Qur'an Translation Studies

Lexical collocation has become an increasingly important linguistic phenomenon in the fields of language learning as well as translation studies. The present book draws attention to this " phenomenon " in the field of Arabic studies in an attempt to provide a more precise definition, description and classification thereof. This book will also explore the strategies adopted for rendering lexical collocations from Arabic into English in an endeavor to reach the best possible strategy in this respect. It also tries to extract a model of lexical collocation from the Qur'an, and analyze it using a corpus of Classical Arabic texts which comprises about 5.000.000 words. Though the number of studies made in this field in English is remarkable, it is remarkably limited, few in number and restricted in range when Arabic is concerned. Though lexical collocation was known as a linguistic phenomenon to the earlier Arab linguists, they did not use a specific term to refer to it. A huge number of their works on Phraseology are abundant in these collocations; a matter which makes it necessary for contemporary Arab linguists to revisit such works in order to set the stage for a new phase in Arabic linguistics that caters to the needs of researchers and translators in this regard. Despite the fact that earlier Arab linguists were the first to use corpus-based analyses in the process of building up lexicons such as Al-Khalil Ibn Ahmed Al-Farahidi (100-173 AH) and Sibawaih (d. 140 AH), this methodology is not predominant in the field nowadays as linguistic research on Arabic was " frozen " after those prominent figures passed away. Hence, the significance of this present study, as it is an attempt on the path of automating some descriptive processes and using scientific observation in studying the Arabic language in general, and some characteristics of the Qur'an in particular. In addition, using modern technology in studying linguistic usage (i.e. performance) may enable us to find out things that were not previously explored pertaining to linguistic performance or attitude in a more detailed, accurate and precise way. Consequently, this may enable us to see how the Qur'an uses lexical collocation and how this phenomenon is used in Classical Arabic to stand on the similarities and dissimilarities thereof. Besides, this study will focus on the problem of translating lexical collocation. It is now apparent that this study is a corpus-based computational one that manipulates the available statistical and analytical potentials which were not available to earlier researchers who handled the question of the inimitable eloquence of the Qur'an. The general purpose of this study is thus, to make a general contribution to the understanding of Arabic/Qur'anic collocations and their translation into English. May Allah bless and guide us all.

Cross-cultural translations motivation can be at times with the best intention while at other times means otherwise.  ‘Yet this did not prevent translators, commentators and readers from having other interest which they brought to their intellectual tasks, trying to understand the Arabic language, to decipher particularly difficult passages’ (Tolan (2009) book review of Burman Reading the Qur’an in [claimed to be] Latin Christendom, 1140-1560).

‘The Qur’ān was translated into Latin several times in medieval and early modern Europe: by Robert of Ketton in 1140s, by Mark Toledo in 1209-10, and by Iohannes Gabriel Terrolensis in 1518. Falvius Mithridates made a partial Latin translation in 1480-81, and Juan Segovia and Ica de Gebir in the 1450s composed a (now lost) trilingual Qur’ān with parallel columns in Arabic, Castilian and Latin’ (Tolan, 2009).

Burman (2007) ‘shows how the manuscripts of these translations reflect this same ambivalence and testify to quite diverse ways of reading the Qur’ān. The translations were generally accompanied by other texts, often historical and polemical treatises on Islam. The translation was often framed by a series of marginal commentaries, which Burman compares to the glosses of contemporary biblical manuscripts that conferred certain canonicity to the Qur’an’ (ibid).

This paper deals with some semantic, stylistic and cultural problems of translation and offers modest solutions to each. Among the semantic problems discussed are homonymy; polysemy; and little knowledge of semantic change and its types including semantic generalization, specification, melioration and pejoration. The stylistic problems offered include: clarity, ellipsis, redundancy and extraposition. As regards the cultural problems discussed, they cover the problems underlying the translation of idioms, proverbs and culture-bound words.

