Journal of Textual and Translation Analysis in Islamic Studies (TTAIS)

The semantic analysis of Qur’anic vocabulary has emerged as a significant area of study in recent years. In the Holy Qur’an, God specifically uses the phrase mītẖāqā gẖalīẓā (a firm covenant) to describe the marriage agreement, warranting a semantic investigation to understand the reasoning behind this choice. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore why this phrase was selected for the marriage covenant. It employs historical, descriptive, and cognitive analyses of the phrase. The term mītẖāqā gẖalīẓā appears three times in the Qur’an: first, in reference to God’s covenant with the prophets (Al-Ahzab: 7); second, regarding God’s covenant with the people of Israel (An-Nisaa’: 154); and third, in the context of marriage (An-Nisaa’: 21). Through historical semantics, the study traces the semantic evolution of mītẖāq . Using descriptive semantics, it analyzes the phrase contextually and examines its paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions to uncover its semantic features and components. Furthermore, by applying the principle of authenticity of Qur’anic terms within cognitive semantics, the study concludes that no synonym or alternative phrase adequately conveys the profound semantic depth and layers of mītẖāqā in the given contexts.

This article explores the narrative structure in the Quranic surahs related to the story of creation. It begins with a brief introduction to the theoretical concepts of narrative grammar. The study then examines how this narrative grammar functions within the selected surahs at both micro and macro levels. At the micro level, the main events of each surah are outlined, identifying their fixed and variable elements. Additionally, the composition of these narratives is analyzed in terms of temporal, spatial, and causal principles. At the macro level, the study highlights the connection between these surahs, the prophetic biography, and the core teachings of Islam, including monotheism (Tawhid), prophethood (Nubuwwah), resurrection (Ma‘ad), and divine justice (‘Adl). These stories align seamlessly with the overarching themes and objectives of their respective surahs. Through Adam’s creation, God affirms His oneness (Tawhid) and appoints prophets to guide Adam's descendants. In contrast, Iblis and his followers oppose the prophets and the righteous. However, divine justice ultimately ensures that victory belongs to the righteous, and Adam and his progeny return to God (resurrection). Thus, the core theme of Adam’s story revolves around three key axes: the call to worship, arrogance and rejection, and the salvation of believers alongside the downfall of disbelievers—an axis that extends to other Quranic narratives as well. The findings of this study deepen our understanding of the Quran’s narrative structures and their connection to divine teachings. Furthermore, they provide a foundation for further research in narratology, semantics, and the intertextual analysis of religious texts.

This descriptive and comparative study aimed to analyze reframing strategies in the Persian translation of Gibran Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet (1923). The study examined the entire book and its three Persian translations: Mostapha Elm (1961), Mahdi Maghsodi (2004), and Hossein Mohyeddin Elahi Ghomshei (2015). Reframing strategies are significant tools used by translators to adapt a text to a different context. To guide this analysis, we applied Baker’s (2007) reframing theory, which includes labeling, outer paratext, inner paratext, and textual choices encompassing translational and contextual strategies. The findings revealed that among the three Persian translations of The Prophet, Elahi Ghomshei’s version employs a rich array of inner and outer paratextual strategies, often Islamizing the text through frequent theological references to classic Persian poets. His translation is also more heavily commented, interpreted, and reframed compared to those of Maghsodi and Elm. Additionally, Elahi Ghomshei’s translation stands out for its temporal and spatial relevance, as it connects the events to the poet’s era and the original Islamic context. In contrast, while Maghsodi’s and Elm’s translations show few signs of such strategies, Elahi Ghomshei’s work offers examples where the content of Persian poems closely aligns with the English text.

This study investigates whether complementary oppositions (COs) in the Glorious Qur’ān have been accurately translated from Arabic into English. The research is based on Halliday and Hasan's (1976) theory of lexical cohesion, focusing on lexical cohesive devices in three selected translations of COs in Surah Al-An'aam. COs are defined as paired semantic opposites, where the negation of one reinforces the meaning of the other. This qualitative study employs an analytical-documentary method to evaluate the translations. Translators often face challenges, particularly with collocations, as they strive to preserve both meaning and form. The selected theoretical framework by Halliday and Hasan (1976) examines lexical cohesive devices such as repetition, collocations, and sense relations. The primary objective is to assess the lexical coherence of the selected translations and analyze the lexical relationships between English CO equivalents, which function as key cohesive devices. The study uses Arabic CO examples from Seyyedi and Baghojary (2020) alongside their English translations by Arberry (1955), Pickthall (1930), and Qaraa'i (2005), sourced from the online Tanzil Qur’ān Navigator. Findings indicate that Arberry’s translation demonstrates the highest lexical coherence due to its alignment with the Qur’ānic style and frequent use of collocations and contrasting repetition.

This study aimed to examine the strategies employed in translating Qur’ānic proper names, using Chesterman’s (1997) model as the theoretical framework. To achieve this, 100 Arabic proper nouns were purposively sampled to analyze the frequency and distribution of translation strategies across six English translations of the Holy Qur’ān. The translations considered were those by Yusuf Ali (1934), Pickthall (1930), Saffarzadeh (2001), Arberry (1973), Qarai (2003), and Shakir (1993). After identifying all proper names, the translation strategies utilized by each translator were coded and compared. The findings revealed that all translators relied on three primary strategies: loan translation, paraphrase, and synonymy, though their usage varied in frequency. Loan translation emerged as the most frequently used strategy among all translators, whereas paraphrase was the least used, except in the cases of Saffarzadeh and Shakir. Specifically, Saffarzadeh applied paraphrase and synonymy with equal frequency, while Shakir favored paraphrase over synonymy. In conclusion, the analysis showed that all six translators employed only three of the strategies outlined in Chesterman’s (1997) model. Loan translation was the predominant strategy, followed by synonymy and paraphrase, with the latter two varying slightly in their order of frequency among Saffarzadeh and Shakir.

Islam, as the final and most comprehensive religion, offers a divine plan for a purposeful and prosperous life. It has continued to spread through the Glorious Qur’ān and the Straight Path of Ahlul-Bayt, divine peace be upon them. When reading the Qur’ān, figurative language often presents challenges, as readers may encounter ambiguity in understanding its message and religious teachings. Therefore, the accurate translation of Qur’ānic idioms is of utmost importance. However, existing English translations sometimes diverge from the source text, with idiomatic expressions being a key source of such discrepancies. Thus, comparing different translations of Qur’ānic idioms based on scientific principles of translation is essential. This study examines the interpretations and English translations of idioms found in verse 12 of Surah al-Mumtaḥanah and verse 8 of Surah al-Saff in the Noble Qur’ān. To achieve this, translations by prominent scholars were selected through purposive sampling, ensuring a variety of translation methods. Seventeen translations were analyzed for Surah al-Ṣaff and thirteen for Surah al-Mumtaḥanah. Given the descriptive nature of this research, the study aimed to identify and explain the methods used by these translators. The theoretical foundation of this research is based on Friedrich Schleiermacher’s (2012) translation methods, followed by an evaluation of the translations using Waddington’s (2001) holistic model of translation quality assessment. Finally, based on the observed strengths and weaknesses of the translations, new versions of the verses were proposed, designed to be more comprehensible and appealing to younger generations.