An Analysis of Jahiz's Ideas About Translation and Meaning in His Book “Al-Hyavan”

Born in the second Hijri century, Jahiz is one of the most brilliant thinkers of his time who has had deep ideas about translation and meaning. It can be argued that these ideas are at the same level of importance of those of modern ideas. In this article, these ideas of Jahiz are investigated, based on what he has said in his book “Al-Hayavan”. Therefore, after "introduction", first Jahiz and particularly his book “Al-Hayavan” is introduced; then his ideas about translation and meaning are analyzed. In that book, he has explained the difficulties of translation, the capabilities translators need for translation, and the severely difficult task of translating religious texts. He also believes it is imperative for translator to have the same command of the languages from which and to which he translates. For Jahiz, the knowledge a translator needs to have about the subject matter of the text in his hand must be at the same level of the knowledge the writer of the text has about it. These ideas are at the same level of clarity and exactness to the ideas provided by modern thinkers and theorists. Moreover, whatever Jahiz has said about translation, clearly indicates he has had a clear and exact understanding of meaning and the known and hidden layers of the meaning of a text.