In this article it is argued that the Qiblah passages in the Qur’an, which are commonly understood as referring to the direction of the prayer, are directly engaging with and interpreting the Shema passages in Deuteronomy and their Talmudic commentaries. By defining and applying the method of intertextual polysemy, nine points of intertextuality are identified between the various Qur’anic, Biblical, and Talmudic passages. Against this background, the article implies that narrations from traditional Qur’anic commentaries are lacking in their interpretation of these passages, since they do not employ any extra-Quranic contexts to explain their meaning. Through the method of intertextual polysemy, the alternative thesis propounded here is that the historical reference for the Qiblah passages is the Shema.

The metaphor of the camel passing through the eye of the needle is found in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25) and the Qur'an (7:40). The Gospels seem to suggest that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Qur'an, on the other hand, puts the metaphor in the context of disbelievers who are arrogant (istakbarū) toward God's signs. At the outset, it would seem that the passage's contexts in the Gospels and the Qur'an are different; however, through a closer analysis of the keywords, there are textual parallels that can be extracted from both texts and go beyond simply the use of this analogy in common, as previous scholars have thought. For instance, the rich man in the Gospels is asking about inheriting eternal life, while the Qur'an also discusses eternal life and inheritance in the same context. These and several other textual parallels suggest that the Qur'an is alluding to the same context for the metaphor as the Gospels do.

This introductory article follows one of the most widely read and used Qur’an editions in Christian Europe, Theodor Bibliander’s Machumetis Saracenorum principis, eiusque successorum vitae, ac doctrina, ipseque Alcoran, printed in Basel in 1543 and in a second edition in 1550. The article analyses some of the interpretations, appropriations, and polemical uses that this Qur’an version was exposed to during an age of confessional rivalry and political fragmentation. By doing so, the article tries to show the deep entanglement of the Qur’an in European religious and political discourses. It argues that with regard to the transformations that the Qur’an underwent in its transition from the Islamic-Arabic world to the various Latin and vernacular versions in Europe, as well as with regard to the ways that the Qur’an is read, used, and adapted in Christian and Jewish European contexts, we are confronted with a text genre sui generis–—the European Qur’an.

OPEN ACCESS: https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2021.1919192

This article investigates how Arabic texts reached multilingual audiences in North India in the eighteenth century. Drawing on a remarkable treatise on translating the Qur’an into Persian by the Delhi intellectual Shāh Walī-Allāh (d. 1176/1762), it argues that so-called “interlinear” translations functioned to preserve the sound of Arabic utterances as well as their meaning. By anchoring another language to Arabic utterances, these translations also reified symbolic hierarchies between Arabic and languages used to translate it. Walī-Allāh’s understanding of translatability was closely tied up with notions of Qur’anic structure (naẓm) and the sonic qualities of the Arabic language, but also informed by a sensitivity to linguistic difference in the multilingual society he lived in.

Early modern Europeans developed several ways of thinking about the Qur'an and the person whom they took to be its author, the Prophet Muḥammad. This article looks at two distinct traditions of reading the Qur'an as law and as literature and shows how these traditions intersected and eventually merged. Together, they made the Qur'an fruitful for ‘thinking with’ under a variety of headings. Philologists, not philosophes, advanced this long-term process, though prominent non-scholars such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) took advantage of its fruits and used the example of Muḥammad and the Qur'an in their work.

The Qur'an made another contribution to what is now called the Enlightenment. Not too foreign and yet at an intellectually productive distance from Judaism and Christianity, it was a useful point of comparison for the Hebrew Bible. The reinterpretation of Hebrew Bible and Qur'an proceeded in lock step, often through bi-directional comparison, as both works came to be perceived through new aesthetic, rhetorical, and historical lenses. As a result, the two works converged as never before in European intellectual history. What is more, the study of the Qur'an helped to generate a new comparative concept: that of lowercase, plural scriptures.

