ISLAM – 205
Translations From Other Translations
Moslem expansion eastward moved Persian scholars to translate the Holy Qor-aan into Farsi for a faster and wider spread of Islam in their vast empires in eighth and ninth centuries A.D.
Moslem conquest of Spain led local leaders to get translation in the Spanish to learn what had turned the illiterate Arabs into a formidable force that conquered Spain to rule it for centuries.
Moslem rise in the Middle East resulted translation in Latin for European kings to see how the brute Bedouins evolved into a phenomenon that was trampling over their mighty kingdoms.
Moslem domination over the eastern Europe caused translations into French and German when the Ottoman Empire secured for itself a big name by routing the Crusades and Templers.
Moslem law being followed by the millions produced English translations when India and the Far East became ruled by the British Empire on-which-sun-never-set by the 17th century AD.
Many authors found it easier to translate from earlier works in European languages that wrote from the left to right rather than learning a new language that even wrote from the right to left.
The eighteen-century industrial revolution and widespread use of the press created a mushroom of translations which today are estimated to be several hundred and making money selling them.
Moslems read and practiced the Holy Qor-aan — and Islam spread. Then they started reading just the translations by self-serving special agendas. The resulting nose-dive fell us where we are.
Many copy-cats of earlier works knowing little Arabic nevertheless embarked upon translating the Holy Qor-aan. See our commentary Translations with Author’s Whims
Even if a translation with Different Ideas, Different words or No Human Assist is a unique way of expression by an author, a bona fide good faith of Additions or Subtractions is hardly sub judice.
Translations from translations are known to fail in conveying the original intent but they become really poor when done by authors who were unfamiliar with the Arabic grammar and violated it.
Rules of Arabic grammar form a humongous number of root-based words. All roots carry their meanings into each derivate word. Every change and modification that forms a derivate word also weaves into it a unique nuance. This one rule of grammar makes the Arabic so expansive in vocabulary, rich in meanings and rather difficult to translate. Attempted translations of the Holy Qor-aan with little knowledge of Arabic grammar is to say the least a gross misconduct.
See the root fa-aa-la. Its past tense has fourteen (14) words, i.e., fa-ala, fa-alaa, fa-aloo, fa-alut, fa-ala-taa, fa-ul-na, fa-ul-ta, fa-ul-to-maa, fa-ul-toom, fa-ul-tay, fa-ul-to-maa, fa-ul-toon-na, fa-ul-to, fa-ul-naa. Each word has imbedded in it some pin-pointed meanings to show if it is for the masculine gender or feminine, and if it is for 3rd person, 2nd person or 1st person. Another fourteen (14) words are for its present tense. Another fourteen (14) words are for its future tense. These forty-two (42) words are verbs that convey meanings in the active voice. Then there are more words that convey action in the passive voice. Then there are nouns of many types, and adjectives and adverbs — all from the same one root. The list goes on. This unique precision in the meanings of each word is the hall-mark of Arabic. No wonder translating it is not easy.
The translations on the market clearly show that any mistake in the tense, gender or voice made in the 1st place got only magnified by the time it was re-translated a 2nd, 3rd and later time. The massive on-line bashing of Islam is based almost entirely upon such unfortunate mistranslations.
Every commune, cult, dogma, group, mythology, philosophy, religion, society, statehood, system or tradition has some beliefs it considers essential to its presentation, promotion and propaganda, even when others construe and criticize them as matters of blind faith. A translator should convey fully and faithfully every fact in the original which leads to its convictions, every element which highlights its goals and every manifestation which portrays its pictures crystal clear although his choice of verbiage will nevertheless trump his work and let his personal perspective creep in.
This site offers a simple and straightforward translation of the Holy Qor-aan making every effort to convey exactly what its sender the Almighty God had intended to codify in His This Message.
