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1 مة ج ر لت ا ي ف لك ر ذ ث و ا ات راذف مت ل ا ن م س لي و ه م و ي ر لك ا ن) را لق ا ي ف ات راذف مت ل ا ن م ة ان ن. ظ ي ما اذري ا ف رن ة ي ن سا ن: وم الإ ل ع ل ا ة ي ل ك/ ات ع ل ل ا ز ك ر م ة ي ن ط و لح ا ا جL ن ل ا عة ام ج س ل ن ا ن ن سطي ل ف

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1

ما يظن انه من المترادفات في القرآن الكريم و هو ليس من

المترادفات و اثر ذلك في الترجمة

رنا قادري

مركز اللغات/ كلية العلوم اإلنسانية

جامعة النجاح الوطنية

نابلس

فلسطين

الملخص

إن القرآن الكريم و هو الكتاب األول و المص��در األغ��نى في مفرادات��ه و تعبيرات��ه لم

تتنزل فيه االيات و ال المفردات عبث��ا. ففي ك��ل كلم��ة و ك��ذلك ك��ل ح��رف مغ��زى و

حكمة و معان ال يستغنى عنها و ال تس��تبدل بغيره��ا. و حين يعتق��د الم��ترجم أن ه��ذه

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2

الكلمة أو تلك من المترادف��ات و يق��وم بترجمته��ا على ه��ذا األس��اس فيعطي نفس

الكلمة في اللغة األخرى لكال الكلمتين فإنه بذلك ال يؤدي حق هذا الكتاب العظيم.

و سوف أقوم بع��رض بعض المف��ردات و ش��رحها و تب��يين م��دلوالتها و مقارنته��ا بم��ا

يظن ان��ه م��رادف له��ا و ذك��ر الكلم��ات ال��تي ت��رجمت له��ا و كي��ف ان��ه ب��ذلك أخفى

المترجم جانبا من بالغة القرآن و جعل الكلم��تين متس��اويتين في المع��نى لك��ل من

قرأ النسخة المترجمة في حين أنهما ليستا كذلك.

و إني في ه��ذا البحث لن أق��وم بالح��ديث عن آراء أه��ل الفق��ه و العلم في ترجم��ة

القرآن الكريم و لكن كل ما سأقوم به هو ذكر األمثلة التي يظن أنها من المتردفات

و إنما هناك اختالف في مدلوالتها و معانيها و آثارها.

و إن النسخة األساس��ية ال��تي س��أعتمدها في الترجم��ة هي "تفس��ير مع��اني الق��رآن

الك��ريم" لل��دكتور محم��د محس��ن خ��ان و ال��دكتور محم��د تقي ال��دين الهاللي. و هي

نسخة قانونية و مباعة من منشورات دار السالم للنشر.

What seems to be Synonyms in the Holy Qur’an while they are not

and the Influence of this in Translation

Abstract

The source text under discussion which is the Holy Qur’an is the richest book in

Arabic. By richest I mean richest in terms of having its vocabulary which is very

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variable, metaphors, rhetorical aspects, connotations, and even sound effects, all

available in the Holy Qur’an.

Each used word is not used randomly, and each word can’t be substituted by

another as each has its connotations. That is why the idea of having synonyms in

the Holy Qur’an is not valid. By synonyms we mean that whether we use this word

or the other, it will be accepted. In the Holy Qur’an, this is not accepted. Each

word is used for a purpose which leads me to write my paper.

As I have just mentioned, there are no synonyms in the Holy Qur’an; however, in

the translated text, the translators gave similar equivalents for words which are

different. The translators thought that such words are synonyms, and so they gave

similar equivalents; however they are not. And in my paper, I would like to

highlight the rhetorical connotations of such words and show that they couldn’t be

translated in the same way.

In this paper, I will not mention the opinions of scholars towards the idea of

translating the Holy Qur’an, nor will I mention the history of translating it.

The text that I use to examine is Interpretation of the meanings of The Noble

Qur’an In The English Language by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Dr.

Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali. This version is legal and it’s sold. It’s

published by Dar-us-Salam Publications in Riyadh- Saudi Arabia.

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Keywords: Translation, interpretation, synonyms, connotation, Holy Qyr’an

Introduction:

It’s a crucial issue. Having identical synonyms in the Holy Qur’an is

controversial. It’s not easy to announce that the Holy Qur’an is full of synonyms.