It seems that Muslims are able recite the Quran, but if we inquire if they know what they recite, not a few say “no.” Those who have memorised the Quran have accomplished a major feat. I recall attending a talk at the Islamic University of Malaysia by a revert to Islam from America. He was from Pakistan. Before his reversion, he said he “used to party, be a rapper, enjoy music, etc.” After he reverted to Islam, he went to Pakistan, where he memorized the Quran. He succeeded in nine months. After he finished memorizing the Quran, he asked his teacher: "Teacher, can you now teach me the meaning of what I memorized?" His question showed that he memorized the Quran without understanding it. The teacher gave an interesting response: "Be patient. Let me teach you a second method of recitation first." The teacher discouraged his pupil from learning the meaning of revelation. This should be of concern. It is not uncommon to meet among the Muslims even older people who say: "I know how to recite the Quran, but I do not understand it." How can someone “know how to recite” the Quran and “not understand it” at the same time? Is it possible to recite without comprehension? If a person can merely reproduce the sounds of a language without knowing what he is saying, what kind of knowledge does this person have? Mere reproduction of the sounds of a text without knowledge of the meaning is limited knowledge. In so far as the well-being of the Muslims depends on their knowledge of Islam, it is advisable to address the problem. It seems that teachers are placing emphasis on recitation and memorization at the expense of understanding the meaning of the text. This should be redressed. A methodology that does not complement the study of formal pronunciation with the study of meaning does not facilitate the reader’s access to the message of the text. A methodology that effectively separates the study of tajweed (pronunciation) from the study of meaning does little to help Muslims attain knowledge of revelation for the purpose of guidance. Islam is indeed a much-misunderstood religion. It is not well understood even by a significant number of Muslims themselves. This incomplete understanding of Islam has serious consequences. In an environment of ignorance, fanaticism will thrive. The best antidote to ignorance is knowledge, the true knowledge of the teaching of Islam, gained first of all from the knowledge of revelation.

The Qur’ān of al-Za‘farānī
Reza Abbasi Museum
Inventory number: 551
Illuminated Qur’ān with Persian translation
Calligrapher: Abu al-Fakhr b. Abi al-Faḍl al-Za‘farānī
Persian, Seljuk Period, Rabī‘ al-Thānī 546 AH. /Aguste 1151 CE.
Probably Nishapur (Great Khurasan)
Naskh Script, 326 folios, 11 lines,
MS. size: 36.5*29 cm
Page size: 35*28 cm
Written surface: 27*20.5 cm

Wie wird die Heilige Schrift des Islam außerhalb ihrer arabischsprachigen Ursprungsregion verstanden? Kann der Koran überhaupt übersetzt werden und seit wann gibt es Übersetzungen in wichtige Sprachen der islamischen Welt wie Türkisch oder Swahili? Welche Zugänge zum Koran haben arabische Literaten, christliche Theologen und westliche IslamwissenschafterInnen in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten und Jahrhunderten gefunden? Und was hat das alles mit der Region Franken zu tun? Die Beiträge des vorliegenden Bandes helfen diese Fragen zu beantworten, indem sie die Rezeption des Koran aus unterschiedlichen sprachlichen, geographischen, historischen, religiösen, literarischen und wissenschaftlichen Blickwinkeln untersuchen. Diese Rezeptionsbeispiele werfen damit Licht auf die vielfältigen globalen Zusammenhänge, in welchen die Heilige Schrift des Islam seit ihrer erstmaligen Verkündigung bis in die Gegenwart steht. Zudem wird deutlich, welch entscheidenden Anteil Wissenschaftler und Literaten aus Franken daran hatten, dass der Koran heute auch außerhalb seines arabischsprachigen und muslimischen Entstehungskontexts zu den wichtigsten Texten der Weltliteratur zählt.

A Presentation on Some Early Qur'anic Manuscripts, implications and future research.
Early Qur'anic Inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock (72 AH/ 7th AD). 'Date 72 AH / 692 CE. Script Monumental kufic.'

'Comments

The inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock can be rightly called as the "big-daddy" of all the first century Islamic inscriptions. These inscriptions are in the mosaics as shown in the figure below.


These inscriptions have copious amount of Qur'anic verses.

The Dome of the Rock was built by Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik but the later Caliph al-Ma'mun inserted his name as is evident from the inscription'.
https://www.islamic-awareness.org/history/islam/inscriptions/dotr

A manuscript datable to the second half of the fifteenth century currently held at the Beinecke Library at Yale University contains in its first 59 folios an interesting group of texts relating to Islam, including: (a) a selection of verses from Robert of Ketton's Latin translation of the Qur'ān, along with some primitive glosses; (b) the treatise Contra legem sarracenorum, by Riccoldo da Monte di Croce; and (c) an abridged and incomplete version of Peter of Toledo's Latin translation of the Risālat al-Kindī. This little-known manuscript is relatively unimportant in terms of establishing critical texts of the works it contains. However, it does provide a good example of how fifteenth-century intellectuals proceeded when they wanted to familiarize themselves with Islam. This study will compare the arrangement of the texts in the Yale codex with other manuscripts of the Corpus Islamolatinum in order to arrive at a hypothesis regarding the context in which the manuscript was composed as well as its purpose.

