QURAN IS UNTRANSLATABLE

By Awais Durrani 

17-08-2015

Quran can't be translated word by word but only through paraphrasing ---Some of the Quranic terms have special significance & it is not just possible to translate them not only in other languages but even in Arabic .The exclusively Quranic terms like Allah,Deen,Hamd,Kafir,Momin,Mushrik,Nabi ,Rahman,Raheem,Rasool,Salat,Zakat ,Sabr,Shukr ,Riba ,Saum ,Zikr ,Taqdeer etc can't be translated even in Arabic in one word ,as had been done by almost all the translators ,would only convey Biblical or conventional concepts which in many cases is contrary & far away from the concepts of the Quran.Arabic language is the richest language in the word . Just take one example ,Quran has used three different words while describing various stages of creation of the universe ,Khalaqa,Fatara,Bada'a while in English there is only one word--created which fails to express these stages .In general it is very difficult to translate a piece of literature & art from one language to another ;particularly Quranic terms ,The Quran retaining its force, beauty ,force,seriousness,& grandeur ,it is not just translatable .A language coins particular words according to the traditions of its people,culture,concepts & values ;so how could it be possible for English ,or for that matter ,any other language to give one word for a concept which did not exist in their culture ? So the necessity of retaining these words in Arabic & adding a Glossary of these terms is of paramount importance & must be kept in view .Quran can't be translated but its exposition can rendered paraphrase tically .It is worth-mentioning that our efforts are serious & honest to convey the pristine concepts .The original Arabic text of WAHI ,however is eternal & its interpretations during any span of time can't be taken as the last word,which shall to be left to the last man on this earth.As the Quran says -41/53--" The Truth of his Guidance shall ever continue to manifest itself in the outer space & within the human psyche till it is finally established .The reflection of any human error therefore ,should in no case be attributed to Allah's message Quran has been declared as His last message to mankind.As such it should embody a complete code of life & permanent values, which remain unalterable even with the passage of time & give guidance to all the problems which mankind would face for all times to come.This message should obviously be in such a language which,on the other hand,should be simple,clear,unambiguous & definite & on the other all-comprehensive ,deep, dignified & consciously superior .To meet this challenge & all the requirements ,Arabic seems to be the only language in the world having these unique characteristics .There appeared no rasool in Arabia in between the time of Ishmael & Muhammad the exalted .It seems that during all this time of three thousands years ,the arabs remained busy in enriching their language so that it should be capable of containing the last message of Almighty .Just imaginee that in Arabic language there are 80 different words for honey ,200 for snake,500 for the lion ,1000 for the sword & 5744 for the camel -(ref;- Cosmic Consciousness by Richard Mauvice Bucke ) So when Arab used he a particular word for camel ,the listener would know its age ,colour & all the numerous qualities.This was the language in which Quran was revealed neither poetry nor prose but with altogether a unique style ,its own rhythm ,with rare beauty & grandeur .It is sublime ! to translate such a language into another retaining its spirit ,its beauty,its force,seriousness depth & grandeur is just impossible.One may still make an attempt ,if it is only a piece of art or literature ,but when it contains a charter of human rights ,a book of universal constitution ,one has to be very very careful.As mentioned earlier that a language coins particular words according to its traditions ,culture, concepts ,& values ;so how it could be possible for English or for that matter any other language to give one word for a concept which did not exist in their culture?This difficulty is apparent when one reads Persian & Urdu translations-which per force ,retain original Quranic words viz Kafir,Momin, etc All these words existed in arabic language before the advent of islam,so the actual meanings of these terms were known to them,therefore the actual & specific concepts of all such terms must be known to the reader & their simple translation in English ,would either give Biblical meanings or negate the very spirit of the message .

SUN IS RISING........