Such a deduction may make the researchers think that there is redundancy; such

an issue is completely rejected when examining this holy book.

The Holy Qur’an is considered a very miraculous book in Arabic. It has

miraculous aspects in terms of phonology, morphology, semantics, and rhetoric.

The reader of the Holy Qur’an can feel that every single letter as well as every

single word is used very properly. A researcher can conclude that no word can be

used instead of the other; they can discover that the sound effects of the endings of

verses are related to the topics that the verses talk about. Metaphors and similes

are well created. Thus, this book can’t be treated as any other book when it comes

to translation or interpretation. As a result, the translators who want to interpret it

must be very careful to keep as many rhetorical aspects as they can

In my opinion, one rhetorical aspect that was lost is translating words that seem to

be synonyms in the Holy Qur’an and give both similar equivalents while each has

a different connotation. No one of them can be placed instead of the other. Each

word is placed intentionally; there is neither random usage nor distribution of

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vocabulary. For instance, when Allah uses the word (ريب) in a verse while He

uses the word (شك) in another, He knows well what is suitable to be used in each

verse, and no word can be replaced by another as each gives a connotation

different from the other.

In the coming section, I will discuss opinions of Arab linguists: opinions of those

who approve synonymy and those who deny. For example, those who approve the

idea of having synonyms in the Holy Qur’an offer the words ريب و as an شك

example of synonyms; they say as long as these words are used in similar verses,

they should have be synonyms. However, in the discussion section I will show

how each one of them is different, and I will show that the translators committed a

mistake when they suggested one equivalent for both which is “doubt”.

Limitation of the Study:

The study aims at showing some pairs of words in the Holy Qur’an that were

translated similarly by giving them same equivalents in the target text considering

them synonyms while they are not. In this paper, the researcher will not suggest

substitutes of each pair. The study is all about highlighting such pairs and

clarifying the different connotations of each word of the suggested pairs.

Argument:

1. What is a synonym?

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A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another

word or phrase in the same language.

2. Do we have synonyms in Arabic?

This is a controversial issue. Arab linguists are divided into two groups: old and

new. The old generation is also divided into two groups: those who approved the

phenomenon of having synonyms in Arabic such as خالويه One .سيبويه , and ابن

of those who denied is الفارسي علي .أبو

From the new generations of linguists, there are also those who approved it, and

there are those who denied. One of those who denied is حجازي فهمي . محمود

3. How does each group justify their opinion:

Those who approve say that the speaker could use two words to describe or talk

about one object or one concept as a way of assuring the speech.

However, they also say that using synonyms doesn’t mean that one word can be

used instead of the other, but there are certain similarities in common.

In my opinion, the second argument expresses my claim as I think there is no

identical synonymy in Arabic.

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Those who deny say that the idea of having two words that have exactly similar

meanings is not accepted as these words with different morphological structures

and different shadows must have different connotations and so different uses.

Having synonyms in Arabic: Acceptance or Rejection

There is no consensus that we have synonyms in Arabic.

Al-Munjid, (1997, p. 36) says that

جامع" بها مقر فمنهم الترادف ظاهرة تجاه محدثين و قدامى اللغويين اراء تباينت

األلفاظ ...." تلك بين الفروق التماس يحاول لها منكر و أللفاظها

Do we have identical synonyms in the Holy Qur’an??

Arab linguists refute the presence of synonyms in the Holy Qur’an.

If a searcher deeply examines the verses of the Holy Qur’an, s/he will discover

that no word can be used instead of another; otherwise, the meaning will get

weaker.

Some of the linguists who are very much concerned about the Holy Qur’an

approve the phenomenon of having synonyms in the Holy Qur’an as the seven

ways of reading it.

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In general, even though there are few linguists who approve that there are

synonyms in the Holy Qur’an, there are others who deny it as this (having

synonyms) contradicts with the rhetorical aspects of the Holy Qur’an:

connotations, sound effects …etc.

