The English Translation of Complete Taḍmīn (Implication of Meaning) in the Third Sūrah (Chapter) in the Qur’an Āl ʕimrān

This research is an extension of the ongoing project of Nouraldeen (2020) and (2021). The project aims at studying and assessing the Qur’an translation of the āyāt (verses) which embodies one type of taḍmīn , complete taḍmīn, in the whole Qur’an. Also, this project endeavours to provide a suggested improved translation, where needed, to bring in the rhetorical style of taḍmīn . The importance of this project lies in appreciating the rhetorical aspect of complete taḍmīn, for it provides the reader with rich, additional meaning in a concise way. Four Muslim-Arabic authored English translations are studied and assessed through two sources in which complete taḍmīn can be identified. Textual analysis is applied to the source text and the target text. Sometimes, the translators pay attention to the implicit preposition in the āyāt and yet overlook the explicit preposition. Every so often, however, they translate the explicit preposition without recognising that this preposition is not standardly collocated with the explicit verb. Inconsistency is detected when translating different āyāt with the same explicit verb and preposition ـــ one time the implicit preposition is rendered, another time the explicit preposition is translated. I have already identified some other linguistic aspects which are essential to analyse and discuss in order to suggest improvements to the four translations. These aspects include, but are not limited to, the translation of the noun موي ‘day’, being indefinite in the context of the Judgement Day; the translation of possession in English and Arabic; the translation of the coordinating conjunction و (literally translated as ‘and’); and the translation of preposing/fronting م(cid:5644)دقتلا and postposing/backing (cid:6293)(cid:6338)خأتلا .


Introduction 1
Ḥaḏf (ellipsis), as a rhetorical feature, is used in the Qur'an many times in different types. One sub-type of ellipsis, which is ḥaḏf almuḍāf 2 (the possessed or the annexed ellipsis) in the possessive expression or the genitive construct, is found in a thousand places in the Qur'an as Ibn Jinnī ( 'constative utterance 4 ' and ʾinšāʾ 'performative utterance 5 ' in addition to the other sub-branches; (b) bayān 6 , which explores the rhetorical aspects derived from the figures of the utterance; and (c) badīʕ 7 , which explores how the structure of a sentence, lexically or non-lexically, is innovatively embellished or beautified.
To sum up, concerning rhetorically the 'utterance', maʕānī deals with "concordance between the … [utterance] and the requirements of the situation" (Firanescu, 2006, p. 332), bayān deals with how the meaning of the 'utterance' is expressed, and badīʕ deals with how the 'utterance' is embellished.

The placement of taḍmīn within balāġah (rhetorical science) in Arabic
One of the eight sub-branches of maʕānī is termed as ʾījāz (succinctness), which is "the production of a given proposition with minimal lexical items" (Abdul-Raof, 2006, p. 188). This minimality can take the form of (a) qiṣar (brevity 8 ), which provides implicitly an extensive meaning (non-lexical) in a few words (lexical) so the ellipsis here is lexical and non-lexical, or of (b) ḥaḏf (ellipsis), which eliminates at least one word (lexical) in a way that does not result in ambiguity; however, it should be understood from the context. The ellipsis here is lexical.
On the other hand, taḍmīn is regarded as a type of ḥaḏf (ellipsis) by Ibn ʕāšūr (1984, vol. 1, p. 123) and Al-Maydānī (1998, vol. 2, p. 46). Moreover, Ibn ʕāšūr (1984, vol. 1, p. 123) distinctively describes taḍmīn, apart from other types of ḥaḏf (ellipsis), as being magnificent, unprecedented. He (pp. 120-123) alludes to this when he includes taḍmīn under a sub-section which deals with unprecedented stylistic features in the Qur'an ‫ـــ‬ and states that it is used frequently in the Qur'an. This great number of uses is one of the reasons why this project of studying the Qur'an English translation of taḍmīn might be worthwhile.