-One of the serious difficulties which one can encounter relating to the translation in English of the Qura'nic terms & phraseology bearing on Din .Most of the prevalent English equivalents for the Arabic terms are associated with Mazhab (Religion) which will make it impossible to to distinguish Din from Mazhab & the main purpose of the Din is defeated in such translations & English vocabulary does not offer such equivalents & phrases which could convey precisely the exact sense of the Quranic terms .For example Din has no equivalent in English .This is why Quran can't be translated practically into another language.A well- known British orientalist Professor HAR Gibb writes in his famous book "Modern trends in Islam " The Quran is essentially untranslatable ,in the same way that great poetry is untranslatable .The seer can never communicate his vision in ordinary language.He can express himself only in broken images,every inflection of which ,every nuance & subtlety,has to be long & earnestly studied before their significance broke upon the reader--images too ,in which the music of the sounds plays an indefinable part in attuning the mind of the hearer to receive the message.to paraphrase them in other words can only be to mutilate them,to substitute clay for fine gold ,the plodding of the pedeterian intelligence for the winged flight of the intutive perception .....an english translation must employ precise & often arbitrary terms for the many-faceted & jewel-like phrases of the Arabic ;& the more literal it is ,the grayer & more colourless it must be...Even in so simple a sentence as 50/43 "Surely we give life & death & unto Us is the journeying " it is impossible to present in English or perhaps in any other language ,the force of the five times repeated WE in the six words of the original.In view of this difficulty ,the only alternative is to retain the original Quranic terms & to explain their meanings in a glossary which must be based on etymological considerations & the original meanings of the roots of the relevant words .From the comparative study of Din & mazhab ,it would appear that the two have certain common features ;for instance faith in God ,in Divine Guidance & hereafter .But this similarity is not very deep or sufficiently extensive ;for if one reflects over the real meanings of these phrases ,it will abundantly be clear that this similarity in Din & mazhab is merely superficial .In essence ,even these articles of faith have different meanings & connotations in Din & mazhab;nay,these meanings are mutually contradictory in many respects.Islam is a Din,a way of life which can be compared with another way of life & not with any religion as such has nothing at all to do with the problems of human life on earth.This is why Quran does not present Islam as a rival to any religion ;on the other hand it asserts that this Din(system of life) shall ultimately prevail over all the man-made systems (9/33) Quran offers solutions to the grave difficulties & problems with which mankind is faced today.Today all thoughtful men are disgusted both with materialism as well as religion (mazhab) ,for neither of these offers a way out of humanity's present predicaments .The only solution is through Din in Quran. The gravest problem is the economic ,neither capitalism nor communism offers an adequate & effective solution to it. Quran shows path of redemption in this sphere also.But this aspect of islam is present in Quran only.The Quran presented the outlines of a new social order some fourteen centuries ago. People not only disagreed but opposed it .But today the needs of the time & the difficult situation in which mankind finds itself tend to bring humanity gradually nearer to the social order of Islam.Various non-muslim thinkers who,until a short while ago ,used to pin all their hopes on one or another various man-made social systems without Divinity,have now begun to despair of them,And the outlines of the new schemes that they are now contemplating to ensure peace & justice & happiness for mankind appear very much like those of the laws prescribed by Quran.Human intellect is gradually advancing towards the comprehension of the Permanent Values as set forth in the Quran. Notwithstanding ,the forces of exploitation ,the Eternal Truth is ultimately bound to prevail,the sooner the better for the emancipation of mankind.

Evolution of Man and Universe in Quran.

