative Arabic ‘ح’ ‘h’ or /x/ may reflect a very different meaning

which converts ‘falah’ or ‘prosperity’ into ‘falat’ which equals the Arabic lexeme ‘فلاة’

‘falaa’ meaning ‘desert'. However, usually, such phonological nuance variations do not

distort the message contents, where the addressees properly can infer the intended meaning.

Herein one may assume that at the morphological level, any nonidentical communication is

sound if it is functionally equivalent.

2.1.8. From Untranslatability to Translatability

Due to distinct variations between different languages in the way they portray the

world, some scholars portray translation as an arbitrary unachievable process which results

in distorted texts and wasted time (Nida, 1982, Zhu, 1995). Even professional and serious

works in translation are clothed with gain or loss due to the absence of complete

equivalence between languages. Untranslatability is also evident in cases when translators

adopt translated texts as ST because translated texts are in common loaded with gain or loss

21

due to the fact that no complete equivalence between two languages and the assessment of

TT needs evitable reference to the original ST. However, Popovic (1970) distinguishes two

situations of untranslatability; 1.The situation where the linguistic item of SL cannot be

substituted adequately in structural, linear, functional or semantic term lack of denotation or

connotation. 2. The situation where the relation between the creative subject and its

linguistic expression of SL has no adequate linguistic expression in TL. Nida's approach

symbolizes this important shift to translatability. However, Nida, himself (ibid:3) cited

some views of untranslatability which are not completely justified due to the shift

translation studies had witnessed in and in what follow the fifth decade of the 20th century.

Eastman (1936) postulates that translations are in common bad saying “they are made by

ordinary people who match the unusual foreign expression with the commonplace in their

own tongue, moreover, they add insult to injury by their desperate concern to be literary”.

It seems that Easterman’s postulation is due to the quantum of bad renditions present at his

time where the discipline of translation studies was not up yet.

Brower (1959) sees translation as “tasteless where ST loses all its aesthetic

characteristics within decoding”. Here, one might argue that this is proportionally true. Up

to genre, only literary works and miraculous scriptures need to reflect those artifacts

whereas scientific texts need not. Nonetheless, we still have what justifies untranslatability

of Holy Scriptures and literary works.

To prove untranslatability, a newspaper in Denmark sent a delightfully written essay

by J.V. Jansen to some European translators who affiliate to different linguistic

backgrounds. Their production result as unrhetorical and confusing texts that a Danish

professor, who was asked to back translate them into Danish, objected saying I cannot see

any point in wasting my time in translating a material that seems to have been written by a

school child, Nida (ibid: 3).

We, thus, conclude that in Holy Scriptures translation, we should adopt only

original texts in their mother tongues due to their perfect style, indigenous cultural content

and the original connotations that serve accurate translation. For instance, across Surat

Maryam, Allah (SWT) uses the Arabic vocative ‘يا’ --- ‘ya:’ meaning ‘O’ in addressing the

22

prophets of the children of Israel, while their response comes to be without it, saying ‘My

lord’. It is important to translate the response without the vocative ‘O’ to reflect the tenor.

However, the Holy Scriptures translatability is proportional in the sense that no

rendition can be clothed with holiness. The debate between scholars addressing the issue of

translatability can be examined by a moderate policy adopting calibers of accuracy and

faithfulness. Many scholars see accuracy and naturalness as two required features in the

process of introducing good translations.

2.1.9. Accuracy

Accuracy is the condition or quality of being true, correct or exact, free of error or

defect (Word Web dictionary). According to Shuttleworth and Cowie (1992:3) “the term

accuracy is used in translation to find out to which extent TT matches its original source, in

the sense, literal translation rather than free translation can help to preserve the information

of ST in TT”. They argued that “the actual meaning in the context in a given translation

must depend on the type of equivalence found in the translation”. Sager (1994:148) cited in

Shuttleworth and Cowie (ibid: 3) reformulated Nida's view of accuracy in addressing the

issue of the linguistic level of the phrases, clause, and paragraph up to the whole text. But,

at the same time, there is no reference to the receptor's response similarity with the native

reader of the ST. However, (Popovič 1970:80) argues that departures from strict accuracy

are frequently perceived as shortcomings because of their perspective nature. However, in

an empirical sense, such deviations, especially in the translation of literary texts, are often

inevitable, as the translator will need to introduce shifts in order to reproduce the original

"in its totality, as an organic whole".

The translation of the Shakespearean Sonnet ‘To His Love’ into Arabic by the Iraqi

poet Fatina An-Na’ib was an attempt at an accurate translation but an inevitable shift in

many prosodic and metric features to convey the poetic picture took place (Khalusi, 1982).

Generally, there are three issues that can cause a TT to be inaccurate:

23

1. Adding information not contained or implied in the original text.

2. Omitting information contained or implied in the original text.

3. Adding extraneous information whilst omitting part of the original

instead of being inserted as footnotes or marginal information.

However, some scholars see the inevitable shift from literal to oblique translation by

‘paraphrasing’ as distortion of or deviation of the message of the source text, because

changing the structure of a sentence results in change in focus and presupposition.

According to some scholars, paraphrase shows that an attempt has been made to render the

text in a form that is clearer to receptors even more than to the original readers. The result

is that extraneous information and unnecessary interpretations are found. Such paraphrase

has also been termed as ‘unduly free translation’. This type of translation refers to content

and ignores the style. It sometimes sounds inaccurate and is therefore, to some extent

unacceptable (See Crystal, 2003:336). However, this point of view cannot be absolute.

Newmark (1988:90) sees paraphrase as “an amplification or explanation of the meaning of

a segment of the text. It is used in an 'anonymous' text when it is poorly written, or has

important implications and omissions.”

2.1.10. Naturalness and Unnaturalness (Naturalization)

The message does not come in some languages in free form (like symbolic logic). It

is clothed in the words and grammatical restriction of the SL. In religious translation, there

is a tendency for the translator to be so hypnotized by the ‘form' or ‘dress' in which the

message is clothed, that he adopts the dress, as well as, the message. As a result, the form

of the TL translation copies or imitates the form of the SLT. This is called calque

translation. It is sometimes unacceptable because it is very unnaturalness will often make

the message odd, the average reader hardly can infer it. Nonetheless, in LT, there are

degrees of literalness, ranging from highly literal to free. According to Rufai (1983), there

are four major types of LT which are gathered to form a continuum. Acceptable translation

will always lie between the two extremes of this continuum.

24

Adapted from Rufai (1983).

Figure (2) shows translation limits within language stretch.

In this sense, literal translation is conceptualized in terms of the possible preservation of SL

contents, expressed by the utilization of idiomatic translation which refers to naturalization.

2.1.11. The Purpose of Translation

In contrast to some points mentioned above, one may assume that translation works

to reproduce the goal and genre of SL text by tools of TL. Religious texts are essentially

divine texts with the miraculous composition that cannot be imitated as in the case of the

Holy Quran. In this sense, Nida believes that a translator needs to convey the message

rather than form or style, where focus on style may sacrifice the content. Translation is a

process done by the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message. This

equivalent should not only cover the intelligibility of the message, but also its total impact

on those who receive it. It should have the same dynamic effect as the original, (See Nida

1969).

2.1.12. An Analogy of Form and Meaning

A comparison can be made between the linguistic form of a language (meaning

carrier) and vehicle. Suppose a road is used to represent one language and a canal a

different one. A car is needed to convey passengers by road, namely, a boat of some sort.

The same is true with conveying meaning. One language will use certain forms to carry out

the meaning; a different language will use a different form even though it has the same

meaning that is being transmitted. Further, just as you would not attempt to transfer parts of

UNACCEPTABLE TYPES

ACCEPTABLE TYPES

INTERLINEAR BALANCED IDIOMATIC UNDULY FREE

25

the car to the boat when changing vehicles, so you should not attempt to transfer the

grammatical and lexical form of the SL to the TL when translating. Who would put wheels

on a boat or design a car that had the shape of a canoe? These forms are simply a vehicle

with which to get the message across to the recipients. Do not transfer the vehicle as well.

The hermeneutic model of translation suggested by Steiner (1975) resembles this

methodology to translate religious texts. It is based on four processes: Initiative trust (to

believe the text has a message deserves the rendition), aggression (to penetrate the SLT

meaning), incorporated move (prioritize the meaning, not the form) and restitution (exact

rendition with fidelity to ST meaning). However, the linguistic forms which can be

transferred from SL to TL literally are:

A- Parts of speech: noun for noun, adjective for adjective.

B- Verb forms e.g. Active/Passive.

C- Direct or indirect speech.

D- Word and phrase order.

E- Length of sentences.

F- Word for word concordance.

G- Idioms and figures of speech.

H- Implicit/explicit information.

2.1.13. Main Approaches to Translation

2.1.13.1. Semantic Approach

Many scholars defined Translation in relation to semantics. Dostert (cited by Booth:

955) defined translation as a branch of applied linguistics which is specifically concerned

with the problem, or the fact, of the transference of meaning from one set of patterned

symbols into another set of patterned symbols. Consequently, the study of meaning or

semantics is important. According to Yule (2010) "Semantics is the study of the

conventional meaning of words in language". At word level, each word has conceptual and

associated meaning, some scholars prefer to use alternative wording which is denotative

26

and connotative meaning. However, the literal use of a word meaning reflects denotative or

lexicon meaning which is conventionally attached to a word, whereas connotative meaning

is the associated meaning that one may attach to a word. According to Nida (1982:91-92),

connotative meaning of a word is delimited by the way we react emotionally toward that

word, and to understand the nature of that association one should care; a speaker's relation

to that word, the circumstances in which the word is used, and, the linguistic setting

characteristic of that word.

Since translation is concerned with meaning transfer from SL to TL, many scholars

address the relationship between translation and semantics. According to Crystal

(2003:287) "the term semantic meaning may be used whenever one wants to emphasize the

content, as opposed to the form or reference, of linguistic units". Nida (1964) sees the

semantic relation of importance as relating to contents of a message. He believes that

meaning should be given priority in the translation process, so, translators need the

awareness of variant aspects of meaning by which they can transfer the intended meaning

accurately.

2.1.13.2. Types of Meaning

According to Curse (1986), there are four main types of meaning related to word

level or utterance:

1. Propositional Meaning: This meaning is represented by the relation between a ‘word’

with what that word refers to or describes in a real or imaginary world. In other words, it’s

the type of meaning by which we decide an utterance as true or misleading.

2. Expressive Meaning: A word meaning relates to speaker's attitude or feeling. In other

words, no conclusive decision toward its dependability can be taken.

3. Presupposed Meaning: It is a relatively word meaning. It arises from co-occurrence

restrictions, these restrictions are of two types:

A. Selectional restrictions: that is we expect a human subject before a verb like

‘reads’. It is connected to the propositional meaning of word.

27

B. Collocational restrictions: In contrast, the meaning is not connected to the

propositional meaning. It is connected to the usage in various codes, Car –

Araba.

4. Evoked meaning: This type of meaning appears in diversities of ‘dialect’ as it is used by

a specific community restricted by region, age, and social class of users. And ‘register’ as it

is a variety of language used in particular purpose in particular social setting restricted by

field of discourse, ‘tenor’ which refers to relation between speaker and hearer

(leader/soldier, son/father) and mode (written/spoken) language.

It is granted that the meaning of a word heavily depends on the context and genre of writing

type. In such cases, knowing an Arabic lexeme’s conceptual meaning without taking into

consideration the context and genre of a selected text does not mean necessarily correct

rendering into TL text. In addition, pragmatic contents are crucial element of meaning in

the process of translation.

2.1.13.3. Pragmatic Approach

Another phase of meaning is the pragmatic one. Baker (1992:217) defined

pragmatics as “the study of language in use.” Kreidler (1998) defined connotative meaning

as “the pragmatic aspect of meaning". Thus, the associated or connotative meaning is a

considered a priority in any recoding process. To seize the pragmatic meaning of an

utterance or a written piece of discourse, translators should examine the context as a set of

facts or circumstances surround the incident that SLT describes. That context enables them

to portray the TT message in a style the TR can easily infer the intended meaning, and keep

going into a sound communication. In this sense, the theory of speech acts prescribes the

‘Illocutionary act' to resemble the fact that, in some utterances or written texts, what is

meant is more than what is said. We, therefore, conclude that the pragmatic meaning is

crucial for the process of translation. If a translator could not recognize the author's

intention he will not be able to transfer meanings accurately.

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2.1.13.4. Cultural-Intercultural Approach

It is known that ‘translation proper' is concerned and works to transfer the whole

image that relates to a specific text written in a specific language and context, loaded with

norms of source culture to another language in terms of target culture norms. This, by all

means, reflects its communicative nature and establishes for communicative translation.

Nida (1964) referred to the fact that translation is cross-cultural communication and

contact. Linguistic units can only be understood when considered together with the cultural

contexts in which they arise and are used (See also House, 2015). The ties between culture

and language impact the way we translate because of their interwoven ties. According to

Ngugi (1986:15-16) “Communication creates culture, culture is a mean of communication.

Language carries culture, and, culture carries, particularly through orator and literature, the

entire body by which we come to perceive ourselves and our place in the world”.

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958, 1995) recognize the relationship between language and

culture and discuss the cultural-communicative phase of translation. They suggest the

‘adaptation’ as a method of oblique translation to be a solution to what may face the

translator in the textual cultural transposition. According to Dickins (2006:17) “A

communicated translation is produced, when, in a given situation, the ST uses an SL

expression standard for that situation, and the TT uses a TL expression standard for an

equivalent target culture situation.” In this sense, opposing Pickthall, Stewart (2000)

suggests translating the name of ‘Allah’ from Arabic scripture of the Holy Quran to be

‘God’ in English text since, in his view, the latter has an equivalent denotation, and that

subsequently enables TR to infer the intended meaning accurately.

In contrast, some Muslim scholars believe that ‘God’ could not play that role, and

subsequently it is not the appropriate lexical equivalent lexeme of the name of ALLAH

(SWT) because it has different connotations. However, apart from which of the two points

of view is the accurate one, the chart below may illustrate the bias trend within meaning

transference process. Dickins (Ibid: 40) sees that “Any degree of cultural transposition

involves the choice of features indigenous to the TL and the target culture in preference to

features with their roots in the source culture”. The following chart may support more

explanation.

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Figure (3) Dickin’s (2006) Model of Cultural Transference in Translation.

Source-culture bias Target-culture bias

Exoticism-------- Cultural ------------------ Communicative ------ Cultural

or calque borrowing translation transposition

2.1.13.5. Linguistic Approach

"Translation is the result of a linguistic-textual operation in

which a text in one language is re-contextualized in another

language. As a linguistic-textual operation, translation is,

however, subject to, substantially influenced by, a variety of

extra-linguistic factors and conditions. It is this interaction

between ‘inner' linguistic-textual and ‘outer' extra-linguistic

contextual factors that make translation such a complex

phenomenon". House (2015).

Hence, the seven standards of textuality proposed by De Beugrand and Dressler (1981)

seem to play principal role in this respect, forming the way translated texts should be

produced, granting the text with communicative nature, and in case one might not meet that

means, the text then would lack its communicative feature. That means they play the main

role in forming author's style. In one hand, three of the seven standards are writer oriented:

Cohesion, Coherence, and Intentionality. On the other hand: Acceptability, Informativity,

Situationality are the reader oriented ones, and, finally the seventh is Intertextuality which

refers to text’s relevance to a preceding one.

We need, in addition to all that has been mentioned about translation relative to

linguistics, the human artifacts or aesthetic factors which clothe any text with its entire

features, the style of SL, and the style of text author. The meeting or melting point is that

point when linguistic and stylistic features meet to reformulate ST by equivalent tools of

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TL. Hence, we will exhibit some definitions of style and then review the stylistic

methodology of Vinay and Darbelnet along to use these categories to achieve comparative

analysis of the data of this thesis.

2.1.14. Style and Stylistics

Style or stylistic studies is a mere part of the rhetorical tradition which started 2500

years ago by Aristotle who defined rhetoric as “An ability to see the available means of

persuasion” (Rh., 1.2.1; Aristotle, 1991:36). The question of what a style is can be

answered as Ohmann (1964) who sees it as “A way of writing”. Such a way of writing

could be influenced by linguistic rules of writing in addition to rhetoric which is according

to Butler (2008:2) “the study and use of language in context to inform, persuade and

produce knowledge”. Thus, one can conclude that the study of style embraces the study of

linguistics as language phenomena and rhetorical and stylistic devices. This may embrace;

sound, rhythm, figures of speech, semantics, syntax, diction and register. However, another

definition may give more extension to style, according to Farlex freedictionary.com “Style

is the combination of distinctive features of literary or artistic expression, execution or

performance characterizing a particular person, group, school or era”

Many scholars see stylistics as the scientific study of style. Khan (2008:24) defined

style as “the linguistic study of literary texts”. Sharma (2005: 150) defined style saying

“Style has to do with those components or features of a literary composition which give it

individual stamp, marking it as the work of a particular author and producing certain effect

upon the readers.”

