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| Translation
Notes: Page 1 - About This Translation |
بِـسْـمِ
اللهِ
الرَّحـْمـنِ
الرَّحِـيـمِ
In the Name of Allah, The All Merciful, The Most Merciful
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looking for translators. If
you wish to help, it will be greatly appreciated by many people and
truly rewarded only by Allah. If you would like to e-mail us to express your
interest in helping out, to correct a mistake, or to simply
improve something that should be done better (feel free to be as
picky as you like... it is very appreciated), click
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About This Translation
The first question many people ask is, "Why do another English
translation of the Quran when there are so many out there already?"
Our answer is that, while there are many out there, none we have
found focuses solely on literal translation. Rather, their focus is
mainly on translation that incorporates the explanation and interpretation of what
each verse means. Some translators have based this interpretation on
pre-existing Tafseer (interpretation) books, and others are based on what the
translator himself has understood the meaning to be. And while it is not humanly
possible to completely eliminate the subjective element of
understanding, especially with something as profound as the Quran, it is our
goal to leave as much of the ambiguity and specificity of the wording intact.
Some wording in the Quran is in fact quite ambiguous, sometimes to the
point that the great scholars who wrote the interpretation books are uncertain
about something as simple as who the word "he" refers to in a given verse. For
example in Surat Al-Israa' (Chapter 17) verse 33: "And
kill not the soul that Allah sanctified, except with the right. And
whoever is killed, oppressed, then We have made for his trustee authority so he
exceeds not in the killing; assuredly he is ever made victorious."
In this verse it is equally possible, grammatically and
contextually, that "he" refers
to the victim or his trustee, and is so noted by scholars in many Tafseer
books. By translating only the actual
wording, the ambiguity in this verse is naturally preserved. To see how
this verse changes when incorporating interpretation into the translation of this
verse click
here.
Note how all fourteen
translations cited have worded the translation in a way that puts emphasis on either
the one who is killed or his trustee, eliminating the ambiguity
that is present in the original Arabic. The choice of words like helped,
supported and assisted makes the meaning point to
the victim's trustee (or heir, defender, or next-of-kin
in some translations) and some translations explicitly incorporate it.
Mohammed Asad specifies the other meaning, pointing out that "he"
refers to the victim himself.
It is worth noting that most interpretation of
the Qur'an (over 90%) is not based on specific interpretation by the Prophet Muhammad,
Sallalahu-Aleihi-waSallam. Rather, these explanations are referred to
various companions and scholars from the Prophet's days to the present time. It is
logical that the Prophet did not give a full explanation of the Qur'an since many of the ayat (verses)
have
a multitude of meanings
and dimensions that transcend time and place. Any extensive explanation of
the Quran by the Prophet would have caused those ayat, and the book as a whole,
to lose its profoundness and it would then have one, and
only one, meaning.
While it is impossible to capture the full beauty and profoundness of the
Quran in any language other than the original Arabic as revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad (Sallalahu-Aleihi-waSallam), it is possible for the English reader to
sample a flavor of it. We believe, as many others do, that to experience
the real joy of reading the Quran it is necessary to learn Arabic.
However, for those who are still "waiting" to learn, a linguistically
accurate translation is the next best thing.
We are committed to keeping this translation as close to the Arabic as possible by
simply choosing the English
word that best communicates as many meanings of the Arabic word as
possible without allowing Quranic interpretation to color our
choice of words. In order to preserve some of the
profoundness and pictorial nature of the Quran in its original Arabic, it is imperative for each word in
the translation to correspond as closely as possible to the full meaning of the
original Arabic word. In a way, direct translation as opposed to interpretive translation is
like a photograph of a beautiful tree versus a painting of that same tree.
While a photograph loses the sensual and three dimensional quality that makes
the original what it is, it preserves more of the actual features than a
painting rendered through the "eyes" and interpretation of any
artist.
We are
aware that finding the right word is easier said than
done. A case in point is the "edits" page that
we have for each surah. At the time of the original
publishing (when the edits page was still empty), we thought
that we had found the best English equivalent. Obviously,
through the Grace of Allah, we discovered in many instances that
there were better words available to us. It is our belief
that we should be able to explain the use of any given word, or
we should change it. We invite and appreciate all comments
and criticisms regarding this translation as it only causes us
to do better.
In one
final note, it is worth mentioning that so strongly do we
believe in the concept of literal translation that in many
instances we have chosen to override the normal English sentence
structure in an attempt to preserve the graphical and direct
nature of the Quranic Arabic. While at times this may
result in the reader having to take a second look at the verse
to grasp its meaning, in our estimation, it more often than not
imparts a taste that would not be possible otherwise.
Translation
Notes: Page 2 - Translation Method
Translation
Notes: Page 3 - Specific Examples
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page last modified on: September 20, 2005
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