Koran in translation Thread poster: Johanna Timm, PhD
|
|---|
"How beautiful must the words of Allah sound? Two German publishing houses are preparing new translations that seek to capture the spirit of the original."
More in this "Spiegel" article:
http://shortify.com/9000
Enjoy!
johanna
| | | | | Place of prostration pure? | Jun 26, 2009 |
I read that wrong the first time.
This should be interesting. I hope no one gets on the wrong end of a fatwa for leaving out the Arabic text.
| | | | | Reminds me of Bunyan ... | Jun 26, 2009 |
http://shortify.com/9000
In Karimi's language, the pious set out on "the path straight," ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim's_Progress#Places_in_The_Pilgrim.27s_Progress
House Beautiful, a palace that serves as a rest stop for pilgrims to the Celestial City. It apparently sits atop the Hill Difficulty. ...
[Edited at 2009-06-26 23:31 GMT]
| | | | | Quran's Latin Translation | Jun 26, 2009 |
Quran's text, compared to Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic is lexically, grammatically, and not the least semantically, MIRACULOUS; which was a virtual divine challenge to early Arab disbelievers known then for their eloquence and mastery of Arabic. The reason is quite obvious- Quran is revealed by Allah to His prophet Mohamed (PBUH). In other words, it's not a man-made book; that's why no translation whatsoever has ever managed to convey its message intact.
First Latin ... See more Quran's text, compared to Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic is lexically, grammatically, and not the least semantically, MIRACULOUS; which was a virtual divine challenge to early Arab disbelievers known then for their eloquence and mastery of Arabic. The reason is quite obvious- Quran is revealed by Allah to His prophet Mohamed (PBUH). In other words, it's not a man-made book; that's why no translation whatsoever has ever managed to convey its message intact.
First Latin Translation:
"Robertus Ketenensis produced the first Latin translation of the Qur'an in 1143.His version was entitled Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete ("The law of Mahomet the pseudo-prophet"). The translation was made at the behest of Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, and currently exists in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris. According to modern scholars [citation needed], the translation tended to "exaggerate harmless text to give it a nasty or licentious sting" and preferred improbable and unpleasant meanings over likely and decent ones. Ketenensis' work was republished in 1543 in three editions by Theodor Bibliander (Buchmann) at Basel along with Cluni corpus and other Christian propaganda. All editions contained a preface by Martin Luther. Many later European "translations" of the Qur'an merely translated Ketenensis' Latin version in their own language, as opposed to translating the Qur'an directly from Arabic. As a result early European translations of the Qur'an were erroneous and distorted.[1]
A second Latin translation was issued in 1698 by Ludovico Marracci,[3] a confessor to Pope Innocent XI. The introductory volume contained an essay titled "Refutation of the Qur'an". This version selectively quoted commentaries to the Qur'an to give the most negative image possible. Marraci's self-stated goal was to discredit Islam. Marraci's translation too was the source of other European translation (one in France by Savory, and one in German by Nerreter). These later translations were quite unauthentic, and one even claimed to be published in Mecca in 1165 AH."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur'an_translations ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Olaf (X)
Local time: 20:14
English to German
| There's no need for yet another German translation | Jun 27, 2009 |
IMHO, Paret's German translation is the best translation if you want to know exactly what each sura says. It doesn't rhyme and yes there are lots of footnotes and text in square brackets, but as far as content goes it's still the best translation.
Since there are also quite a number of very good non-scientific German translations to choose from I doubt that either of the two new translations will become a bestseller.
Olaf
| | | | Niraja Nanjundan (X) 
Local time: 23:44
German to English
| Reading books in translation | Jun 27, 2009 |
Bad translations are often the reason for such rejection. There is a great deal of grammatical confusion in the original. In some sentences it is not even clear what the subject and object are, which makes translating the work an extremely difficult undertaking.
One of the reasons I always like to read things in the original, as far as possible. I have not read the Koran yet, but would have to read it in translation and feel I would lose much of its essence by doing so.
For those of you interested in Islam and religion, a book I would recommend that is very readable and explains quite a lot is "The Pillars of Islam - An Introduction to the Islamic Faith" by Frances Gumley and Brian Redhead. It explains everything that is essential to understanding the religion in less than a hundred pages.
| | | | | Quran and Translation | Jun 27, 2009 |
[quote]Niraja Nanjundan wrote:
Bad translations are often the reason for such rejection. There is a great deal of grammatical confusion in the original. In some sentences it is not even clear what the subject and object are, which makes translating the work an extremely difficult undertaking.
Quran's Arabic text does not have any such grammatical nor semantical confusion.
But rather, the translators did/do not understand Arabic diacritics. Knowing such diacritics would be a way to identifying the parts of speech in an Arabic phrase.
The English sentence "The boy chased the dog" can be rendered into Arabic in many ways.
The boy chased the dog.
Chased the boy the dog.
Chased the dog the boy.
In Arabic, all of the versions above are correct and intelligible by native Arabic speakers. In order to identify the subject and the object, one has to know what diacritics are and how they can be employed correctly.
Quran was/is a virtual divine challenge to early disbelievers known then for their eloquence and mastery of Arabic.
Here is the reason (From Quran itself) why it is the Miraculous Holy Quran
17:88 Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.
11:13 Or they may say, "He forged it," Say, "Bring ye then ten suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than Allah.- If ye speak the truth!
2:24 "And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.
But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is people and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject Faith."
[Edited at 2009-06-27 18:42 GMT]
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Koran in translation | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
