A Critical Study on the Arabization of Ahmad Shamlou's Poems Based on James Holmes’ Theory (Case Study: Translation of Selections from Modern Persian Poetry by Muhammad Noureddine Abdel Moneim)

Knowing the type of translation and understanding its theory, regardless of whether the translator is aware of it or not, allows the reader to grasp the meaning of the translated text in the target language. Although Holmes himself believes that there is no translation of poetry "identical" or "equivalent" to the original, and says that the practical limitations prevent us from obtaining the "equivalent", he identified four strategies that are traditionally used in translating different types of poetry: 1) The strategy of simulation or simulated translation, in which the form of poetry is preserved, 2) Analog strategy, in which a form that is culturally similar to the original poetry is used, 3) The organizational strategy in which the semantic element is allowed to take a unique poetic form during the formation of the translation, and 4) A deviant or irrelevant strategy in which there is no connection or similarity between the form used for poetry in the target language and the form or content of poetry in the source language. Of course, the choice of the strategy itself reflects the target language norms and cultural priorities specific to a particular language. Since Shamlou is considered a pioneer of prose poetry or what is called free poetry and is sometimes called Shamlou’i poetry, it is very difficult to choose a theory that is compatible with analyzing these poems or translating them into any other language because it has abandoned some of the basic components of traditional poetry, especially meter and rhyme, but it has not turned into a text. Scattered because it includes rhythm, intonation, and verbal and moral improvements. And when we choose a theory suitable for studying and translating these poems, we have to take care of both sides. In this study, we aim to criticize Muhammad Noureddine Abdel Moneim's translation of some of Shamlou's poems according to James Holmes' theory and to evaluate the application of the components of this theory to the translation of the above-mentioned poems. Ahmad Shamlou was a poet, film director, journalist, researcher, translator, lexicographer, and one of the trustees of the Iranian Writers' Association. Shamlu’s main fame is due to his innovation in contemporary Persian poetry and the formulation of a type of poetry known as free poetry or Shamloui poetry, which is currently one of the most important forms of poetry prevalent in Iran and is an imitation of French free poetry or vernacular poetry. Since he was a pioneer of free poetry in the Persian language, the translation of his poems requires complete knowledge of this type of poetry, in addition to the poet's mastery of both Persian and Arabic languages. This descriptive-analytical study aims to criticize the method of Muhammad Nureddin Abdel Moneim's translation of some of Ahmed Shamlou's poems in the book Selections from Modern Persian Poetry. Because the poets use the language in the most beautiful and best way to express the feelings and emotions that go through their consciences, the words are incomplete to express their thoughts. Hence, some of them tend to the symbolic language, especially those poets who abandoned meter, rhyme, and performances to reduce as much as possible the obstacles that prevent them from revealing what is inside them. For this reason, free poetry moves away from traditional forms and accepts the use of symbols and signs. And since Ahmed Shamlou's poems were sung in a distinctive style, and are the basis for free poetry, they are replete with terms, symbols, and references, and are full of literary, philosophical, social, and political concepts and contents. It is very difficult to understand these poems, and therefore translating them into Arabic requires the translator to have great skill and multi-dimensional information in both the source and target languages. Muhammad Noureddine Abdel Moneim was able to translate special terms and expressions into the Arabic language due to his sufficient knowledge of the Persian language and his mastery of his mother tongue. He also succeeded, to a considerable extent, in identifying the elements of the sentence correctly and translating them into Arabic, but some of his efforts were not crowned with success, and he sometimes misunderstood the meanings of terms, the semantics of symbols, or defining the pillars of some sentences. The results of the study indicate that the translator relies in his Arabization on the four types of translation according to Holmes' theory and that some of his efforts were unsuccessful. In addition, he sometimes misunderstood the meanings of terms and the semantics of symbols.