Crystal (2003:440) defined stylistics as “A branch of linguistics which studies the

features of situationally distinctive uses (varieties) of language, and tries to establish

principles capable of accounting for the particular choices made by individual and social

groups in their use of language”. Stylistics as a branch of linguistics can be classified as:

1. General stylistics: It deals with the non-dialectal varieties encountered within

language.

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2. Applied stylistics: It is often used for the study of contextually distinctive varieties of

language, as it used to classify a style as a literary or not.

3. Literary stylistics: It refers to the ‘style’ of individual authors.

Definitions ‘in hand' of style are, in fact, not without confusion because style is not

a single entity. It extends to embrace wide range of phenomena, as a way of life or the way

things done. According to Oxford advanced learners dictionary, Style is "a quality that

marks out something done or made as superior, fashionable or distinctive". The stylist is

"writer who achieves a good or original literary style". The way language used relates to the

person himself is affected by topic and genre. To give an example one may describe a

stylist by the manner he writes ‘Archaic is Pickthall and Modernity is Stewart' as an

instance.

Sharma (Ibid:125) addressed the ambiguity of defining style “It is very difficult to

tell what constitutes style and how one cultivates style, is style a man or his work, his body,

his heart or soul, or the words he uses, or the way he uses them”. To give an answer to

these queries set by Sharma is not easy because of the wide range of surrounding

possibilities. Breaking it down may instigate a negotiable answer as if it takes us back to set

some other questions as, What constitute style? It means what are the components that form

style, and, to answer such a question one may conclude that the personal attitude of man

based on traditional norms embracing culture, religion, doctrine social class in addition to

his goals are all together what form his style. How one cultivates style? Cultivating style

may refer to educating to maintaining the same style in writing or doing a job. Is style the

man or his work? This question can be answered in the light of the first. In other words,

what constitutes your attitude toward life composes your style, and your style reflects you.

Revisiting style definitions may give us more clear vision. According to Shipley

(cited in Khan: 2008) “Style consists in adding to a given thought all the circumstances

calculated to produce the whole effect that the thought ought to produce.” This definition

seems to enlighten the way of how style of a translation should be shaped. In this sense,

Nida and Taber (1982), Stewart (2000) postulate that TT writer’s style should influence

audience the way the ST did on receptors.

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2.1.14.1. Approaches to Style

As it is referred to by Shipley as ‘given thought’, feelings and desires are all

individual characteristics reflect one’s style. Form is style and style is form. Authors

Intentionality which is dressed by specific choice of words and expressions aims to achieve

text receptors acceptability by creating certain effect is one’s approach to style. The main

characteristics of style as (Khan: 2008) mentioned are:

i. Embellishment: It refers to any utterance type or level that is garbed with one’s style.

ii. Choice: Which refers to the subjectivity of choosing from among linguistic units to

form one’s style. I.e. ‘choice is the style’. Your style as a translator reflects either the

way you understood SLT, the way you want TLT looks, or the two all.

In general, it seems that Nida concluded the translator’s approaches to translation

styles by two approaches:

i. Imitate SLT via formal correspondence.

ii. Adopt TL style which is functionally equivalent.

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PART TWO

The Tradition of Translation in Islam

2.2.Introduction

Since the study in this thesis is concerned with an exploration of comparative stylistic

operating in Quranic translation, the second part of this Chapter is devoted to reviewing

relevant literature related to the art of translation in the Arab and Islamic world and

discussing some significant points about the Holy Quran translations, and finally to lead to

data analysis in Chapter Three.

2.2.1. History and Development of Islamic Translation

According to many scholars, translation as an academic science remains neglected

in comparison to other core linguistic disciplines. Nevertheless, it has been a major

academic activity that has developed since the Islamic Middle Ages (8th-13th century) when

Baghdad was the centre of civilization of the middle ages. The Islamic conquests in Asia,

Mediterranean coastal countries and south Europe were based on religious propagation

which was aimed at spreading the divine message of Islam. It subsequently represented a

unique occasion of cross-cultural communication and a valuable type of exchange in

lingual, religious, cultural, commercial and scientific aspects.

That transactional communication with the new societies in conquered regions

represented the main factor that allowed Arab scholars to realize the importance of

translation. Thus, translation started to blossom in the Arabic and Islamic world, until it

reached its glorious reign in the year 840 A.D. when ‘Beitul-hikma’ as translation and

compilation centre was built by the Abbasid caliph ‘Al-Ma’mun’ (Bacharach:2006:304).

According to records, the Mongols’ invasion of Baghdad in 1258 AD, caused

burning and flooding of a treasury of translated Greek and Asian literary and scientific

manuscripts, in addition to bulky number of Arabic authentic manuscripts which represent

the main pillar on which scientific development of the middle ages renaissance relied on

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(Al-Issami:1111 AH/ d.1691 AD). This lamented destiny deprived humanity of that

literature and sent ‘translation’ to the world of oblivion for more than seven centuries.

2.2.2. Translation in Religious and Historical Traditions

From a religious perspective, the science of translation is widely acknowledged in

both Muslim and Christian manuscripts due to the ecological and cultural disparity of the

nations of the world. According to Williams (1998) “Language maintains culture and

culture produces language”. Cultural varieties produce lingual varieties which is an obstacle

in the way of communication. The Holy Quran highlights the issue of communication in the

following verse:

“O mankind, indeed we create you from male and female, and made

you into nations and tribes so that you may recognize one another.

Indeed the most noble among you with Allah is the most righteous of

you. Indeed, Allah is all knowing, all aware” (49:13).

The above verse acknowledges that different nations and tribes need common

ground to communicate and understand themselves and each other. Translation in this

respect is a tool to bridge the communication gaps between the different nations and tribes

in the sense of having different linguistic and cultural settings. Similarly, the ‘Book of

Genesis’ narrates how diversity in human language appears which creates the need for

translation:

“The descendants of Noah decided, after the great flood, to settle

down in a plain in the land of Shinar. There, they committed a great

sin. Instead of setting up a society that fits God’s will, they decided

to challenge his authority and build a tower that could reach heaven.

However, this plan was not completed, as God, recognizing their

wish, regained control over them through a linguistic stratagem. He

caused them to speak different languages so as not to understand

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each other. Then, he scattered them all over the earth. After that

incident, the number of languages increased through diversion, and

people started to look for ways to communicate, hence the birth of

translation”. (Cited in Benabdelali, 2006).

Historically, several literatures of the classical (Hellenic) period and beyond, the

Quintilian c.35-100, Cicero 107-44 BCE, Pliny the younger 61-112 AD and the translation

of ‘The Odyssey of Odysseus’ from Greek into Latin by Andronicus in 204 BCE, reflect

the interest in writing and translation in the ancient world. (Michael: 1990).

These show that the field of translation as an academic discipline is as old as human

civilization itself. Issues which arose at those times and extend even to recent ages are

whether how to translate word to word, sense to sense or in a free style. Thus, the debate

has led to the rise of theories in translation. One of the main issues was, as well, to

contextualize the term translation and to establish a sense for the kin terms of transfer and

transliteration (see Al Safi, 1984).

According to Al-Bustani (1904:76), ‘Al Safadi’ the Arabic scholar (700 AD),

compiled the literature of translation and talks about two methodologies of translation. The

first is LT, ‘Johanna Al-Patrick’ and ‘bin Na’ima Al-Himsi’ were among those who prefer

and utilize it in their works of translation. It was represented as ‘word-to-word’ translation.

Al-Bustani (ibid) argues that this methodology lacks the stylistic approach to translation

and can only be capitalized in language teaching. The second approach is ‘free translation’

which was utilized in the works of ‘Hunain bin Isaac’. Al-Bustani (ibid) sees it as ‘the

translator's best choice' because it gives priority to meaning and the message the ST bears.

2.2.3. History of Translation of the Holy Quran in Brief

The Holy Quran was revealed as a global message; the Holy Quran testifies that

saying:

“Say (O’ Muhammad): O mankind! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah

to you all-(the messenger of) Him unto whom belongeth to

sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no god save Him.

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He quickeneth and he giveth death. SO believe in Allah and his

messenger, the prophet who can neither read nor write, who

believeth in Allah and in his words and follow him that haply ye may

be led aright” (9:159).

Globalism of the Quranic message summons the need to communicate by mean of

translation. The early attempts to translate the Holy Quran were done by Christian

clergymen. The first translation into English was done by Alexander Ross in 1649 AD. It

was entitled ‘The Alcoran of Mahomet, the prophet of the Turks, newly Englished for the

satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities’. This translation is based on

the French translation of Andre de Ryer. Later, scholars like Rodwell (1861) sought to

refute it in the light of the Bible. Bell’s translation in (1932) followed the false belief that

alterations and misplacements took place in the process of editing the Holy Quran in the (1st

century AH/ d. 622-717 AD) and extends his discussion to address the relevance between

verses: “and the verses were not assumed to be connected simply because they happened to

be placed together” (See Bell, 1991: xix).

The following generation scholars seemed more competent with knowledge of the

ST language; Sale (1734 AD) and Palmer (1880 AD) translations reflected acceptable

scholarship in Arabic and lack the bias. This more realistic shift in the translation of the

Quranic literature took place at the very beginning of the 20th century. Mohammed Abdul

Hakim Khan was the first Muslim who attempted to render the meaning of the Holy Quran

into English in 1905. Many other attempts followed that as those significant ones of Mirza

Hairat in 1916 and Hafiz Ghulam in (1920 AD).

The year 1930 was marked by the English translation of the Holy Quran by

Marmaduke William Pickthall. Eight years later, the most important translation of Abdullah

Y. Ali was published. Later, Mohammed Taqui AL-Din, Muhammed Khan, Mohammed

Assad and Abdel Haleem regarded distinctive translations. Many studies arise and are still

arising (See Khan: 2008).

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2.2.4. Many Translations for One Text

“No one ever wrote a book without, on the following day, saying,

‘had such-and-such been changed it would have been better; had

such-and-such been added it would have been more acceptable; had

such-and-such been stated it would have been preferable and had

such-and-such been omitted it would have been more elegant.’ Such

a phenomenon is one of the great lessons and evidence of the

inherent insufficiency of all members of human race. Al-Bisani”,

(d.596 A.H./1199 A.D.). (Cited in Arabic text of Al-Badawi: 2008).

Translators as mediators between different cultures are affected by the intra-and

extra-linguistic systems of SL and TL. The dissimilarities of translators in their individual

capabilities and perspectives affect the form and contents of their production. According to

Al-Aloush (2008), the Holy Quran has been translated more than 200 times into Urdu. This

indicates that there is a continuous need to look for new translation methodologies seeking

to avoid loss and/or over-translation and help them decide the ideal style, where translator'.

The study of style can reflect the way one can analyse ST style and the decision of

translation in the process of rephrasing to reproduce SLT.

In the following two English translations of Chapter (112) of the Holy Quran, you

can notice how the translator’s decision or style affects the production of one SLT. The two

translations are taken from Dickins (2006).

Pickthall’s Translation

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

1-Say: He is Allah, the One! 2. Allah, the eternally besought of all! 3. He begetteth

not nor was begotten. 4. And there is none comparable unto Him”.

Turner’s Translation

“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

1. Say: ‘My God is One; 2. The cosmos is manifestation of His eternal names, for

He is mirrored in all things in a most subtle manner and He is free from all wants and

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needs. 3. He does not beget or produce anything, nor is he begotten or produced by

anything 4. And there is no doubt in the whole of the cosmos that can be likened to Him”.

Pickthall’s translation sticks to ST. Count the words shows the literal nature of his

translation. Turner’s version is filled with exegetical elements and gives the impression of

oblique translation. However, translators need to get the knowledge about SLT style to be

able to decide how to translate.

2.2.5. Style of the Quranic Language

The fascinating features of Quranic style are ornamented by deploying Arabic rhetorical

devices and word order, a unique style of composition made the Quranic text inimitable,

Allah (SWT) said:

“Say: Verily, thou mankind and the Jinn should

assemble to produce the like of this Quran, they could

not produce the like thereof though they were helpers

one of another” (17:88).

Stewart’s (2000) approach to understanding the Holy Quran by Christian society

highlighted the importance of the aesthetic form of translation as a parallel factor to

message contents of ST; saying that, the text that appeals to the readers is governed by the

fascinating nature of its style. To underpin, he cites the following text.

“Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, later, the second caliph vehemently opposed the prophetic

plea of Islam, Umar, was so moved upon hearing Surat Ta-Ha (Chapter: 20) recited that he

converted on the spot.”

Following Stewart; the reason, why available translations have no effect as that

which converts ‘Ibn Al-Khattab' on the spot is the fascinating nature of the Quranic text.

Stewart's plea to employ human artifacts in the translation is to enhance the TT vitality that

ST has and the touch of beauty that available renditions lack. He sees that capitalizing

contents at the expense of form or style sends a cut-off image and cannot achieve the same

39

effect that ST has. He suggests idiomatic translation and sees that Pickthall's translation

uses archaic language which is not easily understandable by an average reader and is stuck

to ST style. Deploying TL style, and suprasegmental features in addition to usage of a

comprehensible language are the most significant features of his approach to the Holy

Quran translation.

Stewart sees this type of effect on the audience in the Quranic issue closely

achievable since we still have the original text as it revealed and said by Allah (SWT).

According to Stewart (ibid) "rhyme and rhythm are certainly the most outstanding elements

lost in translations". These devices are important to clothe TT with more effectiveness and

fascination and a closer way to deliver the complete message with both of its form and

contents.

2.2.6. Context and Comprehending the Holy Quran

According to Crystal (2003:103) context is “A general term used in linguistics and

phonetics to refer to specific parts of an utterance (or text) near or adjacent to a unit which

is the focus of attention. The occurrence of a unit (e.g. a sound, word) is partly or wholly

determined by its context, which is specified in terms of the unit’s relations, i.e. the other

features with which it combines as a sequence. The every-day sense of the term is related to

this, as when one’ puts a word in contexts’ (contextualizes), in order to clarify the meaning

intended, as dictionary entries. Providing a context in this way is referred to as

contextualization. Words, it is suggested, have meaning only when seen in context”.

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958, 1995) contend that it is inaccurate to translate without

paying attention to the context, and to be true, translators should consider the pragmatic

meaning by investigating the metalinguistic information of ST situation saying that “the

context does not acquire its full meaning until we reconstruct in our minds the situation it

describes”.

In this sense, at verse or situational level, the books of Asbabul Nuzul (the

occasions of revelation) as those by Al-Wahidi Al-Nisaburi (1075 AH/d. 1655 AD) and by

Al-Suyuti (911 AH/d. 1505 AD.) are amongst the best references in the field that can help

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translators to grasp the contextual meaning of ST. At whole text level, the commentary of

Ibrahim Al-Biqai (d. 855 AH/ 1480 AD) which is entitled ‘Nazm Al-Durar fi Tanasub Al-

Ayat wa Al-Suwar’. As a commentary about how verses intertextual relevance to each

other ‘passages of the Holy Quran explains each other’ can also help to assist

comprehension before translating as a linkage between the contextual and intertextual

meaning of a text.

Bell (1937), in his translation of the Holy book, he addresses the pragmatic meaning

of the Holy Quran in the light of coherence arguing that “coherence and the chronicle

sequence of historical incidents need to be revised and rearranged”. In this regard, the

worthy contribution of El-Awa (2006) addresses the theory of relevance by (Sperber and

Wilson: 1986) to achieve successful communication lit the path to better understanding.

She pleads for substituting ‘coherence', with the ‘theory of relevance' to be the main

relation holding the concepts of the Quranic text. In other words, relevance relation is these

needed to understand the situational meaning which has to achieve a contextual effect. Her

plea looks appropriate. The reason is that any Quranic abstract text has a type of relevance

to an extra-linguistic concrete one in real life. That justifies why the revelation of the Holy

Quran was occasional. The revelation takes almost twenty-three years to add new meanings

and/or negate or confirms an assumption, in this sense, this verse was revealed:

“And those who disbelieve say: Why is the Quran not

revealed unto him all at once? (It is revealed) thus that

We may strengthen thy heart therewith; and We have

arranged it right order.” (25:32).

According to El-Awa (ibid.), the theory of relevance is defined in terms of

contextual effect. The contextual effect of a context which a hearer accesses is achievable

by sensible utterance needs to involve some or all the three following effects to convey the

message:

1- It leads to the contextual implication that interacts with an existing contextual

assumption to yield new assumption/item of information.

41

2- It contradicts an existing contextual assumption and hence weakens or totally negates

that assumption.

3- It confirms an existing contextual assumption and hence strengthens a belief which

is held by the hearer.