There are no synonyms in the Holy Qur’an. That is the words which seem to be

synonyms such as الغيث و المطر و يخشى و .can’t be considered synonyms يخاف

تعدد أي المعنى، في ألفاظ عدة اشتراك هو العربية اللغة في المترادفات فتعريف

المعنى توحد و .اللفظ

" : األلفاظ تعدد هو أرفضه الذي الترادف أن إال العمايرة أنس الدكتور األستاذ يقول

كامال اتحادا المعنى اتحاد و الداللتين بين التام التطابق على الدالة المفردة

) " العمايرة، بينهما صوتي تطور بال و واحدة، بيئة و واحدة بحقيقة و )2011باعتبارواحد

(Al-Amayra, 2011)

لبعضها بعضها مساوية تكون ال بالمترادفات نسميها التي األلفاظ أن لنا تحقق وإذا

.. بتفسير فإننا األخرى القرآنية المفردة عن التعبير تمام رة معب وال المعنى، في

القرآني المقصود تمام عن نكشف ال أخرى مرادفة بمفردة .المفردة

http://www.balagh.com

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Having synonyms in the Holy Qur’an is not an idea that is accepted by Arab

linguists. Most of them deny it; they say if it’s accepted, it means that there is

redundancy in the Holy Qur’an; such an idea is completely rejected.

Some example to be discussed:

In this part, I will give different pairs of words where the translators gave each pair

the same translation without taking into consideration the shadows and

connotations of each word separately.

First: ( يخشى و (يخاف

These are the first two words under discussion: the word يخشى and the word

.يخاف

As mentioned in the following verses:

عباده " من الله يخشى إنما كذلك ألوانه مختلف األنعام و الدواب و الناس من و

" فاطر غفور عزيز الله إن 28العلماء

“………………. It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear

Allah. ….” Fatir 28

And the other verses:

رب " الله أخاف إني ألقتلك إليك يدي بباسط أنا ما لتقتلني يدك إلي بسطت لئن

المائدة" 28العالمين

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“ ……. For I fear Allah the Lord of the Alamin” Al-Maida 28

الروم ...." .... " أنفسكم كيخفتكم تخافونهم سواء فيه 28فأنتم

“ …… whom you fear as you fear each other…. “ Ar-Rum 28

" " النحل يؤمرون ما يغعلون و فوقهم من ربهم 50يخافون

“They fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded” An-

Nahl 50

These two words were translated the same as fear. However they are different;

each has its own connotations as follows:

The word يخشى is considered stronger in its connotations as it’s derived from

the three Arabic letters الياء و الشين و ي where there are no vowels as the الخاء

here is a semi vowel, and wherever these three letters are combined and used, they

indicate highness and magnificent. In Arabic, the language of the source text, they

say خشية in Arabic شيخ which means great and strong. Also the word شجرة

means a respected senior man, or knowledgeable man, and all means highness.

Moreover, the word خيش in Arabic which is used to indicate a kind of fabrics and

cloth is used to indicate toughness, and it’s very much opposing the word soft. It’s

tough, strong and not easy to wear out.

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In contrast, the word خوف is derived from the letters و األلف العلة حرف و الخاء

العين and it’s called in Arabic الفاء معتل أي so the morphological structure أجوف

in Arabic has to do with the connotation of the verb. The verb with a vowel as a

mid-sound is not as strong as a verb with the three consonants. So خاف is not

similar to خشي in terms of the sound effects. Moreover, they say, a person who

fears something has nothing to do with the highness of the object; rather it has to

do with the weakness of the subject. For example, some people fears cockroaches.

They do so not because of the highness or strength of the cockroaches, but as they

themselves feel afraid with no reasonable reason. However, we can’t say that such

people يخشون the cockroaches as the latter are only niggling insects.

Other forms where other derivations from the letters ف ا ناقة are used are خ

to indicate that this she camel is diseased or has a defect. It’s not strong norخوفاء

healthy. Consequently, when people feel afraid of the object, they do so because

of a lack of courage, rather than because they know it. So some people would say

that we feel afraid from Allah. Others would say that they يخشون Allah. The first

group do so without knowing Who Allah is. Others know His glory, magnificent

and Highness.

comes as a result of knowing the object well, and as a result of admitting الخشية

the highness and strength, while الخوف comes without a reasonable cause,

nothing else rather than a defect and weakness of الخائف.

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Psychologically speaking, there is no negative sense that the word خشية indicates.

On the contrary, it pushes people to do good deeds as it comes after knowing.

