The untranslatability of the holy Qur’an

Abstract EN

This study aims at exploring the dilemma of the untranslatability of the Holy Qur'an.

The Holy Quran must be preserved as it is, the way it descended upon the Prophet Mohammed, in the matter of terms, verses and chapters (suras).

Most if not all of its translations or interpretations may change by the nature of time, for it all orbit around the interpretational possibilities.

Understanding the real encoded message of the exact term or verse may vary from one interpreter / translator to another according to his intellectual, rational and scientific ability.

Keeping the text as it is (in Arabic) would allow a wider range for the readers to extract the real concepts, secrets and rationale bases of the holy text; this will vary according to people's mentality.Nonetheless, Allah (God) forbids replacing any single word by an Arabic equivalent, so who it could be replaced by an equivalent from another language.

Any translation will result in losing its miraculous composition, and if it happened, it will not be called Qur'an.

For the only way to give the text this holy name is by having its Arabic composition and terminology.

The only authorized way to translate the Holy Qur'an is to translate its message, meanings, principles, and concepts, and for this specific reason it will not be called a translation but rather it will be an interpretation.

In our modern and confusing time, there is a growing need for an interpretation in order to clarify the core and concepts of Islam in general and the Qur'an in particular for the rest of the world.