2.2.7. Theoretical Application in the Study

As a prelude to the motivation of the study, the science of translation is to help

provide a remedy to communication problems due to linguistic, cultural and ecological

differences between the translators involved in the translation. Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean

Darbelnet (1958) proposed seven stylistic categories to be an extremely useful starting-

point for a translator. They also enable critics to evaluate translations via comparative and

contrastive studies providing integrated systems of stylistic tools aiming at achieving

success communication via translation process. The seven categories herein show how

deploying these categories help show those differences which occur within the translation

process. These categories will later be applied to support a comparative analysis to explore

the stylistic differences which will provide worthy insights into the science and arts of

translation.

2.2.8. Toward a Methodology of Translation

The year (1958) witnessed the surge of a pioneer methodology of translation by the

two French scholars Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet. Their suggested methodology

could answer the old/new question of how to translate, word-to-word or sense-to-sense.

They categorise translation activity in a way bridges the two main methods as completing

each other. They suggest direct translation as SL-oriented and oblique translation as TL-

oriented methodology of translation. In their methodology, each branch subsumes sub-

categories or procedures as will be shown in the sequence below. Direct or literal

translation is described by the authors as a ‘structural parallelism’ technique, i.e.

restructuring according to TL syntactic structure. Structural parallelism is possible when

there is the possibility of transferring SL text elements into a parallel one in TL. This type

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of sameness exists not only in languages which belong to the same family, Germanic and

English for instance.

The other technique is ‘meta-linguistic parallelism.’ It is about parallel concept

transfer. This type of translation is deployed by translators to overcome difficulties that

may arise especially when translating between languages differ in their meta-linguistic,

syntactic, and culture, i.e. belong to different family, Arabic and English for instance. This

type of parallelism is deployed as we look for an equivalent text.

2.2.8.1. Direct Translation

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958) suggest seven translation techniques divided into two

main categories, under the first category which resembles the SL-oriented TPs subsume

three techniques:

2.2.8.2. Borrowing

According to the authors, borrowing is the first and simplest literal translation

procedure. They postulate that borrowing is a common phenomenon used by translators to

overcome lacuna where the impression in TL should resemble that of SL. They defined it as

the transfer of an SL term into TL without translating it. Robins (1978) cited in Aissi

(1987:135) says: “These borrowings are assimilated to the phonetic sound classes and to

the phonological patterns of the borrowing language.” As a result borrowed words

phonologically convert to fit the receiving sound system due to the currency that they have

gained with time. A good example of phonetic disparity is the pronunciation of the same

borrowed names of the prophets of the children of Israel in Arabic and English.

English Arabic

John ------Yahya.

Jacob ----Ya’kub.

Jupe -----Eiyyub.

New technical terms/terminologies, proper and cultural names, titles, weights and

ecology are transferred literally from one language to another due to their authenticity. The

43

proper English names like ‘Oxford’ or ‘Philip’ can only be transliterated into Arabic as

/’xford/ دأوكسفور / fillip/فلب maintaining phonological qualities like those of SL.

This technique, sometimes used by translators to reflect a certain concepts where no

TL equivalent term in the target culture, or to maintain certain connotation as the case of

borrowing English PC parts names in Arabic. Sometimes, translators tend to use this

technique not because TL has no equivalent of a certain concept, but to transfer the stylistic

effect of the SL concept, as in borrowing the word ‘Eid' from Arabic into English to refer to

an Islamic festival. In this sense, Ni (2009) in Mahmood (2015) postulates that the

advantage of using the borrowing technique is to bring an original association to the word

in TL.

Borrowing is a common phenomenon among languages. Languages may borrow

one word or more to fulfill the need for a specific term. For example; Arabic borrowed

‘muhandiz’, the Persian lexeme of ‘engineer’ with some phonetic modulation to be

‘muhandis’. This type of modulation took place by devocalizing the [z] sound to [s] to suit

phonetic constraints of Arabic by not allowing a voiced consonant [z] to go behind a

voiceless sound [d]. Arabic alphabet does not include [p] it instead uses [f], ‘Paradise’

becomes ‘firdaws’, ‘Persian’ is ‘farisi’ and the Turkish ‘Aspir’ is ‘Asfar’. Many English

words have Arabic origins. For example: ‘Alcohol’, ‘Guide’, ‘Charity’, ‘Assassins’ and

‘Hegemony’. Arabic also gets its share of borrowing from English. For instance, we still

use English names for car spare parts.

Sometimes, the need for borrowing exceeds word level to involve phrase, clause or

sentence or an expression. Such type of borrowing is categorized as calque.

2.2.8.3. Calque

Calque means loaning an expression from SL to translate it literally in TL. Such

type of borrowing/loaning can be noticed more in languages share common meta-linguistic

concepts as the case of English and German:

44

German (DL) English (RL)

-Lehnwort --------------- Loan word.

- Standpunkt ------------ Point of view.

-Volkskunde ------------- Folk lore.

And between English and French:

French (DL) English (RL).

Calque----------------------- Calque.

Restaurant------------------ Restaurant.

Compliment de la saison -- Compliment of the season. (See ‘Online Etymology

Dictionary’).

Calque between languages with similar cultures is an easier mission than between those of

different cultures. For instance with calque the phrase ‘compliment de la saison’ into

Arabic comes up against pragmatic difficulty because Arabic societies are not used to

congratulate this occasion.

Another example is the calque of Arabic salutation style into English

- Greeter: ‘kaifa haluka’ (How are you?)

- Answerer: Al hamdu-lellah (Praise to Allah).

It is not an easy matter that an average English person can infer the link between the

two constructions, unless he has enough cultural background of Arabic.

According to Vinay and Darbelnet (1995:32) Calque literally is either in an

interlinear transfer where TL keeps SL syntactic structure, for example, the Islamic concept

of ‘There is no God except Allah', or literally, but with syntactic transposition. Each

‘calqued expression' resembles an independent translation unit. Calque as a translation unit

implicitly means the shift from partial to whole meaning of an expression since it is

borrowed to invest its connotation. Thus, each independent translation unit is loaded in

addition to other characteristics, with three aspects of meaning lexical, contextual and

pragmatic meaning. As an outsider expression, it will lose part or possibly all of its lexical

45

meaning in relation to its whole meaning. In such issues, the translator should infer its

pragmatic meaning depending on the contextual meaning within SLT to translate it

accurately, or otherwise, won't be caught up by TR. Baker (1992) postulates that the literal

transfer of SL expression into TL brings about gaps between coherence (the bridge between

old and new information) and presupposition (what the sender assumes message receiver(s)

already know) in pragmatics.

According to Aissi (1987:137) “calque usually occurs at the phrasal or sentential

levels and consists of imposing the structural, semantic or stylistic features of SL on TL”.

In this way, calque seems to occur more between languages of the same family of

languages and less between those that differ. The example of the Arabic salutation above

seems difficult to be calqued into English due to imposing cultural and stylistic features of

Arabic on English, therefore, one can find it calqued and used only by non-Arab Muslims

in that society. However, according to Aissi (Ibid: 138) Calque can be divided into two

levels of translation units:

1. At Phrase Level, two types:

i. Exact calque is borrowing the idea exactly through translation as in cultural terms:

-‘United nation---------------- الأمم المتحدة /al-umam al-mutahida/.

And in the calque of the Arabic proverbs as:

-Straw that broke the camel’s back---- القشة التي قصمت ظهر البعير /al-kasha al-lati

kasamat dhar-al-ba’ir/.

ii. Loan Calque is copying the idea but not exactly

-MRI-------------الرنين المغناطيسي /ar-raneen al-magnatisi/.

2. Calque at Sentence Level

At sentence level, translators may calque SL sentence structure, style and semantic

contents.

46

i. Structural Calque

This occurs when translators introduce an SL structure in the TL. Pickthall's

translation below gathers the structural and stylistic characteristics of the ST nominal

sentence.

The translation of this verse is an example:

(19:3.) كرياز عبده ربك رحمة ذكر

1. Ali’s translation.

“(This is) A recital of the mercy of thy Lord to his servant Zacharriaya”

A hidden

Intrusive

(demonstrative

statement).

{ |thikru|

(n)

|rahmati|

(n+pron)

|rabbi-ka|

(n+pron.)

|abda-hu|

(n)

|

zacharria

ya | } (n).

This is

(Demon. phr.+

aux.V.)

(a) recital

(Indefinite+

n)

of the

mercy

(Prep.

Phrase)

of thy

Lord

(Prep.

Phrase)

to his

servant

(prep.-

phrase+pr

on.)

Zacharri

aya (n).

2. Pickthall’s translation

“A mention of the mercy of thy lord unto his servant Zakarriah” (19:3).

{- |thikru|

(n)

|rahmati|

(N+pron)

|rabbi-ka|

(N+pron)

|abda-hu|

(n)

|Zakarriah|.}

(n).

(A) mention

(Indefinite+n)

of the mercy

(Prep. Phrase)

of thy lord

(Prep. Phrase)

unto his servant

(prep. phrase+n)

Zakarriah

(n).

ii. Stylistic Calque

This occurs by keeping the same stylistic features of SL in the TL. This type usually

assembles the features of structural calque by following the same word order. Pickthall’s

translation for Chapter 19 sticks up to SL style. That extends to involve the whole book.

Some verses of Chapter 81 as an instance: are giving below:

47

1. When the sun is overthrown, 2. And when the stars fall, 3. And when the hills are

moved, 4. And when the camels big with young are abandoned, 5. And when wild beasts

are herded together, 6. And when the seas rise, 7. And when souls are reunited, 8. And

when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked 9. For what sin she was slain.

The ‘ands’ in each verse reflect Arabic style of using the conjunction tool ‘wa’ in

connecting related concepts or when describing the following of incidents sequence.

English in common tends to avoid and replace glottal stops between connected phrases and

sentences. It also replaces the ‘ands’ by commas to end the sequence with one ‘and’. Some

translators such as Ali ignore all the ‘ands’ of the same context. He starts the verses in his

English translation with another linguistic unit as ‘When’ in order to match TL style. See

his translation of the same chapter;

1 : When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up; 2: When the stars fall, losing their

lustre; 3: When the mountains vanish (like a mirage); 4: When the she-camels, ten months

with young, are left untended; 5: When the wild beasts are herded together (in the human

habitations); 6: When the oceans boil over with a swell; 7: When the souls are sorted out,

(being joined, like with like); 8: When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned 9:

For what crime she was killed.

iii. Semantic Calque: This occurs when TL expression is calqued on SL expression

retaining the same word order and the same primary meaning of the lexical elements.

-Pragmatic Policy------------- سياسة الواقع /siasat ul waqi’/.

-Scorched land Policy-------- سياسة الارض المحروقة /siasat-ul-ardh-il mahruka/.

Sometimes, the semantic calque goes hand by hand with a stylistic calque. A clear

example is in press language, where translators expand Arabic text instead of using a single

word for the borrowed conception, as in this example:

-To have a discussion with لينضم الى نقاش مع--- /liyandhama ila nikashim ma’a/. Instead

of ‘ناقش’ ‘nakasha’ meaning ‘He discussed’.

48

2.2.8.4. Literal Translation

Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) defined LT in terms of interlinear translation. They see

it as a unique procedure in the case SL and TL belong to the same family of languages and

share the same culture. Scholars such as Catford (1965), see it in a wider perspective where

translators can replace ST structure by TL structure and can insert additional words to

overcome orthographic varieties or assist comprehension (See Baker: 1992).

Rufai (1983) sees LT as the ideal choice of translators in terms of two types;

idiomatic and modified translation. These types of translation look ideal between languages

such as Arabic and English where structures such as the following enate one cannot be

considered as an ideal pattern applied on corresponding structures of the two languages.

-He translates a book to Arabic --------- ي ترجم كتابا إلى العربية

He translates- يترجم /juterjimu/

a book – كتابـــا /kitaban/

to - /:ila/ إلــــى

Arabic – العربية /al’arabia/.

Sometimes, highly literal translation sacrifices the context on behalf the structure. That can

deviate the meaning of the message. It may also compose primarily pragmatic problem.

Let’s consider this example:

I need your Chomsky --- احتاج جومسكي خاصتك /ahtadju chumski khassataka/.

The highly LT from/into Arabic may confuse TR causing a gap between coherence

and presupposition. Translators, therefore, may resort to modifying the sentence by

inserting additional words in TT to assist the comprehension.

In the rendering of Holy Scriptures from/to languages differ in form and culture.

The disagreement between SLT norms as it ‘a divine text must be translated literally as it

revealed by Allah (SWT)’ and TL norms of naturalization represent the disagreement point.

In such case, translator’s ideal choice is the acceptable type of LT represented by idiomatic

49

or modified types of LT. and then, Oblique translation helps to formalize the style and

assist the rhetorical contents.

2.2.8.5. Oblique Translation (TL-oriented procedures)

If the direct translation cannot fill the gaps between SL and TL, Vinay and

Darbelnet suggest elastic procedures that allow translators to adopt and find more solutions.

They are as follows:

2.2.8.6. Transposition

According to Vinay and Darbelnet (1995: 36) transposition or the ‘shift of word

class' means replacement of one SL lexeme class by another one of TL up to the

requirements of TL context without making any change in the meaning of the message.

Replacing the subordinate verb by a noun is an example:

-He declared that he will depart to….

-He declared his journey to…..

This transposition is either ‘obligatory' or ‘optional'. It is obligatory when the

translator is restricted by the syntactic features of TL. It is optional when the translator has

more than one choice and herein comes one's choice, where your choice is your style.

Transposition in the composition of TT expression is also a stylistic technique to reinforce

the stylistic effect, because, that reinforcement stylistic device may better serve the

contextual meaning of TL.

The two sentences above are stylistically different and functionally equivalent and

this is the result of any transposition process. The difference is at author’s or language’s

style. One’s style is what he selects from the semantic space of TL lexemes. A language

style is unique because each language portrays the way it images the world. For instance,

Arabic sentences start with the verb either to prioritize speaker’s intention or to draw

listener’s attention. It also omits the subject to be dynamically better as if you say ‘water’

50

instead of ‘I want water’. However, let us consider these examples which show how a

language’s style affects the meaning inference in each structure:

Ar. ./nadhara ila-lhadikati ibra fathati-ilbab/ نظر الى الحديقة عبر فتحة الباب

Fr. Il regarde dans le jardin par la porte ouverte.

E. He gazed out of the open door into the garden.

Whereas English style is as:

Now, let’s use English to show the difference in words sequence

Ar. Render(s) the text literally to Arabic.

Fr. He renders the text literally to Arabic.

E. He literally renders the text to Arabic.

In the examples above, we see that Arabic and French are direct and can faster

message speaker’s intention, whereas English like the temporal sequence of an action film.

In English example above, ‘the look’ passes through door orifice before it reaches the

garden, and, in the second example, ‘literally’ by which the work is done comes first.

Vinay and Darbelnet (1995:103) highlight such types of stylistic characteristics saying that

translators need to consider TL style in their productions.

In terms of sentence structure, Arabic has a unique syntactic system. That can give

you the choice to manipulate the structure and subsequently control sentence head and

focus. The main focus of Arabic syntax is the vocalization at the final letter of words; the

vocalization can specify the word function and its position in the sentence. The following

sentence shows how sentence structure can be maneuvered:

.zara at-talibu almu’lima/ i.e. The student visited his master/ --- زار الطالب المعلم

It is based on VSO string which is the standard Arabic sentence structure; at the same time

it can take multiple forms:

51

VSO زار الطالب المعلم ---/zar(a) at-talib(u)-almu’alim(a)/.

OVS المعلم زار الطالب---/almu’alim(a) zar(a) at-talib(u)/.

SVO الطالب زار المعلم---/at-talib(u) zar(a) almu’alim(a)/.

VOS زار المعلم الطالب---/zar(a)-almu’alim(a) at-talib(u)/.

The structures above vary in each construction. The vocalization allows the composer to

retain words function keeping class and contextual meaning of each lexeme. In other

words, all these four constructions exactly have the same meaning and all can be translated

literally to English as ‘The student visited his master’.

Arabic and English do not have completely identical sentential structure. Such variation

forces the translator to reconstruct Arabic sentence structure up to TL syntactic norms

which eventually exhibits changes in words order, class and number. In his grammatical

translation methodology, Catford (1965:73) postulates that in translation from Arabic to

English transposition can be summarized in; class shift, unit shift, structural shift and

internal shift.

2.2.8.7. Modulation

Another shift is modulation. It acts at the semantic level. Since languages do not express

one idea in the same way, grammatical and structural shift processes seem not quite enough

to convey certain cultural concepts between different languages, but that requires changing

the view point to meet the sense ST has. However, this seems unsuitable and awkward

since it deviates from the original image. Scholars such as, Khan (2008) sees this technique

as invalid with what relate to divine revelation. However, according to Aissi (ibid: 153)

“modulation consist of using other symbols for the same modification”. For instance, to

convey the idea of cheerfulness for hearing good news, a man from a hot region such as

Arabia might say:

ت صدرياثلجـ ------- /athlajta sadri/ --------‘you have iced my heart!’