However, the word الخوفhas a lot of negative consequences. People who fear

,are not considered healthy in terms of psychology as they might lie, cheat يخافون

or steal to hide their mistakes.

Therefore, the word يخاف could come as a result of weakness or fearing horror of

the object, while the word يخشى comes as a result of knowing and admitting the

glory, highness and magnificent of the object.

One might saythat the word يخاف is used in the verse " فوقهم من ربهم to"يخافون

describe an action that the angels do, and one might ask why is it used as يخاف

but not يخشى even though the angels know Allah, and know His glory and

highness? The answer would be as follows: First of all, there is no word which is

misused in the Holy Quran, and there is no arbitrary use of vocabulary. It’s

intentionally used here to indicate that no matter how strong, how stern and severe

the angels are, but they still feel weak in front of the Almighty. And the word

فوقهم here is not used alone, rather it’s used with يخاف to indicate highness من

and so the whole sentence فوقهم من ربهم .الخشية implicitly indicates يخافون

Furthermore, the word خاف could be used to describe fear in terms of things

related to our daily affairs, it is خوف from the expected and unknown while to

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word يخشى is used to indicate that true Muslims and believers الله as a يخشون

result of knowing Him: His glory, strength, and magnificent.

Second: ( الوالد و (األب

Both are translated the same as “father” while each one of them has a different

connotation: When the word اب is used, it gives the connotation of reason,

upbringing, supervising, and guiding to the right and it can be used to mean the

direct father or the grandfather, or forefathers as in the following verses:

It’s used to mean the direct father in the verse:

" يوسف .... " ألبيه يوسف قال 4إذ

It’s used to mean the grandfathers as in the verses:

" الحج .." إبراهيم أبيكم 78ملة

" " الصافات األولين آبائكم رب و ربكم 126الله

In contrast, the word والد is used to give the emotional and spiritual connotation.

It’s used to mean the direct father. That’s why it’s used when Allah urges children

to take care of their parents using بالوالدين .

" اإلسراء ... " إحسانا بالوالدين و اياه اال تعبدوا أال ربك قضى 23و

" .... " لقمان المصير إلي لوالديك و لي اشكر 14أن

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لقمان ..." .. " ولده عن والد يجزي ال يوما اخشوا 33و

How were such words translated?

لي " رأيتهم القمر و الشمس و كوكبا عشر أحد رأيت إني أبت يا ألبيه يوسف قال إذ

يوسف" 4ساجدين

“ (Remember) when Yusuf (Joseph) said to his father: “O my father! Verily, I saw

(in a dream) eleven stars and the sun and the moon- I saw them prostrating

themselves to me.” Yusuf 4

ملة " حرج من الدين في عليكم جعل ما و اجتباكم هو جهاده حق الله في جاهدوا و

الحج ." إبراهيم 78أبيكم

“ … He has chosen you (to convey his message…… ) it is the religion of your

father Ibrahim (Abraham)

عن " جاز هو مولود ال و ولده عن والد يجزي ال يوما اخشوا و ربكم اتقوا الناس أيها يا

(..... لقمان شيئا 33والده

“ ….. and fear a Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail

aught for his father. …..” Luqman 33

Third: ( يحلف و (يقسم

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These two words were translated as “swear”. Each gives a different connotation.

The verses were the word يحلف is used indicate that the person who does it has

the intention not to fulfill the oath.

إنهم ... " يعلم الله و أنفسهم يهلكون معكم لخرجنا استطعنا لو بالله سيحلفون و

التوبة" 42لكاذبون

" التوبة ....." الكفر كلمة قالوا لقد و قالوا ما بالله 74يحلفون

" ........ " التوبة لكاذبون إنهم يشهد الله و الحسنى إال أردنا إن ليحلفن 107و

" ..... المجادلة " يعلمون هم و الكذب على يحلفون 14و

المائدة ... " .... " حلفتم إذا أيمانكم كفارة 89ذلك

The other word "يقسم" is used to indicate the true oath. The doer is honest when

doing that. The verses are:

" "... المائدة شهادتمها من أحق لشهادتنا بالله 107فيقسمان

" "... الروم ساعة غير لبثوا ما المجرمون يقسم الساعة تقول يوم 55و

Both words were translated as swear as they appear in the following translations

of the above verses respectively:

“ ……. they would swear by Allah …. “ At- Taubah 42

“ They swear by Allah that they said nothing (bad), ….” At-Taubah 74

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“ they will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good.” At-Taubah 107

“… and they swear to a lie while they know” Al-Mujadilah 14

“ That is the expiation for the oaths when you have sworn..” Al-Ma’idah 89

“…Let them swear by Allah (saying)…” Al-Ma’idah 107

“ And on the Day that the Hour will be established, the Mujrimun (criminals,

disbelievers, polytheists, sinners) will swear that they stayed not but an hour….”

