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Quran translations
The Qur'an has been translated from the Arabic into most major African, Asian, and European languages.
Translations of the Quran often contain distortions reflecting a translator's education, region, sect, and religious ideology.
Translation of the Qur'an from Arabic into other languages has always been a difficult issue in Islamic theology. Because Muslims revere the Qur'an as miraculous and inimitable (i'jaz al-Qur'an), they argue that the Qur'anic text should not be isolated from its true language or written form, at least not without keeping the Arabic text with it.
According to Islamic theology, the Qur'an is a revelation very specifically in Arabic, and so it should only be recited in Quranic Arabic. Translations into other languages are the work of humans and so, according to Muslims, no longer possess the uniquely sacred character of the Arabic original. Since these translations subtly change the meaning, they are often called "interpretations" or "translation[s] of the meanings" (with "meanings" being ambiguous between the meanings of the various passages and the multiple possible meanings with which each word taken in isolation can be associated, and with the latter connotation amounting to an acknowledgement that the so-called translation is but one possible interpretation and is not claimed to be the full equivalent of the original). For instance, Pickthall called his translation The Meaning of the Glorious Koran rather than simply The Koran.
The task of translation of the Qur'an is not an easy one; some native Arab speakers will argue that some Qur'anic passages are difficult to understand even in the original Arabic script. A part of this is the innate difficulty of any translation; in Arabic, as in other languages, a single word can have a variety of meanings. There is always an element of human judgement involved in understanding and translating a text. This factor is made more complex by the fact that the usage of words has changed a great deal between classical and modern Arabic. As a result, even Qur'anic verses which seem perfectly clear to native Arab speakers accustomed to modern vocabulary and usage may have an original meaning that is not obvious.
The original meaning of a Qur'anic passage will also be dependent on the historical circumstances of the prophet Muhammad's life and the early community in which it originated. Investigating that context usually requires a detailed knowledge of hadith and sirah, which are themselves vast and complex texts. This introduces an additional element of uncertainty that cannot be eliminated by any linguistic rules of translation.
The first translation of the Qur'an was performed by Salman the Persian, who translated Surah al-Fatiha into the Middle Persian in the early seventh century. According to Islamic tradition contained in the hadith, the Negus of the Ethiopian Empire and the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius received letters from Muhammad containing verses from the Qur'an.[citation needed] However, during Muhammad's lifetime, no passage from the Qur'an was ever translated into these languages nor any other.
The second known translation was into Greek and was used by Nicetas Byzantius, a scholar from Constantinople, in his "Refutation of Qur'an" written between 855 and 870. However, we know nothing about who and for what purpose had made this translation. It is said that it was a complete translation.
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Quran translations
The Qur'an has been translated from the Arabic into most major African, Asian, and European languages.
Translations of the Quran often contain distortions reflecting a translator's education, region, sect, and religious ideology.
Translation of the Qur'an from Arabic into other languages has always been a difficult issue in Islamic theology. Because Muslims revere the Qur'an as miraculous and inimitable (i'jaz al-Qur'an), they argue that the Qur'anic text should not be isolated from its true language or written form, at least not without keeping the Arabic text with it.
According to Islamic theology, the Qur'an is a revelation very specifically in Arabic, and so it should only be recited in Quranic Arabic. Translations into other languages are the work of humans and so, according to Muslims, no longer possess the uniquely sacred character of the Arabic original. Since these translations subtly change the meaning, they are often called "interpretations" or "translation[s] of the meanings" (with "meanings" being ambiguous between the meanings of the various passages and the multiple possible meanings with which each word taken in isolation can be associated, and with the latter connotation amounting to an acknowledgement that the so-called translation is but one possible interpretation and is not claimed to be the full equivalent of the original). For instance, Pickthall called his translation The Meaning of the Glorious Koran rather than simply The Koran.
The task of translation of the Qur'an is not an easy one; some native Arab speakers will argue that some Qur'anic passages are difficult to understand even in the original Arabic script. A part of this is the innate difficulty of any translation; in Arabic, as in other languages, a single word can have a variety of meanings. There is always an element of human judgement involved in understanding and translating a text. This factor is made more complex by the fact that the usage of words has changed a great deal between classical and modern Arabic. As a result, even Qur'anic verses which seem perfectly clear to native Arab speakers accustomed to modern vocabulary and usage may have an original meaning that is not obvious.
The original meaning of a Qur'anic passage will also be dependent on the historical circumstances of the prophet Muhammad's life and the early community in which it originated. Investigating that context usually requires a detailed knowledge of hadith and sirah, which are themselves vast and complex texts. This introduces an additional element of uncertainty that cannot be eliminated by any linguistic rules of translation.
The first translation of the Qur'an was performed by Salman the Persian, who translated Surah al-Fatiha into the Middle Persian in the early seventh century. According to Islamic tradition contained in the hadith, the Negus of the Ethiopian Empire and the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius received letters from Muhammad containing verses from the Qur'an.[citation needed] However, during Muhammad's lifetime, no passage from the Qur'an was ever translated into these languages nor any other.
The second known translation was into Greek and was used by Nicetas Byzantius, a scholar from Constantinople, in his "Refutation of Qur'an" written between 855 and 870. However, we know nothing about who and for what purpose had made this translation. It is said that it was a complete translation.
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