52

It means ‘you have cheered me’. The Arabic lexeme أثلج --- /athlaja/ is derived from the

noun ‘thalj’ (ice). Such connotations sometimes cannot be transferred literally without

modulation. In contrast to the people of Arabia, those who live in polar spheres may have

negative connotation to ‘ice’ and look for what warmth their hearts in that sever cold

atmosphere. However, the hegemonic nature of all Holy Scriptures restricts this TP and

therefore, any cultural modulation is no more than subjectivity.

In general translation, there are many types of semantic modulation and most of them seem

crucial to convey the cultural conception. For instance, translators may need to change a

symbol between Arabic and Germanic. In Germany, a horseshoe resembles the cultural

symbol which drives wicked souls away, whereas Muslims have an abstract equivalent to

that German symbol. They recite some verses of the Holy Quran as supplication of

protection.

2.2.8.7.1. Modulation at Lexical Level

Aissi (1987:153) classified this procedure into two branches:

1. The fixed modulation by which SL concept can be transferred using TL cultural

equivalence. In the example below, the cultural material ‘lunar’ replaces the Arabic

cultural material ‘moon’ in English translation in non-literal common conceptions:

- Lunar month ------ الشهر القمري /ashahru-l qamari/ ‘the moony month’.

2. The free cultural modulation by which translators may resort to replace SL lexemes

by the descriptive equivalent to fill the cultural gap.

e.g. Arabic lexemes that has no corresponding single lexeme or vice versa as

- Al hijama -------- الحجامة /al-hidjam/ ------- Cup therapy.

Regarding the comparative linguistic varieties between Arabic and English, Gender

alteration is an example for the obligatory modulations that should take place within the

process of translation.

53

- Arabic ---------- Moon-------Masculine vs English------Moon----Feminine.

- English-----------Sun---------Masculine vs Arabic -------Sun------Feminine.

- English-----------Tree--------Masculine vs Arabic--------Tree-----Feminine.

Vinay and Darbelnet (1995: 249) after discussing modulation for point of view and

structural modulation mention some modulation types at semantic level:

-Abstract for Concrete (metonymy) as in press language.

SL: الغرب /algharb/ literally ‘the west’ abstract’.

TL: Governments of Europe and America.

-Concrete into Abstract

SL: Tongue.

TL: Language.

-Explicative (Cause to effect, the means for the results) or, vs.

SL: He endeared himself to everyone.

TL: He was liked كان محبوبا /kana mahbuban/.

In this example, we notice the modulation ties with transposition, ‘endeared’ is a

verb, whereas ‘liked’ is an adjective.

-The Part of the Whole (synecdoque)

SL: The head is here.

TL: The chairman is here.

- Change of Symbol

ST: Red Cross.

TT: Red Crescent, or vice versa.

54

-Negation of the Opposite (litotes)

SL: It does not seem unlikely.

TL: It is likely --- يبدو محتملا / yabdu muhtamalan/.

-Active to passive and vs. this type is also ties to transposition.

SL: When he was attacked by nightmares in summer nights.

TL: when the nightmares attack him عندما تداهمه الكوابيس في ليالي الصيف/indama tudahimuhu-

l -kwabisu fi layalis saif/.

In this example, the modulation is also tied to transposition procedure.

-Exchange of intervals for space and time

In Time

SL: For the period under review

TL: All what left … آخر مالدينا /Akhira ma ladaina.

In Space

SL: No parking between signs.

TL: How to park... كيفية الوقوف/ kaifiyyatu-l wuquf/.

We may conclude that modulation at semantic level is an issue of cultural

translation. In addition, any modulation at structural level cannot be considered as a

viewpoint change unless it affects SLT message accurate meaning.

2.2.8.8. Equivalence

Apart from being a technique of translation, equivalence seems to be the goal of all

translation techniques. Vinay and Darbelnet (1995: 38) defined it as “a way of resembling a

situation of ST by equivalent one using TL tools. The same situation can eventually be

transferred using variant stylistics and structural methods”.

55

The genre of ST may delimit the way translators determine the equivalence type

needed for their work. Literary text translation requires prosodic and human artifacts,

whereas religious text norms impose tough restrictions. A single word inappropriate choice

can change the conception of the ST and eventually distort the message contents. For

instance, the replacement of the divine meaning of ‘الفردوس' --- /Al-Firdaus/ meaning ‘The

Paradise’ by the mundane conception of ‘Garden’ in some of the translations of the Holy

Quran is a type of misrepresentation that might be used to change TR impression about the

divine nature of the Holy Quran.

The morphological, structural and phonological differences between Arabic and

English make the mission of searching for complete equivalences unachievable. As a result;

translators resort to the closest natural equivalent choice to achieve sameness. The way one

can reconstruct an expression of SLT is the reflection of one’s own style in the process of

achieving the sameness between ST and TT expression.

To achieve the sameness, translators’ choice of TL corresponding lexemes should

be built on a correct understanding of the contextual effect of ST lexemes. In other words;

translators should understand if they want to be understood. However, equivalence can be

understood in terms of accuracy which connotes the quality of being true. In this sense, a

translator’s choice of TL corresponding lexeme could be the true, the truer or the truest one,

depending on his understanding and individual decision, and consequently, that what may

justify the dissimilarities between their choices.

A concrete example of translator’s choice is the difference in the choice of ‘show

us’ and ‘guide us’ in the translation of Surat Al-Fatiha (01:4) of the Holy Quran. Shaker

(1926), Pickthall (1930), Ali (1934), translated the ST Arabic lexeme ‘إهدنا - ihdina’ into

‘show us’ whereas, for instance, Khan and Arberry preferred ‘guide us’ instead. As an

Arabic native speaker, I see ‘guide us’ as more relevant to the ST sense. To be sure of my

choice, I revisited (Al Badawi 2008:981), (El-Awa 2006:41) and WordWeb dictionary. I

did that because the first is the dictionary of the Holy Quran. The second discusses a firm

Quranic fact which is that parts (concepts) of Quran explain each other. And, the third is to

probe the conceptual and associated meaning of ‘guide’ as an appropriate equivalent

56

linguistic unit for ‘أهدنا’ ‘Ihdina,’ This, in turn, reflects the fact that the subjective choices of

choosing lexemes of TL may in many times do vague message contents.

According to Vinay and Darbelnet (ibid: 38). The common equivalence repertoire

between different cultures include; idioms, clichés, and proverbs" this indicate that

equivalence acts more at word, clause and sentence level, whereas translating some texts

need whole adaptation to be comprehended by TR.

2.2.8.9. Adaptation

The latter oblique technique of translation refers or seems to resemble

cultural/situational equivalence translation at text level. In cultural translation, when the

situation of ST has no direct corresponding situation or social occasion in TL, the translator

replace it by a similar one found in TL culture. Translators usually resort to this technique

to assist comprehension.

A she-vendor addressing a customer saying ‘my love’, and such habits have variant

denotation in both western and eastern culture that the phrase needs to be adapted,

otherwise an eastern reader might enquire about the nature of the relationship between

them.

In the translation of the Holy Quran adaptation should not be acceptable because the

replacement of the cultural symbol can distort message contents. For instance; in translating

the verse:

ي جني ا رطبا عليك ت ساقط النخلة بجذع إليك وه ز

Pickthall: And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe

dates to fall upon thee (19: 26).

The replacement of the palm tree by another one such as maple to assist the comprehension

of a reader living in a polar region is denied, because, we ignore the implicit meaning

regarding Christ’s birth, where dates are ripe in summer.

57

2.2.9 Summary and Prelude to Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis in Brief

Reviewing translation literature above helps to grasp how the translation process

should or can be approached. Applying the methodology of Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) in

the analysis process of the data is supposed to show to what extent it is reliable and valid

concerning religious texts translation. It is also supposed to teach us how the systemic

analysis helps to produce an accurate translation and form one's style. The utilization of the

stylistic devices at micro level show us how this or that TP utilized to achieve SL and TL

equivalence. They also help us probe each language style. TP of equivalence extends to

involve the extra-linguistic facts that surround the texts under analysis. This is an extension

of the macro level. The other phase of analysis is quantitative analysis. This helps us to

decide which version is SL-oriented (formal) or TL- oriented (dynamic).

The analysis keywords are:

(Direct translation, Stylistic analysis, Oblique translation, Microstylistic Analysis,

Equivalence).

58

CHAPTER THREE

DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3. Introduction

The present chapter applies the methodology of Vinay and Darbelnet (1958)

concerning TPs and the techniques that are used to analyse the coded data. It aims at

bringing out the outcomes of analysis of each of the translated versions to indicate how the

utilizing of the TPs affects translation quality and to show the criteria of each translation.

Vinay and Darbelnet identified two translation methods which they called Direct

and Oblique translation. Several procedures are subsumed under each method. In

translation, there is a clear-cut difference between methodology and procedure in which

Newmark (1988:81) says “while translation methods relate to whole texts, translation

procedures (TPs) are used for sentences and the smaller units of language”. This means

translation method is a trend or a strategy used by the translator toward the foreignism or

localism. In other words, it is to be TL-oriented, or SL-oriented. TPs are tools that act at all

levels of analysis: small parts of speech, morpheme, word, phrase, clause or sentence up to

the unit of translation (UT) adopted by a translator for the sake of accuracy with the sole

aim of ensuring some formal or semantic correspondence between ST and TT.

3.1. The Purpose of this Chapter

This chapter illustrates the application of methodologies of translation discussed in

Chapter two as suggested by Vinay and Darbelnet (1958, 1995). In addition to shedding

more light on Vinay and Darbelnet’s methodology of translation, the Chapter also exhibits

and probes the validity and reliability of applying the two types of methodologies on the

coded data of the research study.

As presented in the review of literature in Chapter two that gives the reader a

precise view on how these methodologies act on a discourse piece in general, this chapter

presents the data analysis of the recoded two of the English version of Quranic text of Surat

Maryam (See the two translated versions in Appendix), and thus illustrating the techniques

59

involved in order to show how the Vinay and Darbelnet’s methodologies act on the two

texts.

3.2. Methodology of the Study

TPs provide road maps to understand how translation acts. These procedures relate

not only to text but to the context in relation to the process of translation itself. For

instance, textual procedures describe how coherence, cohesion and thematic movement

exist or operate in the text. Contextual procedures, on one hand, represent the pragmatic

side of translation and focus on the extra-linguistic environment of the translated unit as

well as the production. While process procedures are designed to answer two basic

questions that provide options for the translator to choose in order to carry out the

translation project. What should translators do with the method before it be chosen? How

does the translator solve the problems that have emerged during the translation process and

which types of strategies are chosen?

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958/1995) propose direct translation in reference to LT

which is an SL-oriented and oblique translation in reference to TL-oriented. The SL-

oriented methodology, in particular, subsumes three techniques: Borrowing, Calque and

Literal translation in reference to metaphrase translation. The oblique methodology is made

up of Transposition, Modulation, Equivalence and Adaptation. All these TPs act at different

expression levels, i.e. lexical, syntactic and message. The TPs are complementing

techniques that are applicable to the analysis process.

Vinay and Darbelnet’s methodology of translation is based on a comparison

between French and English stylistics. At analysis level, they proposed complementary

subcategories to help translators implement their analysis at microstylistic level, but some

of their complementary techniques are not applicable between Arabic and English or do not

fit with religious texts norms and therefore I utilize Catford’s (1965) linguistic-stylistic

approach to translation as a complementary tool needed to implement the analysis. It looks

ideal to be applied in the analysis of the data in the study for its being with specific

reference to Arabic/English translation.

60

The analysis part of the study is working to find out how the study framework can

help investigate the two translation’s validity and reliability and presents the methodology

as a calibre by which translators of the Holy Scriptures can utilize the methodology to

optimize the translation of the Holy Quran in the future. In the equivalence part of analysis,

the study tries to test the validity and reliability of utilizing the dynamic translation in the

translation of the Holy Quran in terms of accuracy as the quality of being true.

3.3. Stylistic Analysis

This is a preparatory step translators need to investigate the existing differences

between ST and TT styles. The knowledge of ST style helps translators to grasp the form of

ST and take the quick decision of how to translate. Following Nida (1964), Aissi

(1987:101) contends that “the style of any text is characterized by the specific use of

language. It could be embodied in the syntactic structure or in the sheer length of the

sentence.” Later, the translation could then be considered literally in the form of direct

translation, or by transferring meaning via their functionally corresponding TL linguistic or

cultural units, as oblique translation.

Hence, the data analysis and findings are utilized to investigate if any one of the two

translated versions under investigation is formal or dynamic. We have already agreed that

formal or literal translation is the ideal choice to preserve SL semantic contents while

dynamic translation utilizes the perlocutionary power of speech acts to resemble the effect

that ST has on his audience. The importance of applying Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1958)

methodology of translation in the study is to demonstrate its suitability and its possible

shortcomings in acting at micro and macro stylistic levels of analysis of the translation of

religious texts.

Quantitative data analysis shows us each translation’s style inclination. It is based

on the calculation of the frequencies of each TP in the data as concluded from both Ali’s

and Pickthall’s version. Data collection covers the whole content of the two selected

versions. Statistical data analysis of the entire possible occurrences of such stylistic devices

is given based on the following formula: X/N × 100/1.

61

Table (5) below exhibits the quantitative coding outcomes.

Methodology Categories Ali’s version Pickthall’s version

Frequency % Frequency %

Direct Translation

Borrowing 4 30 2 15

Calque 33 16 60 25.8

Literal Translation 208 86.3 173 74.2

Oblique Translation Transposition 284 100 181 100

Semantic Modulation Null

Stylistic Equivalence 33 13.7 60 25.8

Adaptation Null

The religious ST genre restricts translator's license in oblique translation.

Transposition is that type of modulation which seeks equivalence at the syntactic level. The

grammatical conformity between SL and their TL corresponding lexemes do not produce

complete equivalence. For instance, in the translations of verse 19:01 the grammatical

equivalence of SL and TL adjectives: ‘الرحمن الرحيم -- the Beneficent, the Merciful’ cannot

extend to involve all rhetorical and semantic features of SL.

Modulation at the semantic level is utilized in translation to assist TR

comprehension due to cultural varieties of different nations. In what relate to religious

texts, it is an awkward and rejected process of translation. In the data of this thesis, such TP

is excluded.

Adaptation similarly can assist comprehension on behalf of ST cultural identity. It is

the license that allows translators to rewrite the ST situation utilizing target language

culture and semantic meaning to reproduce an equivalent situation. That can help transfer

the function of ST into target culture circumstance. It can be called subjectivity, and

religious texts restrictions disallow any subjectivity.

Finally, comes equivalence, it can be sought at different levels of analysis:

Phonological, lexical, grammatical, cultural and/ or functional equivalence. It extends to

involve UT or even whole text. The sought equivalence type relies on translator’s decision,

and his decision is affected by his knowledge and translation goal. Equivalence levels

indicate that, in rendition process, complete equivalence achievement is an unacheivable

goal.

62

3.4. Data Analysis

Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1958) theory of translation is proposed to bridge the gap

created by word-to-word or sense to sense methods of translation. The two methods are

sandwiched to harmonize lacuna created by inadequacies of word-to-word correspondence

in which the problems are due to language variations either at style, different layers of

structures and in cultural norms. The translator in this situation can switch to oblique

procedures to fill the gap that exists between TL and SL.

Following Vinay and Darbelnet's model, I am going to start the analysis by formal

analysis of ‘direct translation' where it is the part of the analysis by which one can clarify

ST and TT style. Direct translation is the wider title of LT. In this study, this methodology

is the basement where one can analyse each translation style and make a decision about

how the translation of Holy Scriptures better be approached.

3.4.1. Direct Translation Presentation ‘The Formal Analysis’

The formal analysis probes each translation at three different levels; 1. At the word-

to-word level of analysis, borrowing as the first subcategory of direct translation heads the

analysis. The cultural differences between different languages resemble the motivation to

communication. There are no two exactly identical cultures in the world. That makes man

look to discover the world he lives in. In the process of communication, borrowing of SL

lexemes from source culture into target culture can fill the lacuna between them.

Direct translation works to reproduce SL lexeme either by synonymous one or

dilute SL lexemes using the propositional meaning (descriptive equivalence). It is thus

preferred by orthodox translators, especially workers on Holy Scriptures. R. C. Sproul,

cited in Al Jabari (2008) sees that "The only way to believe anything in the scripture is to

believe it literally because the word literal means as it is written”. However, the formal

analysis starts below exhibits direct translation subcategories of borrowing, calque and

literal translation.