This article introduces and examines an ancient Qur’ān manuscript from the 5th century AH, which was owned by a maiden named Khorasan Bint Abil-Qasim b. Ali b. Mankedim in the early 6th century AH. So far, 12 different juz of this Qur’ān have been found in various libraries in Iran and abroad. The name of the copy’s owner is mentioned at the beginning of the first juz of this Qur’ān along with her lineage reaching up to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), indicating that her ancestors were from the Alawites of Tabarestan, but her paternal grandfather had emigrated to Neyshabur a century before this copy was written. This Qur’ān has been written in 30 separate parts along with a Persian translation in the old naskh style, possibly in Neyshabur (the home of Khorasan Bint Abil-Qasim). The Qur’ānic text is an eclectic one, made up of readings from Kisa’i, Ibn ‘Amir and Abu ‘Amr. The Persian translation of the verses is influenced by the style and diction of the translation of Tabari’s commentary, but it has its own special dialect, spellings and vocabulary. The full text of the Persian translation of one juz of this Qur’ān appears with a review at the end of the article. قرآن السيدة "خراسان" ابنة نيشابور، مع الترجمة الفارسية من القرن الخامس الهجري: القسم الثانی: بحث في المخطوطة 2002 بمكتبة المجلس الشوری الاسلامي في طهران. تعنى المقالة بتعريف ودراسة قرآنية لمصحف قديم خط في القرن الخامس الهجري، وعليه تملك لـ سيدة تدعى خراسان بنت ابو القاسم بن علي بن مانكديم في اوائل القرن السادس الهجري. وقد تم تثبيت 12 جزءا من هذا المصحف الشريف في مختلف مكتبات ايران والعالم. وقد تم قيد اسم مالك المخطوطة في بداية الجزء الاول من القرآن مع نسبه الشريف الذي يعود الى الامام علي بن ابي طالب، ويذكرمالك المخطوطة ان اجداده كانوا من العلويين في طبرستان، اما جده لابيه فقد هاجر قبل قرن من زمان كتابة المخطوط القرآني الى مدينة نيشابور. وقد تم تحرير المخطوط القرآني في 30 جزءا منفصلا مع الترجمة الفارسية بخط نسخ قديم ربما يعود لمنطقة نيشابور ذاتها (محل سكن السيدة خراسان بنت ابو القاسم) وقد قوبل النص القرآني المخطوط على اسماء مثل؛ ابن عامر؛ وابو عمرو. ورغم ان الترجمة الفارسية كانت على شاكلة مفردات ترجمة تفسير الطبري؛ لكنها تتمتع بخصوصيات املائية ومفردات ولهجات خاصة وفريدة في نفس الوقت. وختم الكاتب مقاله بايراد الترجمة الفارسية المحققة لمخطوطة الجزء المحفوظ في مكتبة مجلس الشوری الاسلامي بالرقم (ش 2002).

This article describes the history of the Al-Qur’an dan Terjemahnya (the Qur’an and its translation) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs since its first edition (1965) to the last edition (2019). The Al-Qur’an dan Terjemahnya have been revised for four times, namely in 1971, 1990, 2002 and 2019. The improvements were made at different times and by different teams, resulting in different characteristics in each edition. The Jamunu Edition (1965) was still seems very letterlijk (literal). Vernacular  languages, especially that of Malay, are still widely used. The Saudi Arabia edition (1990) showed a luxurious packaging, yellow thin paper and a good cover. There are no substantial revisions. The 2002 edition underwent substantial changes in its translation, language style, reduction of footnotes, omission of introduction and paragraph subtitles. The 2019 edition also underwent changes in its substance of translation, language style, format, and systematic arrangement.