International Journal of Textual and Translation Analysis in Islamic Studies
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Summer 2023

Metaphor, as a rhetorical device, is mostly culture-specific and plays a vital role in some texts. In some sacred texts such as the Holy Qur’ān, the form and meaning are inseparable, and hence, translating metaphors can be challenging. This study aimed to demonstrate the translation of metaphors in the Holy Qur’ān and to identify the strategies applied in the translation of Qur’ānic metaphors. To this end, Chapters 18 to 30 of the Holy Qur’ān, which included thirteen chapters, were selected and analyzed for metaphorical expressions along with their English translations by three celebrated native translators: Arberry (1964), Irving (1985), and Pickthall (1954). These chapters contained forty samples of metaphor, which were analyzed using six celebrated commentaries to find their literal and metaphorical meanings. The translations were then compared to the source text. The procedures suggested by Newmark (1988b) were used to find the strategies used by the translators. The results revealed that among the proposed procedures, five procedures were applied in the translation of the Qur’ānic metaphors. The most dominant procedures were the first and fifth procedures (reproducing the same image in the target language and converting the metaphor to sense, respectively); whereas, the remaining procedures were only used in two or three cases. It was also revealed that in most of the cases, the translators preferred to preserve the form of the original texts.

The translation of sacred texts has been a long-standing practice, employed by followers of various religions to disseminate their beliefs. The Qur’ān, revered by Muslims as a divine miracle, is one such text that has attracted the attention of translators and researchers across different periods. Given the Qur’ān’s divine origin and its linguistic intricacies, its translation poses a significant challenge. This article adopts a corpus-based approach to investigate the extent to which the nuanced semantics of the Qur’ān’s moral terms have been captured in English translations. Specifically, the words “Marouf”, “Munkar”, and “Sin” and their translations by Arberry, Picktall, Shaker, and Yusuf Ali were examined using Izutsu’s semantic analysis approach. This approach analyzes the fundamental and relational meanings of key Qur’ānic terms from syntagmatic/paradigmatic and synchronic /diachronic perspectives to reveal the worldview they embody. The study’s findings indicate that translators often used identical vocabulary to translate the aforementioned moral terms across all contexts, paying insufficient attention to the contextual nuances of these Qur’ānic moral terms. Despite the use of interpretive techniques in translating the Qur’ān, it appears that even the most accurate English translations fall short of conveying the original concepts and their subtleties fully. This study offers valuable insights for Qur’ān translators, acquainting them with the nuanced semantic aspects of Qur’ānic terms and the delicate task of reflecting these nuances in their translations.

The translation of discourse markers in English versions of the Holy Qur’ān can significantly impact the quality of the translated text. Translators face the challenge of ensuring the accuracy and effectiveness of discourse markers when converting the original text into the target language. This study employed a qualitative research methodology to investigate the usage of English and Persian discourse markers in three translated versions of the Holy Qur’ān by Arberry, Shakir, and Yusuf Ali. Focusing on the renowned Surah Al-Baqarah, 286 verses were meticulously analyzed. Descriptive statistics, following Fraser’s (2005) framework, were applied to categorize discourse markers. The study identified various discourse markers falling into four distinct categories: elaborative, contrastive, inferential, and temporal markers. The results underscored the pivotal role of discourse markers in shaping the translation and structure of the Holy Qur’ān. These markers establish a cohesive link between content words and contribute to the overall coherence of Qur’ānic passages. The study recommends that translators exercise careful consideration in selecting and translating discourse markers to maintain the integrity and meaning of the text.

Nahj al-Balaghah, as the most significant source after the Holy Qur’ān, has attracted human thought and provided direction in the realm of science. It is replete with rich literary topics that offer a conducive environment for research. Despite the extensive research conducted on Nahj al-Balaghah from various perspectives, less attention has been paid to specific topics within this valuable book. Considering the endless knowledge and artistry of the speaker of this book, and given the special place literature holds among Arabic speakers, Imam Ali (AS) has employed numerous literary beauties to introduce the world’s main identity. This paper attempts to analyze Imam Ali (AS)’s precise and insightful view of the world, which demonstrates robust thinking and can be examined from the aspects of form and content using a descriptive-analytical method. One of the findings of this research is that Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (A.S.) speaks according to the audience’s needs to reveal the world’s true face. Most of his words about the world are related to his sermons, where his physical presence and face-to-face interaction are more impactful.

The translation of proper nouns, such as Allah’s attributes of acts, has consistently been a contentious issue in the translation of Qur’ānic exegesis. This research aimed to investigate the frequency and types of strategies employed in the English translations of Allah’s attributes of acts in the Holy Qur’ān. The study sought to explore the strategies used by translators in the translation of Qur’ānic exegesis and to determine if significant differences existed among the translators in the application of the strategies proposed by Chesterman (1997). The corpus comprised six English translations of the Holy Qur’ān by Asad, Pickthall, Saheeh, Arberry, Khan and Hilali, and Mubarakpuri. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the data, based on a revised version of Chesterman’s (1997) model. The descriptive data revealed that only six out of ten strategies were used in translating Allah’s attributes of acts. Only two strategies, transposition and emphasis change, were not used significantly differently, while the other four strategies, synonymy, paraphrase, transliteration, and expansion, were employed significantly differently. The inferential statistics revealed significant differences in the application of each strategy by each translator. However, no significant differences were found among the translators in the application of the same strategy when rendering Allah’s attributes of acts.

Pragmatics is a field of knowledge that aims to examine and elucidate the primary intentions and meanings of utterances and writings. This discipline, utilizing various linguistic and non-linguistic contexts, seeks to extract the intended meaning of speakers and writers, portraying implicit, figurative, and indirect meanings within sentences. The purpose of this article is to introduce this discipline and its components, such as references, presuppositions, and entailments, and to explore how these components can be employed in the examination of Quranic verses, particularly in elucidating the serious intentions of the Almighty. This research is a qualitative research in which data is collected by library method and analyzed by analytical and citation method. Although many of these components have been scattered throughout the extensive Islamic literature and in various branches of Islamic sciences such as rhetoric, Quranic sciences, interpretation, and the science of principles of interpretation, a comprehensive examination of them from a different perspective can contribute to the interpretation of the Quran and the extraction of some new concepts from its verses.