By Awais Durrani 

Part-1

The creation of life on the earth through a Divine-guided organic/chemical evolution:-The creation of life on the earth forms a significant part of the Quranic descriptions but our commentators have missed certain important steps in this connection ,on account of their lack of knowledge of natural phenomena in general & of the chemical evolution on the earth in particular which occurred for millions of years prior to the first cell formation & appearance of life .Just study these ayat with full concentration .40/67 ,25/54,6/2,37/11,23/12,55/14 & ,15/26 & so on ;which lie scattered in different parts of the Quranic text when read together ,present a beautiful picture of a continuous chemical evolution on the earth ,step by step ,as a precursor of life .Being ignorant of the basic fact that evolution is a continuous process which began millions of years before the creation of life ,they make mistakes in describing even those step in creation which are related to events after the appearance of life .Moreover the words of the Quran are wrongly interpreted related to chemical evolution .For example the words in 15/26 "HAMAMIM MASNOON "is translated as "putrefied mud " .It is an established fact that decay was unknown on the earth before the origin of bacteria which are living objects .Thus the words "HAMAMIM MASNOON " means old mud which with the passage of time had undergone physical & chemical changes but not putrefaction which is a biological phenomenon.Quran says life was created from "SULALATIN MIN TEEN" ie extracts of clay & not from clay itself .This extract from clay forms the basis of,not only an important but also an impressive & comprehensive chapter of chemical evolution on the earth.But our learned men ,still believe in the creation of man from clay as a whole .Perhaps they are under the impression that the words SULALATIM MIN TEEN are a mere poetical expression.Now let us ponder over a verse 32/9 " It is HE who has made everything which He has created in an appropriate form & initiated the creation of man from the inorganic matter of the earth & made his progeny from an extract of (which may seem to you ) a despised fluid" Quran here refers to prehuman chemical evolution which later passed on gradually to the stage of sexual reproduction in plants & animals & ultimately into man.But our brother is still insisting on special theory of creation which has been in vogue since the time of the Old Testament & Maududi in his Tafheem ul Quran (volume 4,page 40 ) after laying great stress on special creation ;it is said " If at all it is accepted that the first life cell was directly created ,then where is the hitch in accepting that the first individual of every living species of animals came into being by direct creation by the Creator & from then onwards its progeny proceeded by mean of procreation "This type of explanation is is the result of ignorance about the chemical evolution which occurred prior to the appearance of life ,as well as of ignorance about the stage at which the sex appeared in living organisms.That is why ,in the above said statement ,Maududi starts with an improvised acceptance of first cell having been directly created & bases his further argument in favour of special creation of other animals on a wrong assumption.As a matter of fact ,the creation of first cells was only a continuation of chemical evolution.Our orthodoxy had a poor knowledge of organic evolution & still believes in special creation,in spite of the fact that actual forces which brought about evolution were gradually discovered & are now thoroughly understood.That is why they still go on sticking to the idea that the first man created on the earth was adam who was brought into existance directly from a model of clay.In fact the word Adam means "human species "& not any particular individual.Ayah 31/28" Your creation & recreation is in o other way but as a single life cell "It means every time a new life starts ,it starts from a single cell ,both in unicellular as well as multicellular organisms.Ayah 39/6 " He created you from a single cell & made from it opposite sex "But all the interpreters translate "NAFSIN WAHIDA "as Adam & & having been influenced by Jewish literature ,produce a fantastic story of the creation of Adam & Eve ,the Adam directly from the model of clay & the Eve having been taken out of his body by means of bisection.The Quran says Ayah -71/17" "The Divine plan has raised you up from the earth in the form of a (genealogical) tree " while Maududi translates as " Allah raised you up from the earth in a strange way .

Part-ii

As in ayah 7/17 " according to Maududi "Here creation of man from the earthly materials is expressed being similar to the growth of vegetation from the earth .As there was no vegetation on earth before then Allah created them" This shows an utter ignorance from the evolutionary processes .In fact not only the theory of special creation but also the idea that evolution took place from a single cell to a man in a ladder -like fashion,is now obsolete.Actually as soon as a new type evolves ,it becomes a potential ancestor for many simultaneous descendent lines & each line becomes especially adapted in a particular way .The evolution thus forms the pattern of a branching tree.The Quran lays emphasis on the point that human evolution started long before man actually assumed the form of a human being ie,long before he became capable of wielding a position of such magnificent importance that mala'ika ie the forces of nature bowed down before him .In ayah -76/1-" "Had there not been upon man a period of time when he was not a thing worth -mentioning "I don't want to waste further time in traditional translations which have nothing to do with Quran just conjecture based on Biblical stories.Now ayah-71/14-" He it is who created you in different stages ,forms.measures & environments "The word ATWARA fits exactly into a variety of steps in evolution of man ,prehuman & even into the evolution of the physical universe , prior to it.Now ayah 23/14-" Then from NUTFAH (the reproductive unit) we created ALAQA which is mistranslated as "congealed blood" although no blood is present in this early embryonic stage ;it is just a tiny mass of undifferentiated cells.The word ALAQA means a hanging object situated higher up.In this early stage it is the only blastocyst which can be called Alaqa.The very first impression one gets on observing the blastocyst under the microscope is that it is indeed an Alaqa.Another interesting chapter of biology is sex .Quran says in 31/10 -" We sent down rain from the sky & produce in it (earth) every kind of growth in pairs " Here the word ZAUJ is significant & needs detailed explanation which is mistranslated as "a variety of good things " .Just observe their mental horizon this is what they did with Quran.Quran lays great emphasis on natural exploration & in order to prove its fundamental principle ,brings in to evidence a variety of natural phenomena .For example the subject of colours is important in physics ,i geology,in chemical biological evolution etc just observe the rain .With it we bring out produces of various colours.And in the mountains are newly created strata of rocks ,white & red of various shades of colour & intensely black.And so among men & crawling creatures & cattle are they of various colours.Those who posses knowledge of (Sciences) really appreciate the mighty powers of the laws of Allah & are afraid of going against them.They know that His laws are omnipotent & provides protection for those who abide by it (35/27-28) .Scientists are termed by Quran as "ULOMA" while our clergy is ignorant from all new discoveries & therefore they can never understand Quran .Scientists have observed that the universe is expanding & galaxies are running out with a tremendous speed .It is marvelous that the Quran pointed out towards this phenomenon 1400 years ago & said (51/47) " with power & skill we did construct the heaven,Verily we are expanding it " Also in 35/1-" He adds to His creation according to his laws" Only recently the astronomers have discovered the interplanetary gas & dust ,yet the Quran repeatedly pointed towards it .(83/85-20/6 & several ayat ) WA MA BAINAHUMA (Interplanetary) 