Ar-Rum 55

Fourth: ( البخل و (الشح

The other pair is البخل و as they are translated the same while they are not الشح

synonyms in the language of the source text.

أعتدنا " و فضله من الله آتاهم ما يكتمون و بالبخل الناس يأمرون و يبخلون الذين

" النساء مهينا عذابا 37للكافرين

“ Those who are miserly and enjoin miserliness on other men and hide what Allah

has bestowed upon them of His Bounties …. “ An-Nisa’ 37

It’s clear that the verb in the source text was translated as an adjective in the target

text.

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عليه " يغشى كالذي أعينهم تدور إليك ينظرون رأيتهم الخوف جاء فإذا عليكم أشحة

األحزاب .... " الخير على أشحة حداد بألسنة سلقوكم الخوف ذهب فإذا الموت من

19

“ Being miserly towards you. Then when fear comes ……… miserly towards

good …. “ Al-Ahzab 19

However, the word الشح was translated differently in another verse.

" ... " الحشر المفلحون هم فأولئك نفسه شح يوق من 9و

“ ….. and whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, such are they who will

be the successful” Al-Hashr 9

Here are the differences between the two words البخل و :الشح

is when a man doesn’t feel like to give what he has. He likes to keep what البخل

he has as money only to himself. While الشح is used when a man wants to add to

what he has what other people have and keep all to himself without giving any to

any.

They say:

) : ولكنه ماله، الرجل يمنع أن الشحيح ليس فقال والبخل، الشح بين عمر ابن ق وفر

( له ليس ما إلى الرجل عين تطمح أن الشح إنما ، لشر وإنه البخل،

(http://www.dorar.net/enc/akhlaq/1785 )

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They also say that البخل is when you don’t give from what you have, while الشح

is the care and jealousy to get more of what you don’t have.

One more interpretations of the two words under discussions are:

happens when one doesn’t like to spend in others from his own money البخل

while الشح happens when one doesn’t like others to spend from their own money

not even from his.

- : على ( الحرص شدة هو الشح أن والبخل الشح بين الفرق أن القيم ابن ويرى

والبخل عليه، النفس وجشع تحصيله، في واالستقصاء طلبه، في واإلحفاء الشيء،

حصوله، بعد بخيل حصوله، قبل شحيح فهو وإمساكه، وحبه، حصوله، بعد إنفاقه منع

فقد بخل فمن النفس، في كامن والشح البخل، إلى يدعو والشح ، الشح ثمرة فالبخل

المفلح هو وذلك ه، شر ووقي شحه عصى فقد يبخل لم ومن شحه، يوق  أطاع ومن

المفلحون هم فأولئك نفسه :  شح )[9الحشر] www.dorar.net

Fifth: ( المطر و (الغيث

The other pair under discussion will be المطر و is used المطر The word .الغيث

in the Holy Quran whenever He talks about torment and retaliation. However, the

word الغيث is used whenever He talks about crops, fertility, goodness, and

welfare.

The verses are translated like this:

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" " الشورى الحميد الولي هو و رحمته ينشر و قنطوا ما بعد من الغيث ينزل الذي هو و

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“ And He it is Who sends down the rain after they despaired ….” Ash-Shura 28

" " النمل المنذرين مطر فساء مطرا عليهم أمطرنا الشعراء 58و 173و

“ And We rained down on them a rain ( of stones)….” An-Naml 58

“ And We rained on them a rain ( of torment) ….” Ash-Shu’ara’ 173

It’s worth mentioning here that even though the two verses are the same in the

source text (The Holy Qur’an) and both talks about the people to whom Lut was

sent, and the verse talks about the torment and retaliation that were sent to them,

the two verses were not translated the same. That is there is no consistencyin

translating similar verses. And it’s mentioned in the interpretation of Quran in

التفاسير صفوة و كثير ابن الجاللين and تفسير .that the rain was stones تفسير

Another verse that talks about the torment that was sent to Lut people is the

following:

" " هود منضود سجيل من حجارة عليها أمطرنا و سافلها عاليها جعلنا أمرنا جاء فلما

82

This verse was translated as:

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“So when Our Commandment came, We turned (the town of Sodom in Palestine)

upside down, and rained on them stones of baked clay, ….) Hud 82

Sixth: ( الريبة و (الشك

The two words الريبة و are not synonyms even though they are translated as الشك

doubts. They are different and have different connotations.

First, the word ريبة means that the person who is مرتاب is doubtful and he has

worries against something or somebody. While the person who is only شاك is the

one who has only doubts. That’s why they say in Arabic المطر في اليوم شاك إني

which means I have only some doubts about it. However, they don’t say إني

المطر في اليوم بفالن while they say مرتاب مرتاب which means that I have إني

doubts and worries towards him thinking that he did something wrong.

Moreover, the word مريب is used to describe the word شك, so as the former is

used to describe the latter, they couldn’t be the same. The adjective is usually used

to specify and describe the noun by giving an extra information about it as we call

it descriptive adjective. That is the noun can’t describe itself. i.e we wouldn’t

describe the word الشك by the word مريب if both were similar.

Additionally, the person who doubts is not to blame as he does so because he has

some evidence that makes him doubt, and there is a reason for such confusion; he

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is waiting for the truth to approve or deny, and that’s why Allah says to prophet

Mohammed (PBUH)

" " يونس إليك أوحينا مما شك في كنت 94فإن

Even though the speech is implicitly addressed to all people, the prophet is the one

who is addressed here. That is to say, in this verse Allah used the word شك when

He addressed Mohammed; however, he used ريبة when He addressed other people

than the prophet as mentioned in the following verse:

الحج .... " " تراب من خلقناكم فإنا البعث من ريب في كنتم إن الناس أيها 5يا

The verses under discussion are the followings:

The verses where the word ريب is used:

" " البقرة للمتقين هدى فيه ريب ال الكتاب 2ذلك

“ This is the Book (the Qur’an) whereof there is no doubt …” Al-Baqara 2

" " السجدة العالمين رب من فيه ريب ال الكتاب 2تنزيل

“The revelation of the Book (this Qur’an) in which there is no doubt” As-Sajdah 2

Again, there is no consistency.

" الحج .. " البعث من ريب في كنتم إن الناس أيها 5يا

“ O Mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection ….” Al-Hajj 5

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" " غافر يؤمنون ال الناس أكثر لكن و فيها ريب ال آتية الساعة 59إن

“Verily, the Hour (Day of Judgement) is surely coming, there is no doubt about it,

yet most men believe not.” Ghafir 59

The verses where the word شك is used:

" يونس ... " قبلك من الكتاب يقرؤون الذين فسئل إليك أنزلنا مما شك في كنت فإن

94

“So if you (O Muhammad) are in doubt concerning that which We have revealed

unto you, ….”Yunus 94

" " الدخان يلعبون شك في هم 9بل

“Nay! They play about in doubt.” Ad-Dukhan 9

شك ... " " في منها هو ممن باآلخرة يؤمن من لنعلم إال سلطان من عليهم له كان ما و

21سبأ

“And he (Iblis – Satan) had no authority over them, except that We might test him

who believes in the Hereafter from him who is in doubt about it …” Saba’ 21

" غافر ...." به جاءكم مما شك في زلتم فما بالبينات قبل من يوسف جاءكم لقد 34و

“And indeed Yusuf (Joseph” did come to you, in times gone by, with clear signs

but you ceased not to doubt ….” Ghafir 34

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It’s worth mentioning here that the noun in the source text was translated as a verb

in the target text to show inconsistency.

And the followings are the verses where the two words are used with each other:

:as the described noun شك as the adjective and مريب

".... " هود مريب إليه تدعونا مما شك لفي إننا 62و

"But we are really in grave doubt as to that to which you invite us (monotheism).