63

3.4.2. Borrowing

This is a technique by which translators move SL lexeme into TL. This is done to

avoid the lacuna of cultural gaps in particular, and the same time to create a specific effect

on TR. The cultural proper nouns in the data do cognate to the Jewish Biblical heritage. The

verses coding shows that Chapter 19 contains (13) proper nouns. In his version, Ali

transliterates four of them into TT, while Pickthall transliterates two. This looks

dynamically better. However, transliterating SL proper names in TLT do only send a vague

message to TR. Instead, they can easily be transferred with a little phonological modulation

to fit TL cultural norm. The lack of linear strategy in the both translations toward proper

names conversion is reflected in the coding result above. They in different attribution

converted some proper names into their corresponding English phonetic forms and

transliterate others.

In the following verse, Pickthall's translation looks equivalent, while a TR of Ali's version

may face difficulty in inferring that Yahya (PBUH) is John the Baptist, or Idris (PBUH) is

Enoch as it is seen in the two versions.

ك إنا زكريا يا لام ن بشر ه بغ ( .19: 8مي ا )س قبل من له نجعل لم يحيى اسم

A: (His prayer was answered): "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His

name shall be Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction Before.

P: (It was said unto him): O Zachariah! Lo! We bring thee tidings of a son whose

name is John; we have given the same name to none before (him).

While in the following verse, Pickthall's version switches to Arabicising by translating

‘Idris' into ‘Idris'.

يقا كان إنه إدريس الكتاب في واذك ر ( .19: 57) نبي ا صد

A: Also mention in the Book the case of Idris: He was a man of truth (and

sincerity), (and) a prophet.

P: And make mention in the Scripture of Idris. Lo! he was a saint, a prophet.

64

That is, translators in common as Nida (1964: 226) recommended, need to look for

the closest natural equivalent lexeme of TL before decoding.

3.4.3. Analysis of Structural and Stylistic Calque

Calque is another form of borrowing. It acts at clause and sentence level. It consists

of imposing the structural, semantic and stylistic features of SL on TL. Languages may

calque an expression either exactly as it in DL or with structural modulation to fulfill the

need of usage, such as the borrowing of ‘the shahada’ or the ‘testify of faith’ by Muslims in

different parts of the world. However, Calque is either at phrase level or at the sentence

level. An instance is the translation of the opening verse of Chapter 19 below.

The analysis of the two translations shows how the structural and stylistic calque

takes place and how translator’s SL background helps in forming the style of any accurate

transfer of meaning.

Pickthall: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (19:01).

And, Ali’s translation of the same verse:

adjectival

name.

Modifier Adj. name

into adj.

name

Article

into

article

Noun

into

Noun

Noun

Into NP.

Prep.

into

prep.

رحيم

Rahi:m

ال

Al

رحمن

Rahman

ال

Al

الله

Allah

اسم

Isim

ب

Bi

Merciful The Beneficent The Allah the Name

of

In

65

In the name of Allah, Most gracious, Most merciful (19:1).

In the two translations of the opening verse above, similarities relate the calque of

structure and SL style of composition. The dissimilarities between them relate to the

utilization of the semantic calque. Semantic calque means imposing the semantic contents

of SL lexeme on TL. It is thus very important to maintain religious message contents.

An instance of that is the borrowing of the name of God from Arabic to be ‘Allah’

in the two English translated versions. Later, Ali used ‘most gracious’ while Pickthall used

‘the beneficent’ to translate ‘الـرحمن’ --- ‘Al-Rahman’. Mahmood (2015:142) postulates that

“The choice of one lexical equivalent rather than the other refers back to the translator’s

knowledge and beliefs”. Thus, analysis of each translation can reflect translation accuracy.

According to Al-Tameemi (startimes.com), ‘Al-Rahman’ is a noninveterate

adjective used to amplify the transitory status, as in ‘He’s the most compassionate one, but

that can change up to the situation’ (adapted from Arabic text). To analyse the translators’

choices, in the WordWeb Dictionary the beneficent is an adjective for the one “doing or

producing good”. Investigating the word’s contextual usage showed that it is

conventionally used with mundane reference, and consequently, it does not look invalid to

be applied to the divine concept.

‘Gracious’ according to the same dictionary refers to the one “disposed to bestow

favors as in Thanks to the Gracious Gods” that reflects the religious context of the word

usage in TL cultural context.

According to Al-Tamimi (startimes.com) ‘الرحيم’ --- ‘Al-Raheem’ is an inveterate

adjective used to amplify the permanent status of God as in ‘He is the eternal merciful one

that neither changes nor can be changed’.

Modified

adjectival

noun into

adj.

Modifier

into adj.

Modified

adjectival

noun into

adjective

Modifier

into

Adj.

Noun

into

Noun

Noun into

NP

Prep.

Into

prep.

رحيم

Rahi:m

ال

Al

رحمن

Rahman

ال

Al

الله

Allah

اسم

Isimi

ب

Bi

Merciful Most Gracious Most Allah the Name of In

66

Ali utilized the superlative adjective ‘most’ to amplify graciousness and mercifulness

characteristics of Allah (SWT) as it meant in ST, whereas Pickthall used the mundane

conception of ‘the Beneficent’. His translation of ‘Al-Raheem’ is appropriate but it could

not reflect the amplification of the meaning that SL lexeme contains. Ali’s translation

stylistically is the appropriate one.

3.4.4. LT in the Data

Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) view LT in terms of interlinear translation which

emphasizes the correspondence between SL and TL linguistic units starting at morphemic

level. It can sometimes be applied to languages which have similarities such as English and

German.

The data analysis works to bring out how the technique accommodates languages

that are variants and lack morphological, lexical and structural equivalence between them.

Translating Sacred Scriptures imposes more restrictions on the selected translation

methodology where translators must respect the ST genre and TL norms. In this style of

translation, LT is caught up as a type of idiomatic-modified translation.

The outcomes of the analysis reveal that direct translation methodology is

frequently utilized in the two selected translated versions. The extremely close outcomes of

data coding highlight the role of LT in achieving a meaningful translation of the Holy

Quran.

Asentence level, quantitative analysis of the data showed that the two translated

versions had in different attribution a larger number of sentences than that of ST. Ali's

version is composed of (241) sentences of which (208) sentences are translated literally,

while in Pickthall’s version, there are (233) sentences, only (173) sentences of which are

translated literally. This indicates that Ali had imitated SL structure in (33) sentences, while

Pickthall agreed it in (60) sentences. This may reflect each version stylistic trend.

We conclude that the aggregation of ST linguistic characteristic in Pickthall’s

translation makes it the more relevant to the SL form, while the utilization of the less

calque translation in Ali’s version draws the form of TL-oriented translation.

67

It is important to refer to the differences in sentence conception between Arabic and

English. The latter has a verbal form of sentences, whereas Arabic, in addition to that

verbal form, has what is called the nominal sentence.

Nominal sentences are composed of a modifier and modified without a verb, for

instance in verse 19:20: عبد إني الله /inni abdul-llahi/ is a nominal sentence. In interlinear

translation, it can be ‘I indeed the servant of Allah’ while it should be translated with a ‘be’

auxiliary verb as: ‘I am indeed the servant of Allah’ to fit TL norms. Herein we conclude

that LT in this study is understood as the process of preserving SL semantic contents and

TL naturalization. The literal calque translation, on the other hand, is the one that imposes

SL structure and style on TL and could be seen as unfamiliar to TR.

The quantitative coding in the table above reflects that Ali and Pickthall engage

literal translations as defined by Catford (1965) in terms of word-for-word translation

taking in consideration TL grammar, structure and adding additional words to fit TL norms

and assist comprehension. Data coding showed that Ali’s style of naturalization is reflected

in (86.3%) of the total amount of sentences whereas Pickthall’s is reflected in (74.2 %) of

his version.

3.4.5. Structural Equivalence in LT

In direct translation, there should be a degree of conformity between SLT and TLT

grammatical structures. This conformity is as Gleason (1965) describes that any two

different sentences are either ‘enate’ if they are structurally identical or ‘agnate’ if they

have the same vocabulary items but vary in structure. It is not difficult to find either an

enate or an agnate equivalent structural sameness between Arabic and English in the

translation of Surat Maryam. The multi-facet Arabic sentence structure grants it that

criterion. (See: 2.2.8.6). In Pickthall’s translation the application of equivalent enate

structure is seen in the verse:

يقا كان إنه إبراهيم الكتاب في واذك ر (.42:19) نبي ا صد

68

Pickthall: “And make mention (O Muhammad) in the Scripture of Abraham. Lo! he

was a saint, a prophet”.

To test structural conformity, the TT is put in juxtaposition to the Arabic one. You

should read it from right to left.

Ali’s translation for the same verse looks structurally similar to Pickthall’s one.

There is a structural enation between SL and TL sentences, where the Arabic sentence is

built as S+V.

Ali: “(Also) mention in the Book (the story of) Abraham: He was a man of Truth, a

prophet”. (19.42).

In some other verse, there is a structural agnation between SL and TL structure, see

how Pickthall and then Ali build it.

15:19. ) ا ( ارا يـكن ولم والديـه بـ وبـر ا جبـ عصي ـ

Indef.

noun into

indef, n.

indef.

noun

into

indef, n.

V

into

VP

Neg.

into

Neg.

Conj.

into

conj.

Pron.

into

pron.

Noun

into

noun

Prep.

into

prep.

Adj.

into

Adj.

Conj.

İnto

conj.

عصيا

Assiyaa

جبارا

Jabbaran

يكن

yakun

لم

lam

و

wa

ه

He

والدي

walidayi

ب

bi

برا

barran

و

Wa

rebellious Arrogant He

was

Not and His parents toward dutiful And

Ali: And kind to his parents, and he was not overbearing or rebellious. (19:15).

Indef.

Noun

into indef.

N.

Indef.

Noun

into indef.

N.

Aux.

verb

İntensifier +

Pron.

İnto

İnterjection

+ Pron

Noun

İnto noun

Noun

İnto NP.

Prep

.

İnto

prep.

Imp-

erative

verb

Conj.

İnto

Conj.

نبيا

Nabiyya

صديقا

Siddeqan كان

kana

إنـــــــــــــــه

Hu-inna

ابراهيم

Ibrahema

الكتاب

Al-kitabi

في

fi-

اذك ر

-thkur

و

Wa

A prophet A saint Was He (Lo)

Abraham The scrip-

ture of

in mention And

69

In the verse above there is a structural similarity between Ali and Pickthall at phrase level

as in ‘his parents' Pron+N. while the Arabic structure of it in ‘والديه’ /walideihi/ is N+Pron.

So, we may conclude that in LT structural equivalence is either an enate or an agnate

relation.

3.4.6. Summary and Discussion

The data analysis shows that both of Ali and Pickthall have, in different ratios,

applied the direct translation method. Ali’s version looks the more natural to TR where

(86%) of the sentence translated literally taking into consideration TL style and inserting

additional words to achieve semantic equivalence. Pickthall’s translation is less literal in

(72%) of the sentences. It is thus looking for more chances to fit SL structures and style of

composition.

The two translations in different ratios tried to achieve semantic equivalence in

terms of exegetic language. The Arabic ST is composed of (972) linguistic units. Ali’s

version is composed of (2260) linguistic units while Pickthall’s has (2119) one. These

statistics conclusions portray translation as a process looking for the propositional meaning

rather than the synonymous corresponding TL linguistic unit.

3.5. Analysis of Data (Oblique Translation)

Grammatical, semantic and cultural varieties force us to deconstruct and rewrite the TT in

TL. When LT cannot, or is not sufficient, translators resort to oblique translation.

Oblique translation is composed of four TPs: Transposition, modulation, adaptation

and equivalence. The first two procedures act at word and phrase level, adaptation acts at

text level, while equivalence acts or can be sought at different levels of analysis.

The oblique methodology works to fill the stylistic gap between two languages. In

transposition, translators modulate SL lexeme class to fit TL norms of naturalization.

Catford’s (1965) study of grammatical shift is utilized here for its role in the field of

translation between Arabic and English.

70

Modulation at semantic level is built up on the change of the point of view and/or

the cultural symbol. It is awkward and usually invalid in the translations of the Holy

Scriptures, for two reasons: 1. The hegemonic nature of any divine text does not allow any

subjectivity, and, 2. The change of symbol makes the text lose the implicit referential

meaning it contains. In this situation, translators can only add footnotes to assist

comprehension.

Equivalence is a very wide concept. It is the goal of all TPs. Although intralingual

studies are based on the probing of the stylistic dissimilarities of two different translations

of one SL text, equivalence is utilized in the study to decide translation accuracy and type

in terms of dynamic and formal analysis. Adaptation is another type of equivalence acting

at cultural level. It is excluded in this study due to ST restrictions.

3.5.1 Transposition

Table: (6) Distribution of transposition and its subcategories in the data.

Transposition According to Catford (1965:73), shift or transposition can be

summarized in; class shift, unit shift, structural shift and internal

shift.

Ali’s

version

Pickthall

’s

Version

Internal shift It is a system shift passive to active voice or vs., gender shift:

fem x masc. or No. shift: singular x plural or verb type shift:

transitive-intransitive shift. Definite x Indefinite and tense shift.

44 42

Unit shift When a single word can be transferred as a phrase (expansion)

and, vice versa (contraction) (ibid), and also in Baker 1992).

220 194

Class shift It takes place when equivalent TL unit belongs to a different

class of that in ST. Generally, four word classes can be

interchanged; Nouns, Adj.,

V (s) and Adv (ibid).

32 30

According to Vinay and Darbelnet (1958:16, 1995:36) “Transposition involves

replacing one word class with another without changing the meaning of the message” It is a

widely used technique that acts when either an Obligatory or Optional grammatical shift or

modulation takes place in the process of translation. According to Vinay and Darbelnet

(1995), the replacement is obligatory when the translator has only one choice to transfer the

meaning, and optional when he can select from among different choices to achieve the

stylistic effect.

71

Transposition subcategories are proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet (1958, 1995) as

TPs helps translators to transfer the accurate contextual effect of SL meaning into TL by

utilizing the TL grammatical norms between French and English. It involves the utilization

of stylistic amplification by adding more signifiers to TT to cover the syntactic or lexical

gap.

Catford (1965) reproduced the same TPs with special reference to English-Arabic

translation. It is used in this study to analyse the data. The procedure subcategories are

crucial for the process of stylistic analysis.

3.5.1.1. Internal or Rank Shift

Languages do not have identical linguistic systems, but they have varying classes

for gender and grammatical entities. For instance, what is masculine in Arabic could be

feminine in English and vice versa, what is singular could be plural. There are varieties

even in the linguistic systems. Arabic has no continuous tense as English has, and English

does not have the nominal sentence type that Arabic has. However, Catford (1965) refers to

some systemic shifts that may take place in translation from/or to Arabic. The systemic

shift is crucial to the process of restructuring and naturalizing to fit TL norms or to achieve

the specific stylistic effect on TR.

The shifts Catford mentioned are: Passive voice to active voice or vice-versa,

gender shift; Feminine to masculine, or vice-versa, shift in number; Singular to Plural, or

vice-versa, verb type shift: Transitive to intransitive or vice versa, tense shift; as in past to

present or vice versa, and, finally noun shift; definite to indefinite or vice versa. Below how

these shift types are utilized in the analysis of Surat Maryam is shown.

1. Definite to Indefinite Shift

حمن الله بسم حيم الر (.1:19) الر

A: “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”.

P: “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful”.

72

In verse 19:1, Ali converts the definite Arabic names ‘Alrahman’ and ‘Alraheem’ to

indefinite names ‘ most gracious’, ‘most merciful’, he stylistically amplifies the adjectival

names by replacing the article ‘Al’, meaning ‘the’(as indicated in Pickthall’s version) with

the superlative ‘most’. This suggests that the translator utilizes grammatical modulation to

recreate the effect that ST has by applying transposition sub-technique converting definite

entity to indefinite through emphasis of glorification. This type of modulation is built on

the interlingual concept of semantic equivalence between ST and TT. It basically depends

on the translator's accurate knowledge of the ST contextual meaning. The two translations

tell us that Ali preserves the semantic contents while Pickthall preserves the form on behalf

of the semantic contents. (See: 3.1.3.).

2. Tense Shift

The translators use tense shift from the past to simple present to preserve the current

nature of the event/information which the ST established in the proposition of the verses, in

keeping with the same chronological sequence of events in TL text. In the verse below, the

two translations show similar tense shifts from past tense ’akhafu‘ أخاف khiftu’ into‘ خفت

which is a simple present:

(. 19: 6) ولي ا نك لد من لي فهب عاقرا امرأتي وكانت ورائي من موالي ال خفت وإني

A: “Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my

wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself,”-

P: “Lo! I fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from Thy

presence a successor”.