Part- 3 (final)

In the previous part we spoke about the interplanetary space termed as WA MA BAINAHUMA is of paramount interest in understanding the basic process of the creation of the universe & the star formation ,as well as the exchange of energy & matter in between the stars & & in between the sun & the earth. In the light of modern research the interstellar matter appears to be different in nature & origin from the interplanetary material ; & that the Quran has also differentiated between the two .Whereas in all other verses of the Quran , where the words "MA BAINAHUMA" occur along-with "Assamawat-e-walarz " the word that is used SAMAWAT which is plural & which points towards interstellar space but in verse (21/16) the word SAMA is used which is singular & points towards the space between the sun & the planets.This orthodoxy has never tried to find out why the Quran repeatedly mentions WA MA BAINAHUMA ? The Quran says (41/9-12) Tell ;Is it that you deny Him who created the earth in two eras.He completed them in several number in two eras "Thus according to Quran the creation of the heavens & the earth took place in two eras.The word YAUM here means "a very very long period of time " which might be 100 years or 50000 years according to your estimation (32/5-70/4) not specific ,may be millions of years..In scientific term the period of creation of the material world is called as "AZOIC" ie. without life.The Quran divides into two & calls it YAUMAIN (Two eras) .To begin with the entire space was full of smoke."He comprehended in His design the heaven when it was smoke "(41/11) Smoke is a mixture of gases & solid particles .Areas of condensation appeared later in this gas & dust cloud resulting into the formation of prostars ,which further developed into the stars.The stars further became divided into the planets& other smaller heavenly bodies .The division of one complete DUKHAN into prostars is a great event.This period may be termed as Era one of the creation of the universe & the period of time after this division till the appearance of life as Era Two.Unfortunately our learned men followed Biblical man-made stories & translated Yaum as "one day of 24 hours" Quran divides the time of creation after the appearance of life on the earth into four eras (Arba'atin ayyam ) .Now Yaumain & Arba,a make Sitta ayyam (six eras ) ie YAUM the longest periods of millions of years.. Ayah -57/4-" He knows what enters the earth & what comes out of it ,what comes down from the heaven & what mounts up to it " .It is a vast subject which deals with the exchange of the physical & chemical forces between the outer space & the earth which change every bit of the earth's substance,inorganic as well as organic .The exchange of radiation between the heaven & the earth is a subject of great importance.All the seasonal climatic changes & the environmental cycles which occur on the earth depend on this exchange .Living matter is interposed between these cycles & as the earth's components circulate ,some of them become raw materials for the use of living matter. dependent on these cycles,inorganic matter & living matter give rise to each other in a cyclic order .Ayah-6/96-" It is the Divine law that causes the living matter to spring from the non-living & the non-living to spring from the living one "Now let us see what Maududi says "A grain in the interior of the earth sprouts & rises upwards.Rain falls from the heaven;water vapour ascends from the sea,to the heaven " A limited explanation of a limitless subject !These are a few examples in order to bring into focus ,how lack of knowledge of natural phenomena ,affects the exegesis of the Quran .It is beyond the scope of this work to deal with this vast subject in detail because the verses related to nature cover about one eighth of Quran..However it is worthwhile in other non-scientific events also ,instead of explaining verses from Quran itself ,they take pleasure in the display of distorted views based on the most hateful man-made stories present in the Jewish scriptures .

Source of the article "Gateway to the Quran " by Dr Abdul Wadud .