Waqfa ma baad al-tarjamat al-Ingliziyya li-maani al-Quran al-Karim
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- King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Medina
Waqfa maʿa Baʿḍ al-Tarjamāt al-Injlīziyya li-Maʿānī al-Qurʾān al-Karīm (A Pause with Some English Translations of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an) is a critical treatise written by Dr. Wajih Hamad Abd al-Rahman . The study examines various English renderings of the Qur'an, classifying them by their ideological origins and evaluating them on doctrinal, grammatical, and semantic grounds .
Classification and Critique of Translations
The author divides English translations into three main categories based on the religious and intellectual orientation of their producers :
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Orientalist Translations: The work surveys prominent historical and modern Orientalist works, beginning with Alexander Ross's The Koran of Mahmet (the first English translation) , followed by George Sale (1734), J. M. Rodwell (1886), E. H. Palmer (1880), Richard Bell, Arthur J. Arberry, and N. J. Dawood (1956) . The author notes that many of these works attempted to present the Qur'an as human-authored or aimed exclusively at the Arabs, altering the canonical order of surahs—such as Rodwell's chronological reordering or Dawood's arrangement based on subjective notions of poetic musicality—and introducing erroneous theological interpolations . Arberry's The Koran Interpreted is regarded by the author as comparatively superior among Orientalist works for its contemporary style and avoidance of hostile polemics, despite theological missteps such as translating istawā in Surah al-Baqarah (2:29) as "lifted Himself" rather than intending or turning towards the heavens .
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Muslim Translations: The treatise reviews early Muslim efforts in English, starting with Abdul Hakim Khan (1905, Patiala) and Mirza Abul Fazl (1911, Allahabad), the latter being the first to publish the Arabic text alongside the English rendering . It highlights Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall's The Meaning of the Glorious Koran as the first translation by a native English Sunni Muslim, commending its literary quality and adherence to Sunni theological orthodoxy regarding unseen matters, miracles, angels, and jinn . In contrast, Muhammad Asad's translation is critiqued for a rationalizing tendency that allegorizes miracles, such as treating the descent of angels at Badr as a metaphor and giving unconventional interpretations to physical miracles .
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Critique of Abdullah Yusuf Ali: The author provides an extensive analysis of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's widely circulated translation . While acknowledging its popularity and literary flow, he identifies several theological shortcomings in its commentary: describing the latter surahs as short lyrical poems comparable to hymns or psalms, over-relying on esoteric and allegorical (batin) interpretations, asserting that resurrection is purely spiritual without physical bodies, allegorizing physical descriptions of Paradise and Hell, and explaining Satan and jinn as abstract forces or symbols of evil .
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Qadiani (Ahmadi) Translations: The book addresses translations produced by Ahmadis, such as those by Muhammad Ali al-Lahori, Malik Ghulam Farid, and Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan . The author condemns their doctrinal positions regarding the continuation of prophethood, their rejection of the bodily ascension of Jesus, and their allegorical treatment of miracles, angels, and the afterlife .
Linguistic, Semantic, and Grammatical Analysis
The treatise highlights the linguistic hurdles inherent in translating Qur'anic Arabic into English . In the semantic domain, the author discusses the mistranslation of specific Islamic concepts:
- Rendering rasūl as "apostle," which carries specific Christian ecclesiastical connotations rather than reflecting the status of the final prophet .
- Rendering ʿabd as "slave" instead of "servant" or "worshipper" .
- Rendering zakāt with terms like "alms-giving," "tax," or "charity" instead of retaining the term and explaining its unique legal meaning .
- Overlooking nuanced lexical meanings, such as translating al-akmah simply as "blind" rather than "born blind" .
Regarding the translation of the Divine Name (Allāh), the author discusses whether to transliterate it or use "God" . He suggests retaining the Arabic name Allāh with "God" in parentheses, accompanied by an explanatory footnote outlining the Salafi conception of Islamic monotheism to avoid misconceptions that Islam worships a regional or ethnic deity .
In its grammatical critique, the book lists errors committed by various translators stemming from non-native familiarity with Arabic syntax, including misinterpreting the lightened in (in al-mukhaffafah) as a conditional particle in Sale's work, errors in pronominal references and conjunctions in Pickthall's and Yusuf Ali's works, and the uniform mistranslation of the verse of ablution (Surah al-Ma'idah 5:6) by Orientalists who translated washing the feet as merely wiping them .
Conclusion and Scope
The work concludes by emphasizing the necessity of preserving theological accuracy and linguistic precision when conveying the Qur'an to non-Arabic speakers . It commends institutional efforts dedicated to scholarly translation and dissemination, specifically acknowledging the role of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Medina .
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