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THE UNTRANSLATABILITY of the HOLY QUR'an Abstract حوليات آداب عني مشس اجمللد 46 ) عدد يوليو – سبتمرب 2018( http://www.aafu.journals.ekb.eg جامعة عني مشس )دورية علمية حملمة( كلية اﻵداب THE UNTRANSLATABILITY OF THE HOLY QUR'AN AnasKh. Ibraheem * Al-Ma'moon University College / Translation Department / Iraq – Baghdad – Al-Mansour Abstract: This study aims at exploring the dilemma of the untranslatability of the Holy Qur'an. The Holy Quran must be preserved as it is, the way it descended upon the Prophet Mohammed, in the matter of terms, verses and chapters (suras). Most if not all of its translations or interpretations may change by the nature of time, for it all orbit around the interpretational possibilities. Understanding the real encoded message of the exact term or verse may vary from one interpreter / translator to another according to his intellectual, rational and scientific ability. Keeping the text as it is (in Arabic) would allow a wider range for the readers to extract the real concepts, secrets and rationale bases of the holy text; this will vary according to people's mentality.Nonetheless, Allah (God) forbids replacing any single word by an Arabic equivalent, so who it could be replaced by an equivalent from another language. Any translation will result in losing its miraculous composition, and if it happened, it will not be called Qur'an. For the only way to give the text this holy name is by having its Arabic composition and terminology. The only authorized way to translate the Holy Qur'an is to translate its message, meanings, principles, and concepts, and for this specific reason it will not be called a translation but rather it will be an interpretation. In our modern and confusing time, there is a growing need for an interpretation in order to clarify the core and concepts of Islam in general and the Qur'an in particular for the rest of the world. Keywords:Untranslatability, Translation, Interpretation. © مجيع حقوق الطبع والنشر حمفوظة حلولية كلية اﻵداب - جامعة عني مشس 7102. - 715 - حوليات آداب عني مشس - اجمللد 46 ) عدد يوليو – سبتمرب 2018( 0. Introduction This study shows that Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the Divine literal Word of Allah (God) that was revealed in Arabic to His Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) who was not sent to Arabs only but to all Mankind; i.e. the message of Islam is a universal message. Therefore, it is the duty of Muslims to convey this message and the meaning of it to all humanity. The problem of translating the Qur'an into foreign languages becomes an exigency when the Arabs were exposed to the non-Arabs; and when the non-Arab Muslims are in need to understand the meanings of what they are saying in their prayer. The core of the problem is that the language of the Holy Quran, the Arabic language, is the highest rank of Arabic rhetoric and beauty which Allah challenged all the Arab to produce the like of the shortest sura(verse) of it and they failed. Since the Qur'an is to the faithful Muslim the very Word of Allah, a miracle of speech, it is untranslatable; it would be a blasphemy to attempt to imitate. Thus, every believer has the responsibility to learn and understand its true meaning in Arabic. Yet, he/she may read the message and principles of the Holy Qur'an in his/her language. 1. Holy Untranslatable Every translation of the Holy Qur'an proclaims its own inadequacy, for it must necessarily consist of verses which are clear in their emphasis that the Word of Allah was revealed to his Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the Arabic tongue. "Verily, we have made it an Arabic Qur'an, haply ye will comprehend it"(Sura 18:3). Every translation in any language, classical or modern, foreign or Islamic enshrines the same or similar pronouncement (Al-Zamakhshari: 1856). Their true importance is that any translation is merely an approximation of the meaning and so not the Qur'an itself (Tibawi: 1962). No Muslim since the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him)until the present day has vacillated to alter one word for another in the order it is set down in the Holy Qur'an, despite the fact that the two words may be precisely synonymous. Thus, if it is revealed in Arabic and Muslims are forbidden to alter any word in it even with an Arabic equivalent,so any change in the holy text from the Arabic into any foreign language is much more strictly forbidden. The Holy Qur'an is distinguished from all other heavenly books by its sacred arrangement in Arabic. As