Fallacy of using Sajᶜ in rendering some glorious Quranic texts into English : a critical study

Abstract EN

This study investigates the translation of the rhetorical device Sajᶜ in the Glorious Quran into English rhyme .It aims at critically assessing the translation of Quranic Sajᶜ into English rhymed prose.

It draws on the translation of three Suras published by Journal of Quranic Studies (2007) in which the translator made an attempt to render them into English rhyme.

It is hypothesized that the translation of Quranic Sajᶜ into English rhymed prose is inimitable and unproducible.

The study shows that the translator made serious decisions while opting for various techniques such as addition, syntactic change, word order alteration and end rhyme modification to achieve rhyme.

Such serious decisions, in many cases, distort the meaning of these Suras, and cause break down of communication on the part of English readers.

Thus, Quranic Sajᶜ is unprecedented as it captures full meaning and elegant form, whereas its rendition into English rhyme is artificial when priority given to form rather than meaning.

This study discourages translators interested in Quranic discourse from rendering Quranic Sajᶜ into rhyming