Academic evaluation of translations of
Grand Qur'aan
Quite many people have translated the
text of Qur'aan for various motivations, considerations and intentions,
good as well as bad, in timeline. Most of these are available on line.
Thanks to computer and internet technology, it is now easy to see the
majority of translations on one page. This blessing of technology has
highlighted a dismal image of saddening effect. When we see many
translations on one page we find more plagiarism than original work by
the majority.
We will start this academic study in sequential order of
the Qur'aan with firstly giving the translation by George Sales and
Rodwell since both seem to have influence on later translations.
George Sale: (London,
1734) In the name of the most
merciful God.
John Medows Rodwell:
(London, 1861) In
the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Sahih International: In the name of Allah , the Entirely Merciful, the
Especially Merciful.
Pickthall: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful.
Yusuf Ali: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Shakir: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Muhammad Sarwar: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Mohsin Khan: In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most
Merciful.
Sher Ali [Qadiani] In the
name of ALLAH, the Gracious, the Merciful.
We should first determine the accuracy or otherwise of the translated
text:
1. Whether this English "sentence" is a complete sentence or is lacking
in linkages.
2. If it is not a complete sentence, what will be the meanings or
connotation of "In the name of God":
(a) In behalf of;
(b) By the authority of;
(c) With appeal to; or
(d) Just a swearing
(e) invocation: a calling upon Allah
The translated "sentence" is incomplete and suffers
ambiguity. English grammar tells: A sentence is a group of words which
starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question
mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A
sentence contains or implies a predicate and a subject. There
has to be a verb in it.
Translated text can be termed as a SENTENCE FRAGMENT. It
fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It
does not contain even one independent clause. It may locate something in
time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases,
but it's still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an
independent clause.
Hence Sale's and Rodwell's translation is patently
incorrect. Since others have just copied-plagiarized, they neither seem
to have given a thought nor seem to have revisited the Arabic text to
parse it and then translate. Unfortunate!
-
Elided Verb: The Elevated Messenger of
Allah the Exalted Pronounced:
-
"Ar'Reh'maan:
the Personal Name
of Allah the Exalted is the
recourse-resort
to activation.
-
Ar'Reh'maan
is
eternally the
Fountain of Infinite Mercy". [1:01]
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