Gharib al-Qur’an and its English translations : an evaluation

Abstract EN

Translation is a challenging task, especially in the face of vast differences in the cultural contexts of the source and the target languages.

The prevalence of over-, under-, or mistranslation in the translations of the Qur’an into English owes to various factors, one of which is dealing with the words of gharib (i.e.

extraordinary, obscure, or unfamiliar vocabulary).

The present paper aims to highlight some of these translation issues, taking examples from translations of some select words in the verses of the Qur’an, often referred to as gharib al-Qur ’an, as reference points for discussion.

The present study is explicatory and aims to pinpoint the translation issues by investigating anomalies in six different English translations, namely those by Asad, Itani, Peachy and Al-Johani, Pickthall, Saheeh International, and Yusuf Ali.

The study takes into account the way these words have been translated, identifying the main translation problems to determine the accurateness/inadequacies in their meanings as explained by Qur’anic exegetes.

The study finds that traditional exegetical books on gharib do not seem to have been consulted by some of the translators.

Therefore, it attempts to provide a suggested methodology for dealing with these words.