Rhetorical Loss in Translating Qur'anic Similes into English: A Comparative Stylistic Analytical Study

Abstract

The present research paper aims to examine through comparative stylistic analysis some rhetorical loss in translating Qur'anic similes into English that is in the work of Mohammed. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Mohammed. M Pickthall and Mohammed Khan and Mohammed Taj Al-Din Al-Hilali. Translating the Qur'anic similes into English creates a major area of difficulty and poses a momentous challenge for translators and interpreters of the Holy Quran for various reasons such as stylistic and cultural gaps and lack of equivalent. Also, the study intends to identify the translation procedures used by the three translators in rendering the Qur'anic similes into English. The findings indicated that translating the Qur'anic similes into English is an arduous and difficult task, and their translation inaccurately leads to rhetorical loss. Finally, the study indicated that the three translators are not fully cognizant of the Quranic similes and their meanings, leading them to fall into the pitfall of inaccuracy and imprecision.