3. Shift Singular to Plural Form

وا خلف بعدهم من فخلف لاة أضاع وا الص ( .19: 60غي ا ) قون يل فسوف الشهوات واتبع

A: “But after them there followed a posterity who missed prayers and followed

after lusts soon, then, will they face Destruction”.

P: “Now there hath succeeded them a later generation whom have ruined worship

and have followed lusts. But they will meet deception”.

73

In the ST, ‘Alsalata’ connotes a singular definite noun ‘the prayer’ with a

componential semantic meaning, and Ali shifts the singular form of ‘Alsalata’ to plural

indefinite as ‘prayers’. Usually, translators use the plural class to compensate the

grammatical feature of definiteness nature of the word. Pickthall renders the same

linguistic unit using the generic indefinite noun ‘worship’, and that could be due to his

ecological background where ‘pray’ is associated with different worships.

3.5.1.2. Unit Shift Analysis

As a stylistic device, translators resort to concentrate or dissolute SL lexeme in TL,

one SL lexeme can be an idiom in TLT or vice versa. Vinay and Darbelnet (1958) deem

that dissolution is a question of langue (language) and the adaptation of parole (speaking).

A: Expansion of Lexeme:

This stylistic device is utilized by using more than one signifier in TL for one

signified SL lexeme to amplify or fill lexical or grammatical gap. The writing system is

another obstacle that forces them to expand SL lexemes. For instance, The Arabic verb

Na:da:/ meaning ‘called’ in the verse (19:04) is composed of a stem and the attached/ ’نادى‘

suffixed morpheme ‘ى’ --- /a:/ marking pronoun actor or the agent. This one lexeme is

translated into two independent morphemes in the TL as ‘He called’ a verbal phrase. It is a

typical case of a unit shift in lexeme expansion where dependent pronominal suffix

morpheme turns to be independent head of English VP.

Sometimes, translators stylistically amplify TL corresponding unit as prescriptive

equivalence as it is seen in Ali’s translation below:

(.19:6ولي ا) نك لد من لي فهب عاقرا امرأتي وكانت ورائي من الموالي خفت وإني

A: “Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my

wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself”

P: “Lo! I fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from

Thy presence a successor”.

74

A. Simple Past into VP

19:98) ر فإنما ( ر بلسانك ناه يس تقين به لت بش ا وماق به وتنذر الم لد

A: “So have We made the (Qur'an) easy in thine own tongue,”

P: “And We make (this Scripture) easy in thy tongue,”

B. Contraction of Lexeme

In few positions, Ali and Pickthall utilize the stylistic device of condensation by

shrinking the SL phrase into one TL lexeme for naturalization. ‘أراغب عن’ --- /a raghibun

an/ is an Arabic VP meaning ‘dislike’. That variation affiliates the word formation varieties

between SL and TL.

منك تنته لم لئن إبراهيم يا آلهتي عن أنت راغب أ قال رنيوا لأرج (47: 19ملي ا ) هج

A: “(The father) replied: "Dost thou hate my gods, O Abraham? If thou forbear

not, I will indeed stone thee: Now get away from me for a good long while!”

P: “He said: Rejectest thou my gods, O Abraham? If thou cease not, I shall

surely stone thee. Depart from me a long while!”

3.5.1.3. Class Shift

Catford (1965:76) states that class shift takes place when SL unit lies under different

grammatical class in TL unit. Coding of the data showed that this stylistic technique was

used (32) and (30) times by Ali and Pickthall respectively.

Ali and Pickthall, utilize this stylistic technique to achieve equivalence at syntactic

level as shown in following examples:

A. Noun and Adverb into Adjectives:

ن عليهم الله أنعم الذين أ ولئك ية من النبيين م ن و آدم ذ ر ية ومن ن وح مع حملنا مم ن يل وإسرائ إبراهيم ذ ر هدينا ومم

75

حمن آيات عليهم ت تلى إذا واجتبينا وا الر (.91: 59وبكي ا ) داسج خر

A: “Those were some of the prophets on whom Allah did bestow His Grace,-

of the posterity of Adam, and of those who We carried (in the Ark) with Noah,

and of the posterity of Abraham and Israel of those whom We guided and chose.

Whenever the Signs of (Allah) Most Gracious were rehearsed to them, they

would fall down in prostrate adoration and in tears”.

P: “These are they unto whom Allah showed favour from among the prophets, of the

seed of Adam and of those whom We carried (in the ship) with Noah, and of the

seed of Abraham and Israel, and from among those whom We guided and chose.

When the revelations of the Beneficent were recited unto them, they fell down,

adoring and weeping”.

Ali translated the Arabic adverbs دا وبكي ا سج ‘sujjadan’, ‘buqi:ya’ to ‘adoration, in tears’

(noun and adverb). Pickthall translated them into ‘adoring’ and ‘weeping’ (adjectives).

What signifies the Surah style is that almost all its verses are composed of short sentences,

the verses end with a rhymed one-word form stative adverb as ‘Ma’ti:yaa, kasi:ya,

makdhi:ya. Such adverbs have no single equivalent corresponding linguistic unit in

English, therefore, both of Ali and Pickthall stylistically resort to dissolution. (See: 3.2.1.2).

B. Adverb to verbal phrase or an idiom:

(19:19.) وذ إني قالت حمن أع تقي ا ك نت إن منك بالر

A: “She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near)

if thou dost fear Allah”.

P:” She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-

Fearing”.

76

Ali rendered the Arabic adverb of manner /taqqi:ya/ into VP ‘dost fear’ whereas Pickthall

made it an adjectival phrase as ‘Allah-fearing’.

C. Adverb of Manner into Adjective:

لام لي يك ون أنى رب قال (.19: 8) عتي ا لكبر ا من بلغت وقد عاقرا امرأتي نت وكا غ

A: “He said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son, when my wife is barren and I have

grown Quite decrepit from old age?”

P: “He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached

infirm old age?”

‘ عاقرا ’ /a:kiran/ is an adverb of manner into adjective ‘barren’

D.: Adverb of Manner into an Adjectival Phrase:

جرمين ونس وق (.87:19) وردا جهنم إلى الم

A: “And We shall drive the sinners to Hell, like thirsty cattle – driven down to

water”.

P: “And drive the guilty unto hell, a weary herd”.

E. An adjective to Adjectival phrase:

(.23:19) قصي ا مكانا به فانتبذت فحملته

A: “So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place”.

P: “And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place”.

F. Verb to Noun:

(46:19). تقي ا كان من عبادنا من نورث التي الجنة تلك

Ali: “Such is the Garden which We give as an inheritance to those of Our servants

who guard against Evil”.

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G. NP to VP:

(.10: 19يئا )ش تك ولم قبل من خلقت ك وقد هين علي هو ربك قال كذلك قال

A: “He said: So (it will be) thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: I did indeed create thee

before, when thou hadst been nothing!”

P: “He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me, even as I created thee-

before, when thou wast naught”.

Note that the Arabic sentence is nominal, while both Ali and Pickthall convert it into verbal

sentence by adding the auxiliary verb ‘is' up to TL norms. This is a stylistic technique of

reinforcement.

Some lexemes are rendered into the same TL equivalent class lexeme, as in the verse:

(4:19.) خفي ا نداء ربه نادى إذ

A: “Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret”.

P: “When he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret”.

Pickthall rendered the Arabic adverb of past time ‘ith’ to English adverb of time

‘when’. Arabic has two adverbs of time ‘إذ’ ‘ith’ and ‘إذا’ ‘itha', both of them can be

rendered to English as ‘when', the first one meaning ‘when' with reference to the past. The

second one meaning ‘when' with reference to future, this indicates that rendering an SL

lexeme by the same class TL lexeme does not necessarily mean we could achieve complete

equivalence.

3.5.2. Structural Shift and Conformity

The deep structure in Arabic sentence constructions begins with the verb and has to

be followed by a proper noun, or suffixes of a subject pronoun that are attached to the verb.

The vocalization allows Arabic composers to manipulate sentence structure the way can fit

TL structure without any change of meaning or syntactic function of sentence lexemes.

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Such properties of Arabic lexemes make it possible for the translator of Arabic to

English translation to deploy this stylistic device to accommodate the differences between

the two languages involved in the translation. This justified the structural shift in the major

clause of the verse below, to put up un-identical structural nature of SL and TL while at the

same time conformity is observed in the subordinate clause by allowing PRO-to

construction in both the SL and TL as in verses like:

(19:12) وا أن م إليه فأوحى المحراب من قومه على فخرج وعشي ا ب كرة سبح

P: “Then he came forth unto his people from the sanctuary, and signified to them:

Glorify your Lord at break of day and fall of night”.

A: “So Zakariya came out to his people from him chamber: He told them by signs to

celebrate Allah's praises in the morning and in the evening.

3.5.3. Review

In the process of decoding, shift to fit syntactic or semantic TL norms affects the

conformity in words number. Nonetheless, at the microstylistic level of analysis,

quantitative analysis showed that there is a type of conformity between Ali and Pickthall in

deploying techniques of shift at morphemic-lexical and phrase level of analysis as shown in

the table below:

Table (7) shows the frequencies of each grammatical shift at word and phrase level.

Category Ali’s version Pickthall’s version

Freq % Freq %

Internal shift 33 11.6 35 12.4

Class shift 35 12.3 26 9.2

Unit expansion 196 69.01 194 69.03

Unit contraction 20 7 26 9.2

Total of frequency 284 100 281 100

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The above table illustrates the frequencies and percentages of the various forms of

grammatical shift at word and phrase levels of analysis. The two translators Pickthall and

Ali deploy linguistic-stylistic techniques to transfer the meaning of Arabic with respect to

TL stylistics in different ratios. The percentages reflect their closeness in utilizing the

techniques in the four sub-categories of grammatical shift as indicated in the table above.

Ali utilized the techniques slightly more than Pickthall with total frequencies of (284) times

as against Pickthall’s (281). Unit expansion has the highest percentage in all the two

translated versions, and translators resort to this technique to compose the propositional

meaning which enables them to avoid the word-to-word transfer of meaning. Expansion

grants the flexibility to accommodate both linguistic and cultural differences between

Arabic and English especially in the lack of complete synonymy. The closeness of outcome

in the table suggests the grammatical shift is a vital technique in the acts of transferring the

meaning of religious texts.

The slightly lower percentage in Pickthall’s version refers to the presence of the

ratio of his direct approach to translate the Surah, which means directness in the sense of

word-to-word in verses as 19:39.

At the sentence level, data quantitative analysis showed that Ali's version contains

(241) sentences, whereas Pickthall’s version contains (233) sentences. This difference in

the sentences number is due to the literality where the translator from Arabic may resort to

the stylistic device of addition whereby he adds more words to TT to assist comprehension

(See LT).

Table (8) exhibits the structural distribution in the data.

Data coding shows that the two translations utilizes LT in different attribute. Ali’s

translation shows that only (16%) of the sentences is a calque from ST, whereas Pickthall’s

Category of sentence Ali’s version Pickthall’s version

Total amount of sentences

241

233

LT 208 173

Stylistically calqued structures. 33 60

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version has (25.8%) calque of ST Style. Translators usually resort to transposition to

analyse ST grammatical structures for the kernel form before the transfer into TL kernel

structures. Data coding helps in the investigation of how this or that translator utilizes

transposition to translate his version. The coding outcome shows us how syntactic

naturalization takes place. The transposition in this way shows that the two versions are

formal and dynamic in different ratios. Ali tries to be communicative by inserting

parenthesized expressions to assist comprehension. Pickthall is formal by imitating the SL

form. However, Ali’s version can be caught as literal in the sense of Catford (1965: 25) that

“Literal translation starts from a word-for-word translation, but makes changes in

conformity with TL grammar inserting additional words and changing structures at any

rank”. Pikthall’s version can be classified in terms of calque translation taking into

consideration TL syntactic norms.

In some texts, there may be a cultural gap between SL and TL, and that gap makes

transposition TP insufficient to convey the situation clearly. In such cases, translators resort

to semantic modulation.

3.6. Semantic Modulation

This procedure takes place at word, phrasal or sentential level. Semantic modulation

is achieved by using other cultural resources of the TL to act as the same meaning for the

SL text. Although, Vinay and Darbelnet (1995: 246) see it as the technique of the good,

saying that one idea may be expressed in SL and TL differently, and that is the way

translation is. They argue (ibid: 246) that “bilingual people do not need modulation in

discourse because they share the same culture”. This procedure is used in general

translation to translate cultural terms as; institutional terms, proverbs and figures of speech.

Due to genre restrictions, semantic modulation is not certified in religious related

texts. Translators licensed to only use grammatical modulation for naturalization. The

structural modulation, therefore, must act as functional level of equivalence. In this sense,

strictly literal translation is not obligatory. For instance, the verse 19:20 cause-effect

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relation is functionally equivalent since such modulation does not change any cultural

entity or the basic referential meaning. (See, 2.1.6.1).

(.19:20) زكي ا غلاما لك لأهب ربك رس ول أنا إنما قال

P: “He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless

Son”.

A: “He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift

of a holy son”.

In this sense, (Khan: 2008: 51) deems that in the Holy Quran “any modulation in

terms of semantic or cultural components means deviation from the norm of the genre of

the ST because it leads to unjustified behavior of subjectivity on behalf of literality”.

Nonetheless, it is well known by the scholars of the Holy Quran that His meaning is ‘ ال حم

,Hamalu Awjuh’ i.e. one verse may bear more than one possible correct meaning, this‘ ’أوجه

for instance, justifies why we find two different translations for one verse. Any change of

semantic meaning should be examined in terms of accuracy (See 3.5.0 and 3.6.0 of this

chapter). However, modulation at text level can be described in terms of adaptation.

3.7.Adaptation

In translation, if SL and TL belong to different families, there must be a cultural

gap. In such cases, translators resort to rewriting ST situation using TL cultural symbols,

i.e. cultural translation. This TP can assist comprehension and serves the final stage of

translation which is naturalization. Concerning the Holy Quran, such adaptation is rejected

because it confiscates the ST cultural identity and may distort the implicit meaning it

contains (See 2.2.8.9). Translators can resort to the footnotes or commentary to add the

needed information to avoid cultural lacuna. However, probing the data at text-cultural

level shows no adaptation in the process of translation.

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Similarly, equivalence acts as an adaptation but at sentence level. Vinay and Darbelnet

(1958) proposed the situational equivalence which provides a useful technique to grasp the

ST situational dynamic meaning at verse level in the data of this dissertation.

3.8. Equivalence

Equivalence as TP can be utilized by probing the ST lexical and cultural context or

situation to reproduce it by means of the TL as a means of sound communication. Vinay

and Darbelnet (ibid: 38) propose this technique to conform to the term conception.

Investigating the data of this study shows that both Ali and Pickthall approached

their translations using different stylistic techniques to achieve equivalence at different

levels of expression. Following the dissertation framework, equivalence could be either

formal or dynamic.

The idea that lies behind the dynamic equivalence is utilizing the TL lexeme the

way that can incite the message receptor to have an act similar to that ST has on its native

receptors. The perlocutionary power of an utterance can create such an act. Crystal (2003:

344) defines it as “a term used in the theory of speech acts to refer to an act performed by

making an utterance, which intrinsically involves an effect on the behavior, beliefs,

feelings, etc, of a listener”. Hence, English has two types of verbs; formal verbs and

dynamic verbs. Examining the data shows that in only 25 verses, Ali and Pickthall contrast

in the way they utilize the technique. It also shows that Pickthall utilized it 21.5 % more

than Ali. An analysis of some of the verses shows the difference.

1. In verse:

حمن الله بسم (19:1) . حيم الر الر

A: “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, and Most Merciful”

P: “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, and the Merciful”.

The word Allah (SWT) above is borrowed and used instead of the word ‘God’ as

the equivalent word in English. The word Allah refers to the same entity as God in TL but

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differs in linguistic characteristics. The word ALLAH (SWT) is semantically definite by

the article ‘AL’ which is the equivalent of the English article ‘The’ and this making the

word Allah unique as it always carries definiteness and at the same time it cannot be

morphologically transformed in form of a countable object or feminized. Unlike the word

‘God’ which can be morphologically transmuted to ‘gods’ or ‘goddess’ for quantity and

gender derivations respectively. In this regard, this may suggest why the two translators

prefer to use the word ALLAH instead the word ‘God’. Thus, one can conclude that the

formal borrowing of the name of ALLAH (SWT) fetches the original connotation of the SL

into the TL.

2. In verse:

خفي ا نداء ربه نادى إذ (4 :19) .

A: “Behold! He cried to his Lord in secret”.

P: “When he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret”.

The situational equivalence occurs when Ali translates the time adverb ‘إذ’ --- ‘ith’

(Arabic time adverb with reference to the past) into behold as an interjection. Despite the

fact that the ST does not contain such a grammatical property, the idea of considering

‘behold!' as situational equivalence is dynamically justified. Pickthall was literal by using

the adverb ‘when’ which literally denotes the same grammatical property of SL.

