Some Defective Aspects of Lexis Translation in the Holy Quran into English

Abstract

Translating the meanings of the Holy Qur’an, particularly the lexical terms, into English are one of the most challenging tasks. The present study aims to reveal the importance of translating the lexical terms and its challenges for translators and experts in the field by offering a 6-sample example to highlight the difficulties lying with Qur’anic Texts and the challenges its translation involves. The study attempts to answer three main research questions related to (i) the specificities of the Qur’anic Text and the lexical items challenges its translation poses; (ii) the difficulties and challenges and to overcome them; and (iii) the extent to which translators developed efficient approaches. These challenges are grounded within a body of corpora from the Holy Qur’an in the form of Ayat (verses) by offering a 6-sample example, which are translated into English according to Hilali & Khan and Haleem. Under this token, we scrutinize each translation and identify the challenges faced during their process. Our technique relies on back-translation to reveal these challenges. The study adopts an eclectic approach in its methodology. The findings revealed that translating the meanings of lexical items was an added value for the translators, who realized that awareness of Arabic rhetoric and Islamic exegetical works is crucial for a faithful translation to the meanings of the Holy Qur’an.