to the Torah and the Bible, each one of them is a sacred book but through a scared meaning quite apart from the sacred words which we find in the Holy Qur'an. So to say, if there is a translation of the Qur'an, then translators will have to correct and revise whenever they recognise a need for correction and revision, i.e. the Bible and the Torah(Shakir: 1926).For that reason, it is not allowed to make a translation of the Holy Qur'an just as it is not allowed to proceed to change - 515 - THE UNTRANSLATABILITY OF AnasKh. Ibraheem THE HOLY QUR'AN any single one of its sacred words and substitute another Arabic one for it or to transfer any word or verse from its original place to any other place (Ibid). The meaning of the Holy Qur'an, as Muslim philosophers believe, is not bound to the literal aspect only. The Qur'an has also a hidden aspect. Thus, the inner meaning does not,necessarily, eliminate or undermine its familiar meaning. In contrast, Qur'anic literalism believes that the Holy Qur'an should be taken at its apparent meaning, rather than employing any kind of interpretation (Tibawi: 1962). The belief that the Holy Qur'an is a literal transcript of the Word of Allah revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Arabic squared with the other belief that Muhammad's mission was to all mankind and not to the Arabs only. This problem becomes very demanding, after the Prophet's death when the Muslim conquerors approached non-Arabs, especially Persians. Salman al-Farisi was asked to write the Fatihah in Persian and the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not disapprove it. Now, is it permissible to translate the Qur'an into another language? Let us consider this event, 'Umar bin al-Khattab once challenged Hisham bin Hakim's recital of Suratu Al-Furqan and the two appealed to the Prophet for a decision. Then Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "This Qur'an has been revealed in seven dialects (ah'ruf); recite it according to what is easier for you"(At-Tabari: 1323; Al-Bukhari: 1296). The differences were in the way you read ('tilawah) and not in the meaning (ma'ani), as At-Tabari stated (ibid). When the Prophet (peace be upon him) wrote to the Byzantine Emperor, he wrote it in Arabic and it was containing a verse from the Qur'an. Ibn 'Abbas relates from Abu Sufyan bin Harb that Heraclius called for an interpreter who read the Prophet's letter to him in Greek (Al-Bukhari, 8, 200; cf: IbnHajar, 13, 442). The Holy Qur'an proclaims piercingly that it was revealed in Arabic and equally strongly proclaims that it was not Allah intention to reveal it in any but the Arabic tongue (Tibawi: 1962). There are twelve references in ten Qur‟anicsuras clearly confirm that: 1. "Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an that you might understand" (12:2). 2. "Verily, if we had made it a foreign Qur'an, they would have said 'Why its signs are not clear? What a foreign (book) and an Arabian (prophet)?" (12: 44). 3. "And We certainly know that they say, "It is only a human being who teaches the Prophet." The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this Qur'an is [in] a clear Arabic language" (16:103). 4. "Verily, we have made it an Arabic Qur'an, haply ye will comprehend it"(18:3). 5. "In a clear Arabic language" (26:195). - 515 - حوليات آداب عني مشس - اجمللد 46 ) عدد يوليو – سبتمرب 2018( 6. "And thus We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an and have diversified therein the warnings that perhaps they will avoid [sin] or it would cause them remembrance" (20:113). 7. "It is an Arabic Qur'an free from all crookedness, in order that they will be cautious." (39: 28). 8. "A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Qur'an for a people who know" (41:3). 9. "And if We had sent this as a Qur‟an in a foreign language (other than Arabic), they would have said: Why are not its ayat explained (in our language)? What! (A book) not in Arabic and (the Messenger) an Arab" (41:44). 10. "And thus We have revealed to you an Arabic Qur'an that you may warn the Mother of Cities [Makkah] and those around it and warn of the Day of Assembly, about which there is no doubt. A party will be in Paradise and a party in the Blaze" (42:7). 11. "We have made it a Qur‟an in Arabic that ye may be able to understand" (43:3). 12. "And before it was the scripture of Moses to lead and as a mercy. And this is a confirming Book in an Arabic tongue to warn those who have wronged and as good tidings to the doers of good" (46:12).
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