3. In verse:

أس واشتعل مني العظم وهن إني رب قال (19:05) . عائك نأك ولم شيبا الر شقي ا رب بد

A: “Praying: "O my Lord! Infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head

doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to Thee!”

P: “Saying: My Lord! Lo! The bones of me wax feeble and my head is shining

with grey hair, and I have never been unblest in prayer to Thee, my Lord”.

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In this verse, Ali dynamically translates the Arabic past verb ‘قال’ meaning literally

‘he said’ into the present continuous ‘praying’; that reflects his knowledge of English and

Arabic. In Arabic, this verb ‘قال’ ---/kala/ is a multi-faceted meaning lexeme. It can be

replaced by any other verb up to the context. This stylistic technique can be utilized in

translation to achieve situational equivalence. Later, he added the vocative: ‘O’ which

equals the Arabic vocative ‘يا’- ya’ as a dynamic choice.

Pickthall’s choice of ‘My Lord' is strictly literal. It is a formal equivalence. His

literality helps to preserve ST evoked meaning and source culture tenor.

4. In verse:

ذ يحيى يا (19:13) . ة الكتاب خ كم وآتيناه بقو صبي ا الح

A: “(To his son came the command): "O Yahya! take hold of the Book with might": and

We gave him Wisdom even as a youth”

P: “(And it was said unto his son): O John! Hold fast the Scripture. And we gave him

wisdom when a child”.

In the Arabic version excerpt the adverbial phrase ‘ ة biquwatin/ meaning/ - ’بـقو

‘with strength’. Ali literally translates it as ‘with might’ which can be assumed as direct

translation, whereas Pickthall translates it as ‘Hold fast’ in a form of situational

equivalence as the word ‘fast’ dynamically connotes not only speedy but excessive energy

and power.

5. In verse:

ا (19:15) . عصي ا جبارا يك ن ولم بوالديه وبر

A: “And kind to his parents, and he was not overbearing or rebellious”.

P: “And dutiful toward his parents. And he was not arrogant, rebellious”.

To translate ‘البر’ --- /albir/: It is an adjective has no direct equivalent corresponding

English lexeme. It can be translated as one-into-two as ‘kind and dutiful’ where ‘al bar’ is

the duteous kind one. From semantic propositional meaning, both Pickthall that used the

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dynamic adjective ‘dutiful’ and Ali who utilizes a more literal form of translation by using

the equivalent adverb ‘kind’ achieve accurate translation as the two words belong to same

semantic space which denotes showing tenderness, considerate and helpful nature with

sympathy.

6. In verse:

وحنا إليها فأرسلنا حجابا د ونهم من فاتخذت (19:18) . سوي ا بشرا هال فتمثل ر

A: “She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and

he appeared before her as a man in all respects”.

P: “And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it

assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man”.

Pickthall was more dynamic by deploying the dynamic equivalent verb ‘assumed’,

whereas, Ali was direct by using the verb ‘appeared’ in the context as equivalence.

Pickthall’s choice looks the accurate one.

7. In verse:

عبد إني قال (31 :19) . نبي ا وجعلني الكتاب آتاني الله

A: “He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a

prophet”

P: “He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath

appointed me a Prophet”

In this verse, Pickthall is dynamic by using ‘He spake’ to translate the verb ‘kala’

with reference the ‘speech’ of an infant child, this is a situational equivalence. Later, he

replaces the ST intensifier ‘إني’ meaning ‘I indeed’ by ‘Lo!’.

The dynamic style of utilizing the nonequivalent ‘Lo!', may be used to inject a

pragmatic value to the scene in the verse, whereas Ali was literal in using ‘He said’ and ‘I

am indeed’. In this verse, Pickthall’s TR may find the situational equivalence.

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8. In verse:

(39:19) بين م ضلال في اليوم الظالم ون لكن يأت وننا يوم وأبصر بهم أسمع .

A: “How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! but

the unjust today are in error manifest!”

P: “See and hear them on the Day they come unto Us! yet the evil-doers are to-day in

error manifest”.

The two Arabic imperative verbs ‘أسمع’ and ‘أبصر’ ‘Asmi’ and ‘Absir’ have no

corresponding equivalent English lexemes. Ali translates them dynamically. He resorts to

the idiomatic translation, relying on the consensus on the exegetic meaning. In turn,

Pickthall translates them in the word-to-word method as ‘See and Hear'. The two verbs he

uses are non-equivalents to ST. And, since ST norms restrict any semantic modulation, it is

not an easy mission to judge him true.

9. In verse:

ن عذاب يمسك أن أخاف إني أبت يا . حمن م (46:19) لي او للشيطان فتك ون الر

A: “O my father! I fear lest a Penalty afflict thee from (Allah) Most Gracious, so

that thou become to Satan a friend”.

P: “O my father! Lo! I fear lest a punishment from the Beneficent overtake thee so

that thou become a comrade of the devil”.

Ali used the stative verb ‘afflict’ which connotes grieve, stress and tribulate,

whereas Pickthall used the dynamic verb ‘overtake’ which is ‘overcome, sweep over,

overwhelm’ to translate the Arabic verb ‘يمس’ --/yammass/ meaning ‘touches’. ‘Touch’

does not connote the overtaking or an overwhelming condition. It indicates the lowest

portion of punishment and reflects Ibraham’s tender discourse style as he addressess his

father. In this situation, Ali’s formal choice ‘afflict’ looks like the best choice to achieve

situational equivalence.

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10. In verse:

م د ون من تدعون وما وأعتزل ك و الله عاءب أك ون ألا عسى ربي وأدع ( .19:49ربي شقي ا ) د

A: “And I will turn away from you (all) and from those whom ye invoke besides Allah:

I will call on my Lord: perhaps, by my prayer to my Lord, I shall be not unblest”.

P: “I shall withdraw from you and that unto which ye pray beside Allah, and I shall

pray unto my Lord. It may be that in prayer unto my Lord, I shall not be unblest”.

To translate ‘تدعون’ which denotes ‘you supplicate’ and connote ‘invoke’ in ST, Ali

used the English dynamic verb ‘invoke’ whereas, Pickthall used the equivalent literal

lexeme ‘pray’.

The above-selected verses exhibit some examples about how Ali and Pickthall

approach literal and dynamic translation at word level seeking for equivalences. It also

looks to provide a model of how equivalence in translation between Arabic and English

could be approached because the contextual or situational meaning is the most needed one

to convey the intended meaning of the ST in the process of translation. It is also concluded

that dynamic equivalence should not be the translator's ultimate choice, because of

accuracy, sometimes, lies in the formal choice of TL lexeme.

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CHAPTER FOUR

4. Findings

It is established in the introduction that the study aims at examining and

highlighting the validity and reliability of the Vinay and Darbelnet (1958) methodology of

translation as a criterion to analyse and compare two translated versions of the Holy Quran

from Arabic into English in which its findings are illustrated in the following:

The application of these translation procedures on the data showed that Pickthall

and Ali had consciously and/or unconsciously attempted to utilize the translation

procedures to transfer the formal and communicative semantic contents of ST in different

attributes into TL, while at the same time trying to preserve the norms and culture of the

languages involved.

At cultural level, the data analysis exhibits that the two translation work to provide a

common ground for both the source and the target culture but differ in their nonlinear

translations especially in utilizing the translation technique of borrowing or naturalization.

At the Stylistic level, Ali utilized calque in only (13.7 %) of the translated sentences

while Pickthall engaged it in (25.8 %) of his sentences. This indicates that Ali utilizes less

calque as technique than Pickthall. The analysis of the two translations shows that there is a

nonlinear stylistic strategy in translating the various verses into TL.

The nonlinear method which can clearly be observed in the choice of the TLT

corresponding stative or dynamic lexemes draws our attention to the important role the

stylistic devices play in redressing the TT a uniform and subsequently optimizes it.

Otherwise, Translators’ choice of SL corresponding lexemes will be dressed with

subjectivity which is denied, or inadequately justified because the switch in lexeme type

from a stative to a dynamic one or vice versa may result in loss or gain in translation.

At semantic level, sometimes, direct translation fails to achieve accuracy. For

instance, Pickthall’s direct translation of the verse 19:39: “See and hear them ….” The

two English verbs ‘see and hear’ in the verse are neither synonyms nor equivalent to those

verbs ‘ أبصر و أسمع ’ ‘Asmi’’ and ‘Abbsir’ of the ST. Since English has no equivalent

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corresponding verbs to the stated Arabic verbs, Ali’s version resorts to the exegetic form of

translation to be “How plainly they will they see and hear…” .

On dynamic translation techniques, the study discovers that the Holy Quran as

religious Holy Scripture makes it difficult for translators to operate with dynamic

techniques more freely especially with regards to modulation and transposition. The

religious norms do limit and sometime prevent translators to be subjective. Translator’s

being subjective or authorised is obtainable in other forms of translation. In literary texts,

for instance, the utilization of dynamic techniques is allowed and successful as long as

accuracy in the transfer of meaning from SL into TL text will be achieved. In nutshell, there

is limitation of the role of pragmatics such as utilizing the perlocutionary effect or dynamic

linguistic units. Crystal (2003: 344) justifies this restriction view saying that “A distinction

may be drawn between the intended and the perlocutionary effect of an utterance” He

justifies his claim saying: By utilizing the perlocutionary effect of speech acts, you may

intend to convince ‘X’ to do ‘Y’, but instead succeed in getting him to do ‘Z’. This means,

in rendition process, the utilization of perlocutionary power to reflect the effect of ST on

TR may fail to achieve its goal.

4.1. Conclusion

Translation is a communication activity involving two different languages which

may not necessarily share the same linguistic norms and cultural properties. Translators are

the mediators between the SL writer and TL readers in an indirect communication process.

Their duty is deconstructing the SL linguistic units and at the same time transferring them

into the TL equivalent or near equivalent corresponding linguistic units in terms of

accuracy.

As established in the study, texts in translation can be scientific, literary, or religious

which depends on the genre they affiliate. The genre of a text is a factor that influences the

translator to deploy the suitable methodology of translation to properly execute the

translation activity.

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Chapter one prescribes the thesis framework as a remedy of communication in the

translation process by suggesting the Vinay and Darbelnet (1998, 1995) methodology of

translation and as an analysis tool by which one can test translation reliability and

acceptability. Chapter one also tries to employ and exploit the results of the contributions of

prominent scholars of translation as Eugene Nida (1964) conception of equivalence, where

he suggests the dynamic equivalence as it achieves the goal of any translation of successful

communication. Catford’s (1965) theory of shift, as well, is exploited as a parallel to

transposition TP but with reference to Arabic. As data for analysis, the chapter presents two

translations of the Chapter 19 of the Holy Quran, the first is published in (1930) by the

British scholar Mr. Marmaduke W. Pickthall, and the second is published in (1938) by the

Indian scholar Sir. Abdullah Y. Ali.

Chapter one also looks to find answers to the interesting questions as: 1. what are

the various translation licenses that translators utilize in the translation of the Holy Quran

for Arabic to English? 2. How do stylistic devices help translators to achieve accuracy in

meaning transfer from the source language to target language? 3. To what extent the

utilization of perlocutionary effect of speech acts is useful in redressing the semantic

information of the SL text in the TL text in religious related text translation? And hence

thesis framework, literature review, data analysis and the conclusion aims to give answers

to all these questions.

Chapter two is composed of two parts, the first is about general translation

literature, and the second is about the translation of the Holy Quran with reference to the

literature of style. Its importance is characterized by the concise and clear background for

translation studies which presents and discusses the stylistic devices with reference to

Arabic, and discusses the validity of their application. It leads to the next step in chapter

three, the data coding and analysis.

Chapter three is about data analysis, the Vinay and Darbelnet methodology of

translation is centered on direct and oblique translation. In the direct methodology, the

authors suggest three processes: borrowing, calque and literal translation.

The first TP is borrowing. Borrowing helps translators to fill the cultural lacuna and

fetch original connotation between the two languages under the rendition project, and

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reveals how each translator approaches and assists TR comprehension by utilizing the

borrowing in translation.

The second TP is calque which is a very important stylistic device. In addition to its

being another phase of cultural borrowing, linguistically it can describe translators’ style. In

texts of a religious genre, orthodox translators resort to this TP for the sake of literality and

conformity with SLT. Applying this TP on the data showed us how Pickthall and Ali

respectively utilized punctuation marks at the very ends of many verses in their texts to link

preceding verse with their subordinates which gives TL sentence the PRO-to form which

allow them to fit TL sentence structures with ST one.

The third and latter TP under the head term of direct translation is the LT. This TP

draws the line between direct translation in terms of literality and the oblique one in terms

of subjectivity. In the Vinay and Darbelnet approach to translation, this TP is defined in

terms of interlinear translation, because their methodology is based on the comparison

between the stylistics of French and English. At this part, the study resorts to Catford’s

(1965) conception of LT for two important reasons; Firstly, his definition of TL is fit to

religious genre whereby texts should be translated literally in between languages lack that

part of sameness of French and English. Secondly, Catford’s approach provides ideal

linguistic stylistic model of analysis between Arabic and English in terms of transposition

which is the meeting point of Catford’s and the Vinay and Darbelnet methodology of

translation.

However, applying transposition techniques on data shows that shift at word class

may take place at all ranks to; 1. Fit TL syntactic norms. 2. Fill the lacuna between

supposition and coherence. That is because, changing a structure means an overlap in head

and focus of the sentence, and subsequently its intended meaning.

The second and the third TPs are semantic modulation and cultural adaptation.

These two procedures are excluded from the study for two reasons which are: 1. The study

subject matter addresses a shared culture issue between Christianity and Islam. And, 2. The

religious genre restricts the role of such types of translation license.

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Equivalence as a TP is also discussed in the thesis. It is applied as techniques for the

overall goal of all translation works. It can be sought at different level of analysis. Vinay

and Darbelnet defined it in terms of replication of one situation of SL by equivalent one in

TL using completely different wording and structures. The data exhibits that there are good

frequency of equivalence at word class and structural levels. At semantic level, the study

argued that the meaning between Arabic and English is not an issue of synonyms, but

contextual one. It also tests some verses to investigate the dynamic phase of meaning as a

calibre of communicative translation with aim at achieving such effect similar to that one of

SLT.

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www.tanzeel.org القران الكريم ، النص العربي

لبنان – بيروت حزم ابن دار 1996 الرابعة الطبعة النجار محمد تحقيق للنووي القرآن حملة آداب في التبيان

ابو الحسن علي بن احمد الواحدي النيسابوري. "أسباب النزول." )2008(.

لباب النقول في اسباب النزول.جلال الدين عبد الرحمن بن أبي بكر السيوطي.

.PDF, al-mostafa.com ( س1111الحسين العصامي ، )مط النجوم العوالي في انبا الاوائل والتواليهـ

، دار بن حزم للطباعة والنشر 1429 -2008هر العلوش ، أحكام ترجمة القرآن ـ الطبعة الاولى ، جلال الدين ابن الطا

والتوزيع ، بيروت ـ لبنان.

منشورات للنشرـ الرشيد دار ،1982 الاولى الطبعة ـ المقارنة الدراسات ضوء في الترجمة فن ، خلوصي صفاء.د

.العراق ـ بغداد ، العراقية الاعلام وزارة

مكتبة 1426-2005د.عز الدين محمد نجيب ، اسس الترجمة من الانكليزية الى العربية وبالعكس ـ الطبعة الخامسة

ابن سينا ، القاهرة ـ مصر.

.1904سليمان البستاني: الياذة هوميروس معربة نظما ، مطبعة الهلال ، مصر ،

الصرف تحليل للترجمة ودراسات مقارنة في علمي -طبيق .الترجمة بين النظرية والت2197د. عبد الباقي الصافي ،

.العراق-والجملة والاساليب الادبية في اللغتين العربية والانكليزية ، دار الطباعة الحديثة ، البصرة

علم التفسير ، مجلة جامعة المدينة العالمية ل منهج تفسير نظم الدرر للامام البقاعي وصلته بعلم النص ، نور بن خالد

(.2013)علوم القران ـ ماليزيا و

98

APPENDIX

The two translations of Chapter 19: SURAT (MARYAM) are put together in side by side to be at

reader’s fingertip.

019.01 Y: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

P: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

019.02 Y: Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ain. Sad.

P: Kaf. Ha. Ya. A'in. Sad.

019.03 Y: (This is) a recital of the Mercy of thy Lord to His servant Zakariya.

P: A mention of the mercy of thy Lord unto His servant Zachariah.

019.04 Y: Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret,

P: When he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret,

019.05 Y: Praying: "O my Lord! infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head

doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to Thee!"

