dlish

wow, i didnt realise i missed some questions...

ill start with Ring's questions

that's quite a topical question that always seems to pop up.

muslims believe that the Quran is the word of god. unchanged, unadultered. it is not the text itself, but the words that was revealed to Muhammad that is considered holy since the Quran was conveyed to muhammad verbally and didnt come on a table or scribed.

its not that it is difficult to translate the meaning of the verses, but rather the words themselves. this is why you hear muslims saying things like 'the meaning of the Quran' rather than 'translation of the Quran'. this is because muslims believe thats gods' words are perfect in arabic and changing them to any other language loses its meaning.

how so you ask?

arabic is a rich language. so rich and descriptive in fact its not uncommon that that some words have 20, 50 and even 200 different synonyms and describing words.

so when someone decides to translate the Quran into english as a purely textural reference and purely from a literal meaning then that persons' going to run into problems unless they had a high command of the arabic language, the reasons for the revelation, as well as hadith and arabic and islamic history.

muslims believe that to translate the actual words themselves are difficult, but that it is possible to convey the message or meaning of those words.

I have not read the Thomas Cleary translation, so i cant really comment on it.

By far the most popular translation out there bar none is the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation called 'The meaning of the Holy Quran'. its the equivelant of the 'King James version' of the Bible, if i can draw that parallel.

Of the western translators, Marmaduke Pickthall', 'The Glorious Qu'ran' is easily one of the most popular around, especially in the muslim world.

from the different translations around, there isnt a change in meaning, bit rather the choice of words is interesting. Translations by non-muslims usually paint a harsher picture of the Quran. Usually, if there was a choice of words, the non muslims translators and commentators would use the harsher translation, whereas the muslim translation to english is more closer to its intended meaning.


i hope that made sense?


edit----

here is what Marmaduke Pickthall had to say about the translation of the Quran. it's pretty much what i said, except more elegantly.


"... The Qur'an cannot be translated. ...The book is here rendered almost literally and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the result is not the Glorious Qur'an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Qur'an-and peradventure something of the charm in English. It can never take the place of the Qur'an in Arabic, nor is it meant to do so..." [Marmaduke Pickthall, 1930]

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