Complete taḍmīn in the Qur'an among other types of taḍmīn
Taḍmīn is a rhetorical style in which double meanings are succinctly presented by using a noun/verb followed by a preposition with which is not standardly collocated. There are five types of taḍmīn in the Qur'an (See table 1) (Nouraldeen, 2021, pp. 292-293). More types can also be explored (Nouraldeen, 2021, p. 292). This paper studies particularly one type, which is complete taḍmīn. The reason is that it includes all four elements, namely ‫ـــ‬ explicit noun/verb, implicit preposition, implicit noun/verb and explicit preposition. The two implicit elements are usually missed out when translating the Qur'an (see Analysis and Discussion in Nouraldeen, 2021, pp. 294-298). However, the other four types are not less important, and they deserve further investigation.
Complete taḍmīn merits further investigation. This study, as a part of progressing project dedicated to the translation of complete taḍmīn in the whole Qur'an, is an attempt to plug the gap in studies of this matter by observing carefully how this Qur'anic rhetorical phenomenon is rendered in English and how these translations can be improved. The extra meaning suggested by complete taḍmīn makes it fruitful to convey this implicit meaning in the ST, resulting in an explicit TT.   9 There are different types of nouns in Arabic. The ones that are used with taḍmīn so far are the verbal noun ‫المصدر‬ and the active participle ‫الفاعل‬ ‫.اسم‬ ‫المصدر‬ (maṣdar) or infinitive is defined by Rosenhouse (2006, vol. 4, p. 659) as "a fixed nominal form associated with the derived forms or patterns of the verb (ʾawzān)". ‫ا‬ ‫الفاعل‬ ‫سم‬ (ism alfāʕil) "denotes 'the agent noun'" (Carter, 2006, vol. 2, p. 429).

Taḍmīn and Explicitation
This process of transferring or 'decoding' what is implicit in the ST into the TT explicitly is known in Translation Studies as 'explicitation 10 ' or 'explication'. The term 'explicitation' was introduced by Vinay and Darbelnet (1995). They (1995, p. 342) define it as "A stylistic translation technique which consists of making explicit in the target language what remains implicit in the source language because it is apparent from either the context or the situation". In terms of using this technique in translation, they (1995, p. 235) posit that "what is explicit in one language may have to be implied in the other and vice versa, even in texts that are otherwise considered to require as literal a translation as possible". I believe ellipsis, including taḍmīn, which is used implicitly in the Qur'an, should be translated in an explicit way. The reason for this is that one of the aspects of the unique genre of the Qur'an, the ST, is the use of stylistic features rhetorically. This use of them makes Arabic readers familiar with them and does not involve any foreignness in the ST (although some Arabic readers who are not acquainted with Arabic science might find it difficult to reveal some elliptic elements in the ST; however, this does not affect the familiarity of the ST). As long as the rhetorical feature of ellipsis is removed from the ST, this indicates loss because the TT deviates from the ST, and is produced by a different writer (from the ST producer) and for a different audience with a different culture and language norms. This technique of minimizing the loss is suggested by Dickins et. al (2017, pp 48-56) and termed 'compensation'. One of the forms of 'compensation' they (2017, p. 52) suggest is "making explicit what is implicit in the ST". The result of this technique can also be thought of as a 'gain', which is "A phenomenon which occurs when there is explicitation" (Vinay and Darbelnet, 1995, p. 343). The loss of (some) rhetorical aspects in the ST and the gain of information in the TT as a result of translation are inevitable.

Issues of translating taḍmīn in the Qur'an
The issues presented in this section are based on the results of Nouraldeen (2020;. Firstly, the majority of Qur'an translations which were studied in both papers translated the explicit verb, but the implicit preposition (Nouraldeen, 2020, p. 242). Very few of them opted for translating the explicit preposition, but the implicit verb (Nouraldeen, 2020, p. 243). Although it seems that these Qur'an translations were acquainted with the fact that the prepositions used in these āyāt (verses) are not standardly collocated with these verbs and therefore translated the implicit preposition, they were, however, not mindful of the fact that the explicit prepositions were used for a rhetorical purpose and that this implicitness and explicitness reveal a double meaning which should be translated.
Nevertheless, what is curious and unexpected about translating the elements of taḍmīn is that there is a translation which did not translate any element (Nouraldeen, 2021, p. 296), a translation which translated one element only (Nouraldeen, 2021, pp. 295; 296; 298), and a translation which translated three elements ( (Nouraldeen, 2021, pp. 297-298). This unexpected result perhaps requires finding out more about the reason(s) by interviewing these translators, in case they are available to do so.
Finally, there is a translation which reveals inconsistency in translating the same explicit verb in different āyāt (verses) (Nouraldeen, 2021, pp. 294 and 296).

Research Questions
This research addresses the following questions: a) Are Qur'an translators of Islamic and Arabic origin aware of taḍmīn in the Qur'an? b) How do Qur'an translators of Islamic and Arabic origin translate taḍmīn in the Qur'an? c) How can the four Qur'an translations of complete taḍmīn be improved?

Methodology
This study applies the same methodology as Nouraldeen (2021), but on different āyāt (verses), as this is an in-progress project which seeks to study and assess the Qur'an translation of the āyāt of complete taḍmīn in the whole Qur'an. The translations that will be analysed and studied are four recent complete English Qur'an translations, written by four Muslim-Arabic authors. This set of criteria is selected for two reasons. Firstly, being recent indicates that these translations are based on the previous wealth of translations and, therefore, the authors will probably have developed and improved them. Secondly, being Muslims with an established and deep knowledge of Arabic, bearing in mind they are originally Arab, suggests a translation which carefully observes and appropriately transfers the linguistic and rhetorical aspects of the Qur'an.
As for their established and deep knowledge of Arabic, which presumes their mastery of Arabic and which will probably have a positive effect on Qur'an translation, the first three of the four translators are academics and have received their education at Al-Azhar.
Abdel Haleem (2005, p. i) "was born in Egypt, and learned the Qur'an by heart from childhood. Educated at al-Azhar, Cairo, … he has taught Arabic at Cambridge and London Universities since 1966".  Bridges (2020). The āyāt involving complete taḍmīn will be analysed, discussed and assessed.
As there is no reference in Arabic, to the best of my knowledge, that encompasses all āyāt with complete taḍmīn in the Qur'an, I had to consult different sources to pinpoint some of the places where it occurs in the Qur'an. The references used in this study are Ibn ʕāšūr (1984) and Fadel (2005). Fadel (2005) refers to and quotes from different tafāsīr (Qur'an exegeses). Sometimes, he identifies implicit nouns/verbs and prepositions which are either different from tafāsīr he quotes from or are not pointed out by them. This will be stated when analysing and discussing them, whether the implicit element is identified by one of the tafāsīr or by Fadel (2005). Ibn ʕāšūr (1984) is selected out of the other tafāsīr because Fadel (2005) is fairly comprehensive, as he quotes from Ibn ʕāšūr only once, while Ibn ʕāšūr (1984) has several places which discuss complete taḍmīn in the Qur'an. Sometimes, Ibn ʕāšūr (1984) quotes from other tafāsīr.
This study, coupled with my previous ones (Nouraldeen, 2020;, is a part of an ongoing project which I am working on to cover all āyāt with complete taḍmīn in the Qur'an. The āyāt chosen for this project will be studied as they are arranged in the Qur'an starting from the first surah (chapter) to the final one, unlike in Fadel (2005) where they are not unfortunately arranged in the same order as they appear in the Qur'an. I believe following the arrangement of the Qur'an when studying taḍmīn will facilitate analysis and discussion and make it easier for the reader to follow.
The sūrah (chapter) that will be analysed and discussed in this study is the third one āl ʕimrān (ʕimrān's family). The four English translations of the Qur'an will be analysed and discussed using the four-element model that was suggested by Nourladeen (2020, p. 240) and modified by Nouraldeen (2021, p. 293). (See table (1) above). A suggested improved translation, where needed, will be provided in each āyah (verse).

Analysis and Discussion
In each āyah (verse), the four English translations will be presented, followed by a table which arranges the four elements of taḍmīn and finds which element is present or absent in these translations. After that, the ST and the TTs will be discussed and analysed and an improvement to the translations wherever needed will be suggested. In the conclusion section, the three research questions will be answered based on the outcomes of the analysis and analysis. Moreover, when the verb 'gather' is followed by the preposition 'for', it indicates gathering for an event. An example from Oxford dictionary is "They are all gathering for a major conference". However, what follows the preposition ِ ‫ﻟـ‬ in the āyah (verse) is a specific time 'the Day of Judgement', which will witness an event. This event is implicit in the āyah, but it can be inferred from the context; it is 'reckoning'. This is also evident at the end of the āyah "when every soul will be paid in full for what it has done" (Abdel Haleem, 2005, p. 36; Khattab, 2016, p. 43).
On the other hand, Khattab translates the implicit preposition 'on', so it collocates standardly with 'day' in English and the language sounds natural. However, the explicit preposition ِ ‫,ل‬ which is rhetorically used here to indicate taḍmīn, is not paid attention to. Therefore, when translating, the explicit preposition 'for' should be followed by the event, which is the implicit noun 'reckoning', and the word "Day' should be preceded by the implicit preposition 'on'. An improved translation suggested to the four translations, which pays attention to the rhetorical style taḍmīn, reads as follows: 'when we gather them for reckoning on a day (the Day of Judgement)'. As the noun ‫يوم‬ 'day' is indefinite in the āyah, it is known from the context that the day is a proper noun, meaning 'the Judgement Day'. However, it is indefinite is for a rhetorical purpose.
There are different functions for the use of indefinite nouns in the Qur'an. The feature in this āyah is to show the extreme importance of that Day and to produce the horror in human beings (as if this Day is not known to them and the incidents cannot be expected or predicted), so they prepare themselves for that Day by following the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad ‫ـــ‬ Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and all Prophets ‫.ـــ‬ Therefore, the translation I suggest above seems to combine the Qur'anic style (a day) with identifying that day (the Day of Judgement) for target readers who may not be familiar with such a style and may not identify which day is meant.
It can be noticed that the translations are different in terms of translating the explicit noun ‫يوم‬ 'day', which follows the explicit preposition ِ ‫.ﻟـ‬ Abdel Haleem and Hammad uses the indefinite article 'a', followed by a capitalized proper noun 'Day'. This is somewhat odd, because it is a general feature in English that proper nouns should be capitalized and does not take indefinite articles. They may have translated it as such to combine the Qur'anic style by using the indefinite article with identifying that day by capitalizing it.
Khattab, however, identifies this day 'the Day' without paying attention to the rhetorical style, which involves using 'the Day' in an indefinite form 'a day'. Bridges translate it as 'a day', emphasising the Qur'anic style. Bridges (2020, p. ix) state clearly that the focus of their translation is to stay as close as possible to "how God spoke [the style] and not just what He meant … They (2020, p. ix) believe that it is the right of those unfamiliar with Arabic to get as close an idea as possible about how their Lord spoke". They (2020, p. ix) give an example when they translate the Qur'anic verbs in past tense to refer to incidents in the hereafter. They (2020, p. ix) have not "changed such verbs to future tense" as some other Qur'an translations did, "probably to avoid sounding awkward to the reader as he/she reads about future events in the Hereafter in past tense." Although translating the Qur'anic style is highly recommended and brings the target readers very close to the Qur'anic style, the translation here does not consider the likely unfamiliarity of the target readers with such a style. This unfamiliarity may not help the target readers to understand what Allah (God) means. For this reason, the translation I suggest above translates the Qur'anic style (how Allah (God) spoke) and identifies what He meant at the same time.
Comparing the translations of this āyah to the translations of a similar āyah in the same sūrah (chapter) with the same words used in this āyah, it is somewhat surprising that all four translations, except Bridges, maintain inconsistency, as can be observed in the  (Longman, 2021). However, the dictionary is careful with regard to its usage, and suggests an unbiased word, which is 'humankind', to avoid the slight connotation in 'mankind' of maleness. 'Mankind' is usually used "in the sense of social or conscious beings" (Cambridge University Press, 2021). 'Humanity' also means "people in general" (Longman, 2021), but it is "used especially when you are talking about caring for people and respecting their rights and their desire for happiness". 'People' "refer[s] to men, women, …" (Longman, 2021). However, Collins (2021) states that it is "most commonly used to refer to … a particular group of men and women". Therefore, it is likely that Abdel Haleem and Hammad added 'all' before 'people' to indicate that it is not a particular group only. This justification may be applied to Khattab when he added 'all' before 'humanity.
I would then translate the word ‫الناس‬ as 'all people', because 'humanity' and 'mankind' or 'humankind' have limitations, as seen. However, the word ‫الناس‬ here does not refer only to 'people'; It refers to people and Jinn 14 . As this is the Day of Judgement where those who were addressed to worship Allah and follow the teachings of the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad ‫ـــ‬ Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and all Prophets ‫ـــ‬ will be gathered, Allah (God) addresses people and Jinn in the context of worshipping in Q51:56 "I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me" (Khattab, 2016, p. 448). Moreover, Allah (God) states that ‫الناس‬ includes people and jinn. This is evident in Q114:5-6 "5. who whispers into the hearts of humankind ‫ــــــ‬ 6. from among jinn and humankind". As a result, I suggest 'jinn and people' when translating the word ‫.الناس‬ َ ‫ﻓ‬ (literally translated as 'distinguish' or 'accord privilege'); otherwise, the verb 'chose' would be used with the preposition ْ ‫ﻦ‬ ِ ‫ﻣ‬ (literally translated as 'from').
A suggested translation which may improve these translations and feature taḍmīn is 'Indeed, Allah (God) singled out Adam, Noah, Abraham's [extended 15 ] family, and 'Imran's family from the creation [of their time] and accorded privilege to them'. The explicit verb ‫اصط‬ is from the word ‫صفو‬ which means 'pureness'. So, they are pure and are the best, being selected carefully. 'Single out' can denote this; it is defined by Longman (2021) as "to choose one person or thing from among a group because they are better… more important etc than the others".
Expressing possession in English is done differently than in Arabic. In Arabic, the possession phrase consists of two elements: the possessed ‫المﻀاف‬ and the possessor ‫ه‬ ‫إل‬ ‫.المﻀاف‬ In the āyah (verse), the possessed is ‫آل‬ (the family) and the possessor are ‫م‬ ‫اه‬ ‫إبر‬ and ‫ان‬ ‫عمر‬ (Abraham and 'Imran). However, English expresses the possession in two ways: the of possessive and the -'s possessive (Collins, 2021). When the possessed refers to animate things (such as people and animals), the -'s possessive is normally used, but when the possessed refers to inanimate things (such as objects), the of possessive is normally used. Bridges (and the translation I suggest above) translate the possession accordingly. 14 The jinn are invisible creatures who are mentioned in the Qur'an as being addressed to worship Allah (God) and follow the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad ‫ـــ‬ Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and all Prophets ‫.ـــ‬ 15 'It is meant here 'large family'; however, it is not suggested because it sounds slightly odd in English in this context. 'Extended family' (though it has slight technical associations, in anthropology in particular) might be better.
With regard to the use of the coordinating conjunction ‫و‬ (literally translated as 'and') the four translators follow two approaches. Hammad and Bridges are literal in translating ‫و‬ as 'and' three times, as it appears in the āyah. Bridges (2020, p. ix) have made it clear that they will convey how Allah spoke [the style of the Qur'an, regardless of being odd in the target language]. Personally, while I am in full support of rendering the style of the Qur'an to English as fully as possible, this must be on condition that the style is communicated appropriately in a way that sounds natural in English.
Coordinating conjunction usage in Arabic is different to that in English. While the former typically repeats ‫و‬ after each connected word in a list except the last, the latter uses a comma (in writing) after for all elements in a list except the last, which is introduced by a comma. When 'and' is repeated before every list element in English, this does not sound natural. It seems clear that Abdel Haleem (1984, vol. 3, p. 286) states that the explicit verb ْ ‫ﻦ‬ َ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫أ‬ َ ‫ت‬ is not standardly collocated with the explicit preposition ِ ‫ب‬ 'with'; it is collocated with the implicit preposition ‫ع‬ 'with', as used in Q12:64 ‫ه‬ ‫عل‬ ‫م‬ ‫آﻣن‬ "trust you with him" (Khattab, 2016, p. 194).
The implicit verb ْ ‫ل‬ ِ ‫اﻣ‬ َ ‫ع‬ ُ in this context of money means 'exchange, particularly (a) 'to do business', 'to trade in', or 'to deal in' and (b) to lend. The second meaning, 'to lend', is in agreement with the context of the following phrase in the āyah (verse) ‫ك‬ ‫إل‬ ‫"يؤده‬will readily return it" (Khattab, 2016, p. 47). So, whether you entrust him with a heap of gold or lend it to him, you will be repaid it… My proposed improvement to the four translations, which features taḍmīn, reads: 'you entrust him with a heap of gold [or money] or lend it to him'.
The word ‫قنطار‬ (literally translated as 'a heap of gold') denotes a large amount of money (Ibn ʕāšūr, 1984, vol. 3, p. 286). Unlike the three translators who translate ‫قنطار‬ as 'a heap of gold', Khattab translates it as 'a stack', which according to Longman (2021), means "a neat pile of things". This is opposite to 'heap', which means "a large untidy pile of things" (Longman, 2021 For the verb َ ‫ت‬ ْ ‫ﻣ‬ ُ ‫د‬ from the verb َ ‫ام‬ َ ‫د‬ (literally translated as 'remain'), Abdel Haleem and Hammad translate it as a verb, following the syntax of the source text. However, Khattab and Bridges translate the verb as an adverb 'constantly'. I believe following the style of the Qur'an when translating, so long as the target text sounds natural, is to be recommended. Moreover, 'keep' and 'remain' are followed by a noun in English, which agrees with the type of ‫ما‬ ِ ‫اﺋ‬ َ ‫ق‬ 'standing' as an active participle, unlike Khattab and Bridges who translate the active participle as a verb. Ibn ʕāšūr (1984, vol. 3, p. 287) points out that the explicit active participle noun ‫ما‬ ِ ‫اﺋ‬ َ ‫ق‬ is standardly collocated with the explicit preposition ‫ع‬ 'over' to indicate insistence. I then have concluded from his statement that there is taḍmīn in this part of the āyah. I suggest the following translation to express taḍmīn: 'you remain standing over him and insisting on him'.
As I believe that translating the style of the Qur'an is advised as long as the translation sounds natural, this part of the āyah fronts/preposes the prepositional phrase ‫ه‬ ‫عل‬ 'on him' and backs/postposes the explicit active participle ‫ما‬ ِ ‫اﺋ‬ َ ‫ق‬ 'standing' for a rhetorical purpose which is to emphasise the object 'him'. In English, this style sounds unnatural, if translated. However, this purpose of emphasis can be expressed by another way, apart from fronting/preposing ‫م‬ ‫التقد‬ and backing/postposing ‫,التأخ‬ which is "to write an entire word or phrase in capital letters in order to emphasize it" (University of Essex, 2021). However, "it is preferable to express emphasis … with italics" (University of Essex, 2021). I expressed this emphasis in the suggested translation with italics.
The object ‫ـه‬ 'him' in the prepositional phrase ‫ه‬ ‫عل‬ 'on him' is translated by all four translators, except Khattab, as 'him/them'. Khattab, on the other hand, translates it as 'it', as if it refers to 'a single dinar/coin'. Khattab's translation of the complete sentence reads as follows: "Yet there are others who, if entrusted with a single coin, will not repay it unless you constantly demand it". The first 'it' refers to 'a single coin' in the āyah; however, the second pronoun in the āyah refers to 'him/them' (i.e. the one who gets paid an amount of money to save it and have it secure until they are asked to repay, or who gets a loan, then they are asked to repay). So, in Khattab's translation, the second pronoun should be 'him/them' which refers to 'others', i.e. 'who constantly demand it from them'. large amount of money'); the translation of fronting/preposing ‫م‬ ‫التقد‬ and backing/postposing ‫;التأخ‬ and the translation of the object of the prepositional phrase.
I believe that just as taḍmīn should be taken into the translator's consideration due to the rich, additional meaning it provides, the style of the Qur'an (how Allah (God) spoke) should also be translated as long as the translation appears natural and appropriate in the target language.