Hud 36

"......... " سبأ مريب شك في كانوا 54إنهم

“Verily, they have been in grave doubt” Saba’ 54

" .......... " فصلت مريب منه شك لفي إنهم 45و

“But truly, they are in grave doubt …..” Fussilat 45

Seventh: ( الجسد و الجسم و (البدن

The three words جسم و جسد و were translated the same as “body” while each بدن

one of them gives a different connotation.

Al-Munjed ((1997, p. 199) says

االستعمال " في الداللة متباينة ألفاظ الجسم و الجسد و البدن أن األمر خالصة و

ما تغطي التي القصيرة الدرع أو الألطراف، و الرأس سوى ما به يراد فالبدن القرآني،

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يفارق بذلك و فيها، روح ال هامدة الجثة به يراد الجسد و األلية، إلى المنكبين بين

األلفاظ هذه بين التباين يتحقق بهذا و فيه، تتردد أنفاس و حياة على يدل الذي الجسم

بترادفها القول يبطل و "الثالثة،

(Almunjed, 1997, p.192).

The verses where these three words are used and indicate such connotations are:

" ".... يونس آية خلفك لمن لتكون ببدنك ننجيك 92فاليوم

It’s translated as:

“So this day We shall deliver your (dead) body (out from the sea) …” Yunus 92

" " األنبياء خالدين كانوا ما و الطعام يأكلون ال جسدا جعلناهم ما 8و

“And We did not create them (the Messengers, with) bodies that ate not food, nor

were they immortals.” Al-Anbiya’ 8

" المنافقون ..." أجسامهم تعجبك رأيتهم إذا 4و

“And when you look at them, their bodies please you; …” Al-Munafiqun 4

However the word الجسم was translated differently in the following verse:

البقرة ..." ........... " الجسم و العلم في بسطة زاده و عليكم اصطفاه الله إن 247قال

“ …Verily, Allah has chosen him above you and increased him abundantly in

knowledge and stature….” Al-Baqarah 247

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Conclusion:

In short, the miraculous aspects that make the Holy Qur’an different are almost lost

when translating it into English.

Future avenues:

In addition to what I have mentioned and explained in this paper, there are other

pitfalls that I will highlight in the future in my coming papers such as metaphors,

or the nouns that were translated as verbs or the other way round.

Recommendation:

I really invite that the designers of the post graduate program: Translation and

Applied Linguistics to establish a specific course in that program where the

translated text of the Holy Qur’an discussed.

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Citation:

Khan, Mohammad Muhsen and Al-Hilali (1997) Interpretation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English language, seventeenth revised edition, Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Al-Qattan, Manna’. (1997) Mabaheth Fi ‘Ulum El-Qur’an (Different Subjects in the Qur’an…), 10th edition, Almadani Publishing House , Cairo, Egypt.

Al-Munjed, Mohammad Noor Eddin. (1997) Attraduf Fi AlQur’an Ak-Kareem, ( Synonyms in the Hly Qur’an), 1st edition, Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, Syria.

As-Sabooni, Mohammad Ali. Safwat At-Tafaseer, 5th edition, Dar Al-qalam, Beirut, Labanon.

Al-Hamad, Mohammad Bin Ibrahim, (2007) Al-Mutradef (Synonyms), retrieved May 7, 2007 from http://vb.tafsir.net/tafsir8335/

Al-Amayra, Anas (2011) La Taraduf Fi Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem )No Synony,s in the Holy Qur’an). Retrieved June 26, 2011, from http://www.ahlalhdeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?t=252417

Hal Fi Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem Taraduf (Are there Synonyms in the Holy Qur’an) Retrieved from http://nabdh.8m.com/w-7.htm

Al-Mithhan , Saleh (2011) Al-Farq Bayn Al-Khawf wal Khashya (difrences between Al-Khawf and Al-Khashya) retrieved August 15, 2011 from http://majles.alukah.net/t87777/

Ash-Shakhs, Mohammad Rida (2010) Isti’mal Lafthatay Ash-Shak W Areeb Fi Al’Qur’an Al-Kareem ( the use of the two words (ashak and areeeb in the Holy Qur’an) Retrieved December 7, 2010 form http://www.alukah.net/literature_language/0/27973/

Al-Balagh, Usra (2013) At-Taraduf Fi Alfath Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem (Synonymy in the Vocabulary of the Holy Qur’an) Retrieved September 21, 2013 http://www.balagh.com/pages/tex.php?tid=2070

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