P: Saying: My Lord! Lo! the bones of me wax feeble and my head is shining

with grey hair, and I have never been unblest in prayer to Thee, my Lord.

019.06 A: "Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my

wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself,"-

P: Lo! I fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from

Thy presence a successor,

019.07 Y: "(One that) will (truly) represent me, and represent the posterity of

Jacob; and make him, O my Lord! one with whom Thou art well-pleased

P: Who shall inherit of me and inherit (also) of the house of Jacob. And make

him, my Lord, acceptable (unto Thee).

019.08 Y: (His prayer was answered): "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be

Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction before."

P: (It was said unto him): O Zachariah! Lo! We bring thee tidings of a son whose

name is John; we have given the same name to none before (him).

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019.09 Y: He said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son, when my wife is barren and I

have grown quite decrepit from old age?"

P: He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached

infirm old age?

019.10 Y: He said: "So (it will be) thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: I did indeed create thee before, when

thou hadst been nothing!'"

P: He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me, even as I created thee before, when thou wast

naught.

019.11Y: (Zakariya) said: "O my Lord! give me a Sign." "Thy Sign," was the answer, "Shall be that thou shalt

speak to no man for three nights, although thou art not dumb."

P: He said: My Lord! Appoint for me some token. He said: Thy token is that thou, with

no bodily defect, shalt not speak unto mankind three nights.

019.12 Y:So Zakariya came out to his people from him chamber: He told them by signs to celebrate Allah's

praises in the morning and in the evening.

P: Then he came forth unto his people from the sanctuary, and signified to them:

Glorify your Lord at break of day and fall of night.

019.13 Y: (To his son came the command): "O Yahya! take hold of the Book with might": and We gave him

Wisdom even as a youth,

P: (And it was said unto his son): O John! Hold fast the Scripture. And we gave him

wisdom when a child,

019.14 Y: And piety (for all creatures) as from Us, and purity: He was devout,

P: And compassion from Our presence, and purity; and he was devout,

019.15 Y: And kind to his parents, and he was not overbearing or rebellious.

P: And dutiful toward his parents. And he was not arrogant, rebellious.

019.16 Y: So Peace on him the day he was born, the day that he dies, and the day that he will be raised up to

life (again)!

P: Peace on him the day he was born, and the day he dieth and the day he shall be

raised alive!

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019.17 Y: Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East.

P: And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her

people to a chamber looking East,

019.18 Y: She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared

before her as a man in all respects.

P: And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it

assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man.

019.19 Y: She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear

Allah."

P: She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing.

019.20 Y: He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son."

P: He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless

son.

019.21 Y: She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"

P: She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste?

019.22 Y: He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and

(We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is

a matter (so) decreed."

P: He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We

may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing

ordained.

019.23 Y: So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place.

P: And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place.

019.24 Y: And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree:

She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this!

would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!"

P: And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh,

would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten!

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019.25 Y: But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a

rivulet beneath thee;"

P:Then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: Grieve not! Thy

Lord hath placed a rivulet beneath thee,

019.26 Y: "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee."

P: And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee.

019.27 Y: "So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to

(Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with

any human being'"

P: So eat and drink and be consoled. And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have

vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal.

019.28 Y: At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary!

truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!"

P: Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing

thing.

019.29 Y: "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"

P: O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.

019.30 Y: But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

P: Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

019.31 Y: He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;"

P: He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath

appointed me a Prophet,

019.32Y:"And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as

long as I live;"

P: And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so

long as I remain alive,

019.33 Y: "(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;"

P: And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.

102

019.34 Y: "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to

life (again)"!

P: Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

019.35 Y: Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.

P: Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.

019.36 Y: It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He

determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.

P: It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory

be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.

019.37 Y: Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that isstraight.

P: And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path.

019.38 Y: But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming)

Judgment of a Momentous Day!

P: The sects among them differ: but woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of an awful Day.

019.39 Y: How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! but the unjust today

are in error manifest!

P: See and hear them on the Day they come unto Us! yet the evil-doers are to-day in error manifest.

019.40 Y: But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are

negligent and they do not believe!

P: And warn them of the Day of anguish when the case hath been decided.Now they are in a state of

carelessness, and they believe not.

019.41 Y: It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to Us will they all be returned.

P: Lo! We, only We, inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto Us they are returned.

019.42 Y: (Also) mention in the Book (the story of) Abraham: He was a man of Truth, a prophet.

P: And make mention (O Muhammad) in the Scripture of Abraham. Lo! he was a saint, a prophet.

019.43 Y: Behold, he said to his father: "O my father! why worship that which heareth not and seeth not, and

can profit thee nothing?"

103

P: When he said unto his father: O my father! Why worshippest thou that which heareth not nor seeth, nor can

in aught avail thee?

019.44 Y: "O my father! to me hath come knowledge which hath not reached thee: so follow me: I will guide

thee to a way that is even and straight."

P: O my father! Lo! there hath come unto me of knowledge that which came not unto thee. So follow me, and

I will lead thee on a right path.

019.45 Y: "O my father! serve not Satan: for Satan is a rebel against (Allah) Most Gracious."

P: O my father! Serve not the devil. Lo! the devil is a rebel unto the Beneficent.

019.46 Y: "O my father! I fear lest a Penalty afflict thee from (Allah) Most Gracious, so that thou become to

Satan a friend."

P: O my father! Lo! I fear lest a punishment from the Beneficent overtake thee so that thou become a

comrade of the devil.

019.47 Y: (The father) replied: "Dost thou hate my gods, O Abraham? If thou forbear not, I will indeed stone

thee: Now get away from me for a good long while!"

P: He said: Rejectest thou my gods, O Abraham? If thou cease not, I shall surely stone thee. Depart from me

a long while!

019.48 Y: Abraham said: "Peace be on thee: I will pray to my Lord for thy forgiveness: for He is to me Most

Gracious."

P: He said: Peace be unto thee! I shall ask forgiveness of my Lord for thee. Lo! He was ever gracious unto

me.

019.49 Y: "And I will turn away from you (all) and from those whom ye invoke besides Allah:I will call on

my Lord: perhaps, by my prayer to my Lord, I shall be not unblest."

P: I shall withdraw from you and that unto which ye pray beside Allah, and I shall pray unto my Lord. It may

be that, in prayer unto my Lord, I shall not be unblest.

019.50 Y: When he had turned away from them and from those whom they worshipped besides Allah, We

bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and each one of them We made a prophet.

P: So, when he had withdrawn from them and that which they were worshipping beside Allah, We gave him

Isaac and Jacob. Each of them We made a prophet.

104

019.51 Y: And We bestowed of Our Mercy on them, and We granted them lofty honour on the tongue of

truth.

P: And we gave them of Our mercy, and assigned to them a high and true renown.

019.52 Y: Also mention in the Book (the story of) Moses: for he was specially chosen, and he was a

messenger (and) a prophet.

P: And make mention in the Scripture of Moses. Lo! he was chosen, and he was a messenger (of Allah), a

prophet.

019.53 Y: And we called him from the right side of Mount (Sinai), and made him draw near to Us, for mystic

(converse).

P: We called him from the right slope of the Mount, and brought him nigh in communion.

019.54 Y: And, out of Our Mercy, We gave him his brother Aaron, (also) a prophet.

P: And We bestowed upon him of Our mercy his brother Aaron, a prophet (likewise).

019.55 Y: Also mention in the Book (the story of) Isma'il: He was (strictly) true to what he promised, and he

was a messenger (and) a prophet.

P: And make mention in the Scripture of Ishmael. Lo! he was a keeper of his promise,

and he was a messenger (of Allah), a prophet.

019.56 Y: He used to enjoin on his people Prayer and Charity, and he was most acceptable in the sight of his

Lord.

P: He enjoined upon his people worship and almsgiving, and was acceptable in the sight of his Lord.

019.57 Y: Also mention in the Book the case of Idris: He was a man of truth (and sincerity), (and) a prophet:

P: And make mention in the Scripture of Idris. Lo! he was a saint, a prophet;

019.58 Y: And We raised him to a lofty station.

P: And We raised him to high station.

019.59 Y: Those were some of the prophets on whom Allah did bestow His Grace,- of the posterity of Adam,

and of those who We carried (in the Ark) with Noah, and of the posterity of Abraham and Israel of those

whom We guided and chose. Whenever the Signs of (Allah) Most Gracious were rehearsed to them, they

would fall down in prostrate adoration and in tears.

105

P: These are they unto whom Allah showed favour from among the prophets, of the seed of Adam and of

those whom We carried (in the ship) with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel, and from among

those whom We guided and chose. When the revelations of the Beneficent were recited unto them, they fell

down, adoring and weeping.

019.60 Y: But after them there followed a posterity who missed prayers and followed after lusts soon, then,

will they face Destruction,-

P: Now there hath succeeded them a later generation whom have ruined worship and

have followed lusts. But they will meet deception.

019.61 Y: Except those who repent and believe, and work righteousness: for these will enter the Garden and

will not be wronged in the least,-

P: Save him who shall repent and believe and do right. Such will enter the Garden, and

they will not be wronged in aught -

019.62 Y: Gardens of Eternity, those which (Allah) Most Gracious has promised to His servants in the

Unseen: for His promise must (necessarily) come to pass.

P: Gardens of Eden, which the Beneficent hath promised to His slaves in the unseen.

Lo! His promise is ever sure of fulfilment -

019.63 Y: They will not there hear any vain discourse, but only salutations of Peace: And they will have

therein their sustenance, morning andevening.

P: They hear therein no idle talk, but only Peace; and therein they have food for morn

and evening.

019.64 Y: Such is the Garden which We give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who guard against

Evil.

P: Such is the Garden which We cause the devout among Our bondmen to inherit.

019.65 Y: (The angels say:) "We descend not but by command of thy Lord: to Him belongeth what is before

us and what is behind us, and what is between: and thy Lord never doth forget,"-

P: We (angels) come not down save by commandment of thy Lord. Unto Him belongeth all that is before us

and all that is behind us and all that is between those two, and thy Lord was never forgetful -

019.66 Y: Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that is between them; so worship Him, and be

constant and patient in His worship: knowest thou of any who is worthy of the same Name as He?

106

P: Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them! Therefor, worship thou Him and be thou

steadfast in His service. Knowest thou one that can be named along with Him?

019.67 Y: Man says: "What! When I am dead, shall I then be raised up alive?"

P: And man saith: When I am dead, shall I forsooth be brought forth alive?

019.68 Y: But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing?

P: Doth not man remember that We created him before, when he was naught?

019.69 Y: So, by thy Lord, without doubt, We shall gather them together, and (also) the EvilOnes (with

them); then shall We bring them forth on their knees round about Hell;

P: And, by thy Lord, verily We shall assemble them and the devils, then We shall bringthem, crouching,

around hell.

019.70 Y: Then shall We certainly drag out from every sect all those who were worst inobstinate rebellion

against (Allah) Most Gracious.

P: Then We shall pluck out from every sect whichever of them was most stubborn inrebellion to the

Beneficent.

019.71 Y: And certainly We know best those who are most worthy of being burned therein.

P: And surely We are Best Aware of those most worthy to be burned therein.

019.72 Y: Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished.

P: There is not one of you but shall approach it. That is a fixed ordinance of thy Lord.

019.73 Y: But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrong-doers therein,

(humbled) to their knees.

P: Then We shall rescue those who kept from evil, and leave the evil-doers crouching there.

019.74 Y: When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, the Unbelievers say to those who believe, "Which of

the two sides is best in point of position? Which makes the bestshow in council?"

P: And when Our clear revelations are recited unto them, those who disbelieve say untothose who believe:

Which of the two parties (yours or ours) is better in position, andmore imposing as an army?

019.75 Y: But how many (countless) generations before them have we destroyed, who wereeven better in

equipment and in glitter to the eye?

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P: How many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were more imposing inrespect of gear and

outward seeming!

019.76 Y: Say: "If any men go astray, (Allah) Most Gracious extends (the rope) to them, until, when they see

the warning of Allah (being fulfilled) - either in punishment or in (the approach of) the Hour,- they will at

length realise who is worst in position, and (who) weakest in forces!"

P: Say: As for him who is in error, the Beneficent will verily prolong his span of life

until, when they behold that which they were promised, whether it be punishment (in

the world), or the Hour (of doom), they will know who is worse in position and who

weaker as an army.

019.77 Y: "And Allah doth advance in guidance those who seek guidance: and the things that endure, Good

Deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best in respectof (their) eventual return."

P: Allah increaseth in right guidance those who walk aright, and the good deeds whichendure are better in thy

Lord's sight for reward, and better for resort.

019.78 Y: Hast thou then seen the (sort of) man who rejects Our Signs, yet says: "I shallcertainly be given

wealth and children?"

P: Hast thou seen him who disbelieveth in Our revelations and saith: Assuredly I shallbe given wealth and

children?

019.79 Y: Has he penetrated to the Unseen, or has he taken a contract with(Allah) Most Gracious?

P: Hath he perused the Unseen, or hath he made a pact with theBeneficent?

019.80 Y: Nay! We shall record what he says, and We shall add and add to his punishment.

P: Nay, but We shall record that which he saith and prolong for him a span of torment.

019.81 Y: To Us shall return all that he talks of and he shall appear before Us bare and alone.

P: And We shall inherit from him that whereof he spake, and he will come unto Us,

alone (without his wealth and children).

019.82 Y: And they have taken (for worship) gods other than Allah, to give them power and glory!

P: And they have chosen (other) gods beside Allah that they may be a power for them.

019.83 Y: Instead, they shall reject their worship, and become adversaries against them.

P: Nay, but they will deny their worship of them, and become opponents unto them.

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019.84 Y: Seest thou not that We have set the Evil Ones on against the unbelievers, to incite them with fury?

P: Seest thou not that We have set the devils on the disbelievers to confound them with

confusion?

019.85 Y: So make no haste against them, for We but count out to them a (limited) number (ofdays).

P: So make no haste against them (O Muhammad). We do but number unto them a sum

(of days).

019.86 Y: The day We shall gather the righteous to (Allah) Most Gracious, like a band

presented before a king for honours,

P: On the day when We shall gather the righteous unto the Beneficent, a goodly

company

019.87 Y: And We shall drive the sinners to Hell, like thirsty cattle driven down to water,-

P: And drive the guilty unto hell, a weary herd,

019.88 Y: None shall have the power of intercession, but such a one as has received permission (or promise)

from (Allah) Most Gracious.

P: They will have no power of intercession, save him who hath made a covenant with

his Lord.

019.89 Y: They say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten a son!"

P: And they say: The Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son.

019.90 Y: Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!

P: Assuredly ye utter a disastrous thing

019.91 Y: At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter

ruin,

P: Whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains

fall in ruins,

019.92 Y: That they should invoke a son for (Allah) Most Gracious.

P: That ye ascribe unto the Beneficent a son,

019.93 Y: For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah) Most Gracious that He should beget a son.

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P: When it is not meet for (the Majesty of) the Beneficent that He should choose a son.

019.94 Y: Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (Allah) Most Gracious as a

servant.

P: There is none in the heavens and the earth but cometh unto the Beneficent as aslave.

019.95 Y: He does take an account of them (all), and hath numbered them (all) exactly.

P: Verily He knoweth them and numbereth them with (right) numbering.

019.96 Y: And every one of them will come to Him singly on the Day of Judgment.

P: And each one of them will come unto Him on the Day of Resurrection, alone.

019.97 Y: On those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, will (Allah) Most Gracious bestow love.

P: Lo! those who believe and do good works, the Beneficent will appoint for them love.

019.98 Y: So have We made the (Qur'an) easy in thine own tongue, that with it thou mayest give Glad

Tidings to the righteous, and warnings to people given to contention.

P: And We make (this Scripture) easy in thy tongue, (O Muhammad) only that thou

mayst bear good tidings therewith unto those who ward off (evil), and warn

therewith the froward folk.

019.99 Y: But how many (countless) generations before them have We destroyed? Canst thou find a single

one of them (now) or hear (so much as) a whisper of them?

P: And how many a generation before them have We destroyed! Canst thou

Muhammad) see a single man of them, or hear from them the slightest sound?

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ÖZGEÇMIŞ

Kişisel Bilgiler:

Adı ve Soyadı: Othman Mohammed AL-ABBASI

Doğum Yeri ve Yılı: Salah aldin, Samarra -Irak 1/07/1969

Medeni Hali: evli

Milliyet: Irak

Eğitim Durumu: Lisans Öğrenimi: University of Tikrit/ College of Education.

Yüksek Lisans Öğrenimi: Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi

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CURRICULUM VITAE

Personal Information:

Name: Othman M. AL-ABBASI

Place of Birth: Samarra-Iraq

Date of Birth: 01/07/1969

Marital Status: Married

Nationality: Iraqi

Education:

Undergraduate Education: University of Tikrit/ College of education

Postgraduate Education: Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi