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

Abstract

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 يوم ‘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 التقديم and postposing/backingالتأخير .