Page 58 - Tafsir of surat at tawba repentance

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literally translated because Arabic words often have more than one literal
meaning, not to mention their figurative meanings. And, many Arabic
constructions contain subtle shades of meanings which cannot be expressed in
another language. No translation can be called or considered to be God’s word.
God’s word is the Arabic Qur’aan, as He Himself said,

( $wŠÎ/ttã $ºRºuäöè% çm»oYø9t“Rr& !$¯RÎ) )

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“Verily, I revealed it as an Arabic Qur’aan.”

Attempts to catch the charm of the Qur’aan in loose or free translations are also
presumptuous, misleading, and doomed to failure. “The inimitable symphony, the
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very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy” exists only in the Arabic.
Any degree of success will only dupe readers into thinking that they are
experiencing the Qur’aan, whereas in reality, they are experiencing the feelings of
the translator and his literary skills. Even claims to translations of the Qur’aan’s
meanings are false because the author of such translations chooses meanings
which he feels are appropriate in the case of Arabic words which have more than
one meaning and words which have no non-Arabic equivalent. He also chooses
between literal and figurative meanings and translates the one which he considers
appropriate. All translations are in fact tafseers, some more accurate than others.
Most translations list in their forewords the names of the classical tafseers and
lexicons on which they relied. This may seem to be a very fine point, but if it
were put in another way perhaps the difference would be more obvious. The
mufassir speaks in an explanatory way as if to say: “This is what I understand
from the verse.” The translator speaks as if he has completely understood the
verse’s meaning and translated it as if to say: “This is what the verse means.” The
difference between the two approaches is quite vast. Hence, translators should
emphasize in their prefaces and titles the fact that this is their personal
understanding of the Qur’aan. Perhaps the best approach for a translator would be
to simply translate the basic text of the classical tafseers using footnotes to
explain other possible meanings and the context of the passages where necessary.
This is not to say that existing “translations” are of no value whatsoever and that
those who do not understand the Arabic should stop reading them. Existing

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Soorah Yoosuf (12):2.
26
Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, p. vii.

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