زاجمةي
Chapter 3: Discussion
21. And thus We made their case
known to the people, that they might know that the Promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour.
21 In this way, We brought them to people's attention so that they might know that God's
promise [of
resurrection] is true and that there is no doubt about the Last Hour.
70 resurrection] is true,
and that there can be no doubt as to [the coming of] the Last Hour.
about the Hour of Judgment.
Strategy adopted Translation by addition, and squared notes
Paraphrasing Literal translation Squared note
According to Ibn Kathir's Tafsir, several scholars of the Salaf mentioned that the people of that time were skeptical and disbelievers about the Resurrection, and so the parable of Men of the Cave was made known to them as evidence to Allah's promise and the inevitability of resurrection.
The Qur'an underlined expression "الله دعو", in the above context, figuratively refers to 'Allah's promise of resurrection' which is only explicitly indicated by Asad and Abdel-Haleem with the only shortcoming of choosing the word 'God' instead of 'Allah'.
Therefore, all four TTs suffer from translation loss which can be overcome through successfully employing lexical expansion procedures as well as conveying the correct intended meaning and effect.
The other ST word "ةعاسلا" is culturally bound, i.e. Qur'an-specific, and figuratively refers to the Day of Judgment and even to the life after death; it also implies everything that will definitely happen in the Hereafter such as resurrection, accountability, rewarding, Jannah (Paradise) and Hellfire (Al Qurtubi, 2004). Although this Islam-specific term is intuitively understood by native Arabic speakers, its underlying shades of meaning may not be well recognized by English speakers.
Therefore, what is noticeable is that Hilali-Khan's literal denotative rendering results in translation loss, whereas Ali's communicative rendering by paraphrasing the term in question minimizes such loss. On the other hand, in my opinion, Asad's and Abdel-Haleem's rendering could be regarded as a mistranslation of the term, since it can be confusing and ambiguous to the TR who may not be well aware of the implied figurative meanings of 'the Last Hour', or the Day of Judgement.
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Therefore, resorting to lexical expansion procedures and adopting communicative translation that domesticates the culture-specific and Qur'an-specific terms is of ultimate importance to enhance comprehension to the TR.
Example 3:
Figurative Verse Asad Ali Hilali-Khan Abdel-Haleem
اَنْدَتْعَأ اَّنِإ ِمِلاَّظلِل
ا ًراَن َني
اَهُقِدا َرُس ْمِهِب َطاَحَأ َو
ْنِإ
َمِب اوُثاَغُي اوُثيِغَتْسَي ءا
وُج ُوْلا يِوْشَي ِلْهُمْلاَك َه
( 29 )
Verily, for all who sin against themselves [by rejecting Our truth]39 We have readied a fire whose billowing
folds will
encompass them from all sides12
for the
wrongdoers We have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in:
Verily, We have prepared for the Zalimun (polyt heists and wrong- doers, etc.), a Fire whose walls will be surrounding them (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah).
We have
prepared a Fire
for the
wrongdoers
that will
envelop them from all sides.
Strategy adopted Paraphrasing, squared note, and a footnote
Semantic translation
Transliteration and bracketed note
Semantic translation
According to Ibn Kathir's Tafsir, "نيملاظل , does not literally refer to unjust ل"
people, but rather figuratively refers to the wrongdoers and polytheists, who disbelieve in Allah, His Messenger and His Book.
Having known this, Asad's TT includes inadequate TL structure as adopting paraphrasing, squared note, and a footnote to render a lengthy detailed equivalent for
12 39 Thus Razi explains the expression az-zalimun (lit., "the evildoers") in the above context. 40 The expression suradiq - rendered by me as "billowing folds" - literally denotes an awning or the outer covering of a tent, and alludes here to the billowing
"walls of smoke" that will surround the sinners (Zamakhshari): a symbolism meant to stress the inescapability of their suffering in the hereafter (Razi).
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the ST word, that its rhetorical beauty is reflected precisely in its brevity. This rendering results in translation loss in economy, thus failing to convey the significance of the figurative verse in question fully, nor render the intended figurative purpose or illocutionary force (Tawfik, 2012: 81). Loss in economy, by prioritizing content over accuracy and form, results from over-translating literary forms (Baker and Saldanha, 2009).
Ali's footnote at the beginning of the verse in question points out that "there is water to quench the heat of thirst: here the only drink will be like molten brass, thick, heavy, burning, sizzling. Before it reaches the mouth of the unfortunates, drops of it will scald their faces as it is poured out." As indicated in the same previously analyzed verse, Ali's footnote inaccurately rendered the rhetorical ST word as "the unfortunates".
Hilali-Khan's rendering in TT3, however, most comprehensively translates the Qur'an synecdoche by using italicized transliteration, though must be corrected as Zalimeen, plus bracketed note to encompass all the different implications and shades of meaning of this ST word, thus minimizing translation loss and maximizing communication and comprehension.
Example 4:
Figurative Verse Asad Ali Hilali-Khan Abdel-
Haleem ى َرَتَف ُباَتِكْلا َع ِض ُو َو
اَّمِم َنيِقِفْشُم َنيِم ِرْجُمْلا ( ِهيِف 49 )
18:49 And the record [of everyone's deeds] will be laid open; and thou wilt behold the guilty filled with dread at what [they see] therein
49. And the Book