Arabic vs Translation - Qur'an

[iSoK]

I was browsing amazone a few minutes back for some books.
Particulary, I was looking for good translations of the Qur'an (I don't speak Arabic).
I read an English translation a while back and it brought me to tears.
But I heard the one I read (By Maulana Maududi) isn't the best one available.

I was aware that it's hard to translate the Qur'an into another language.
At amazone I came across an interesting review. It said something like this:

'In English, God in the Qur'an looks angry but in Arabic He sounds compassionate and sad and because of the rhytmic structure there is a sense of Ultimate Majesty and at the same time
a sense of personal intimacy.'

If this is true, then I'm going to start learning Arabic tommorow.

Can anyone comment on this? Is there really such a difference between a translation
and the Original?

[Younes]

Wa alaikumu as-salam

Before even I read your post, I thought the same thing as what you wrote when you paraphrased somebody - majestic. Yes, there is definately a difference between the Arabic and the English - God doesn't call it an Arabic Qur'an for no reason. The Qur'an in Arabic is majestic, profound, awe-inspiring and challenging, i.e. it challenges your intellect to ponder.

" but in Arabic He sounds compassionate and sad". God definately doesn't sound sad in the Qur'an. He sounds majestic and self-sufficient, not in need of anybody. He sounds very compassionate, full of mercy, but definately not sad in the least, as He says often, people don't harm Him, they only harm themselves. This is evident in the English translations, too. I don't know if the Arabic makes God sound more compassionate, though. I have never really thought about it. The Arabic definately makes God appear very majestic and the rest of things I mentioned before.

May God increase you in knowledge.

[sussana]

Great,, keep sharing my brothers and sister, its the main and first duty to learn about islam and let other know about it,, jazakallah,,

[saeed_bakr]

I was browsing amazone a few minutes back for some books.
Particulary, I was looking for good translations of the Qur'an (I don't speak Arabic).
I read an English translation a while back and it brought me to tears.
But I heard the one I read (By Maulana Maududi) isn't the best one available.

I was aware that it's hard to translate the Qur'an into another language.
At amazone I came across an interesting review. It said something like this:

'In English, God in the Qur'an looks angry but in Arabic He sounds compassionate and sad and because of the rhytmic structure there is a sense of Ultimate Majesty and at the same time
a sense of personal intimacy.'

If this is true, then I'm going to start learning Arabic tommorow.

Can anyone comment on this? Is there really such a difference between a translation
and the Original?

Assalam alykum,

There are a lot of English translations out there which I have not read, but my favorite for reading purposes alone is KORAN INTERPRETED by J.A. Arberry. It flows very nicely. My favorite for learning purposes is the Quran Translation and Commentary of Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

I think the translations nowadays portrays the meaning of the Quran pretty well, but it is impossible to imitate the rhythm and rhyme (or half-rhyme) of the Classical Arabic. The power of Juz amma especially gets lost in the translations.

After I began reading the Arabic, I now almost never read the English versions. Because of all the effort I have to put into the Arabic I simply don't have the time. Plus, I like the feeling of being closer to the original revelation. Where the Quran displays its full beauty, though, is in its recitation by a reciter like my personal favorite Sheik Alafasy. I usually listen to the MP3 recording and follow along in the Arabic text.

I would definitely recommend learning the classical Arabic, and I highly recommend the word-for-word translation of the Quran compiled by Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh. The Arabic script is the most readable that I have seen. It has the English word right underneath each Arabic word, and translation in the margins. The only requirement is that you must already know the alphabet and the diacritical marks. I learned the Arabic alphabet off the internet and from transliteration tables from books I've read on Islam.

I would say, "Go for it," but also caution you not to put too much expectations on how fast you progress. I would also suggest--I'm sure this may sound strange--that you do not spend too much time on grammar but to concentrate on vocabulary. That's how we learned our mother tongue, as Dr. Shaikh points out in the introduction.

Good look and enjoy!
Wassalam

P.S. The word-for-word translation is available at Amazon in 3 volumes at about 13 American dollars each, or you can download it from emuslim.com in pdf format.

[saeed_bakr]

I was browsing amazone a few minutes back for some books.
Particulary, I was looking for good translations of the Qur'an (I don't speak Arabic).
I read an English translation a while back and it brought me to tears.
But I heard the one I read (By Maulana Maududi) isn't the best one available.

I was aware that it's hard to translate the Qur'an into another language.
At amazone I came across an interesting review. It said something like this:

'In English, God in the Qur'an looks angry but in Arabic He sounds compassionate and sad and because of the rhytmic structure there is a sense of Ultimate Majesty and at the same time
a sense of personal intimacy.'

If this is true, then I'm going to start learning Arabic tommorow.

Can anyone comment on this? Is there really such a difference between a translation
and the Original?

Assalam alykum,

There are a lot of English translations out there which I have not read, but my favorite for reading purposes alone is KORAN INTERPRETED by J.A. Arberry. It flows very nicely. My favorite for learning purposes is the Quran Translation and Commentary of Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

I think the translations nowadays portrays the meaning of the Quran pretty well, but it is impossible to imitate the rhythm and rhyme (or half-rhyme) of the Classical Arabic. The power of Juz amma especially gets lost in the translations.

After I began reading the Arabic, I now almost never read the English versions. Because of all the effort I have to put into the Arabic I simply don't have the time. Plus, I like the feeling of being closer to the original revelation. Where the Quran displays its full beauty, though, is in its recitation by a reciter like my personal favorite Sheik Alafasy. I usually listen to the MP3 recording and follow along in the Arabic text.

I would definitely recommend learning the classical Arabic, and I highly recommend the word-for-word translation of the Quran compiled by Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh. The Arabic script is the most readable that I have seen. It has the English word right underneath each Arabic word, and translation in the margins. The only requirement is that you must already know the alphabet and the diacritical marks. I learned the Arabic alphabet off the internet and from transliteration tables from books I've read on Islam.

I would say, "Go for it," but also caution you not to put too much expectations on how fast you progress. I would also suggest--I'm sure this may sound strange--that you do not spend too much time on grammar but to concentrate on vocabulary. That's how we learned our mother tongue, as Dr. Shaikh points out in the introduction.

Good look and enjoy!
Wassalam

P.S. The word-for-word translation is available at Amazon in 3 volumes at about 13 American dollars each, or you can download it from emuslim.com in pdf format.

[saeed_bakr]

Assalam alaykum,

Sorry about the double posting. I was having trouble with the internet at the time.

Wassalam

[Younes]

As-salamu alaikum

The Qur'an in Arabic is a lot more captivating due to the rhymes and meters. That is probably why the Quraishi disbelievers called it magick.

Ironically, I think that a disbeliever put it the best:

al-Walid (bin al-Mughirah a Quraishi mushrik) replied: "And what can I possibly say? There is not a single man who is more knowledgable of poetry or prose than I, or even that of theJinn, and by Allah, what he says bears no resemblance to these things. By Allah, what he says has a sweetness to it, and a charm upon it; the highest part of it is fruitful and the lowest part of it is gushing forth with bounty; it dominates and cannot be dominated, and it crushes all that is under it.""

[Reported by al-Hakim in 'al-Mustadrak' (2/506-507) and at-Tabari in'Jami' al-Bayan' (29/156), and it is authentic]