Music is good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music is good - Essay Example Music is very important. Whenever I feel stressed up and incapable of moving on, music has always been a tool for self-consolation and encouragement. Moreover, music offers best motivational tool when doing certain works. As can be proved, the sounds and rhythms triggered by various forms of music can drive one into dancing that mainly involves the multidirectional movement of the body parts. These movements help in maintaining physical, emotional and psychological fitness that are good for healthy living. Training in music requires extra commitment and punctuality that in turn demands good organization of individual’s programs. Adherence to these demands automatically helps in developing self-discipline in the individual musician. In conclusion, music is an essential component of societal life as it majorly targets at shaping societies in more positive manner. Music has the required potentials of helping an individual child develop quick and perfect linguistic skills. Recurrent exposure to various sounds and tones of music helps in nurturing the cognitive development of an individual child as it enhances listening, speaking and reading skills of an individual listener. Music is also consolatory tool especially when individuals undergo stress and emotional discord. Music is also vital motivational tool especially when individuals perform various types of work. Music makes has the potential of making otherwise difficult tasks appear easy as it stimulates concentration and happiness.

Video game controversy Essay Example for Free

Video game controversy Essay Technology has (had) come a long way since the early years of life. The use of technology to humans, is to enhance or improve whatever it may be to have a much quicker advancement or have a better and easy going lifestyle. But in the more recent years, technology has turned for the worst. Specifically speaking, video games. Video games in its early years were meant for a positive use, much like any other type of game; to simply act as a fun activity to pass time. That is not the case anymore because of how dangerously advanced and addicting video games can be. In fact it’s so dangerous nowadays that countries like South Korea are contemplating whether or not to ban video games. Why is it dangerous? Video games influence a type of negative social behavior, has a direct correlation to the cause of Insomnia, and is relevant to the increasing obesity rates in America. Playing video games can lead to many negative effects on a person. Video Games influence a type of negative social behavior. â€Å"The effects of videophilia are substantial and include obesity, attention disorders, lack of socialization and poor academic performance† (Video Game Addiction). The person (game player) may lose social skills and qualities depending on the level of video game addiction. Usually, the player is spending so much time on the game that he/ she is neglecting other areas of life. A common sign of video game addiction is constantly talking about the game almost constantly. â€Å" It is more likely to talk down upon a peer after a violent video game session† (Tiret). These types of social skills are not acceptable to continuously practice. The people that talk down on peers because of the violent video game session could go into depression or anxiety because of what others say or think about them. Young Children love playing rated M 18+ games that contain violence and other profound content (Parks). â€Å" the more time children and teens spend playing violent video games the more likely they are to display aggressive behavior† (Tiret). The more violent the game is, the more violent the player will be. It’s morally wrong to be mean for absolutely no reason towards other human beings. The effects on aggressive behavior can be long lasting (Tiret). A build up in anger is not healthy. If the constant aggression keeps up, the aggressive person will be ostracized by classmates or friends. Insomnia is easily caused by the lack of sleep, which is a common symptom of a video game addict. â€Å"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety† (Wilderness Adventure). â€Å"In a study by Breslau and associates, patients with insomnia were nearly 4 times more likely to suffer major depression than those without insomnia† (Johnston). A depressed person will look at everything negatively and have no motivation to go outside. The person may even view his/ her life not even worth living. Stress and depression can be caused by a variety of things resulting in insomnia. Stress may be caused by hours on the computer playing a game without rest. Depression may hit the person, depending on intimacy with the video game, once he/she loses a lot. â€Å" insomnia and its associated daytime sleepiness had significant negative effects on cognitive functioning and impaired their subjects’ ability to perform ordinary tasks† (Johnston). â€Å"Excessive Sleepiness has been linked to learning disabilities in children and cognitive and memory problems in adults† (Johnston). If this keeps up then the next generations will become less capable than the ones before which shouldn’t happen. Remembering what you ate for breakfast will be very difficult. â€Å"Poor sleep hygiene includes an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mayo Clinic). The ‘stimulating activities’ could translate into playing video games before you sleep. The effects of the stimulating activities causes the person to stay awake longer in bed. Some argue video games can be healthy to a person. One of the biggest positive effects video games can have on a person is the fact that makes people happy. As a result, video games have become an easy scapegoat for numerous violent tendencies and social behaviors. Video games are indeed a scapegoat, but it doesn’t hide the fact that the people who play these games as a scapegoat are neglecting themselves from the real world. These people will not get to experience what it’s really like in the real world. Based on solid scientific evidence, video games may actually fill basic human needs that the real world fails to satisfy (Shapiro). This applies to people who have social anxieties causing these people to refrain from the outside even more. The people are not completely solving their problems, only temporarily. It is not the game’s fault for these negative effects. There are millions who play the game and don’t go out and do the negatively portrayed actions on the news. The criminals mention the games’ names and blame the games. Violent games are very influential on a person. â€Å"Reality is too complicated to blame playings games, moving pictures, or letters on a page† (Parks). Games are where people get ideas from. Life is commonly sealed into one perception for a person, and curiosity comes from ideas that have never been heard of before. Addiction of video games can easily lead into obesity which is a dangerous and lethal disease. Video games create an obstacle for children. â€Å"Children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV, but less than 4 minutes a day in instructed outdoor play† (Wilderness Adventure). There is an extreme amount of physical inactivity. The calories are not burned which turn into fat later on. â€Å"Getting less than seven hours of sleep a night can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite† (Mayo Clinic). Less sleep IS a vital cause of obesity. Eating most of your calories at night contributes to weight gain. â€Å"Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight† (WHO). Being overweight and obese brings cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even some cancers. The obese people are not outside and running which leads into no training for the cardiovascular system. While playing video games, gamers do not pay attention to what they eat which could lead into a massive buildup of diabetes. â€Å"More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011† (WHO). 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity. Children who play video games fit into this category. The topic of video games being perceived as a positive thing today is growing out of hand. It’s like spreading a humongous lie to gullible innocents. Affecting social behavior in a negative manner, causing obesity, and developing insomnia are serious matters. The negative effects of playing video games are severe and the idea of playing video games should not be taken lightly.

Homelessness Causes and Effects

Homelessness Causes and Effects Homeless People What would it be like to be homeless? Imagine not knowing where you will sleep tonight. On a practical level, how would it feel not to have a bath for weeks and to wear dirty clothes every day? I think most of us would agree with the line from John Payne’s poem Home, Sweet Home: â€Å"Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home†. Yet thousands of people in the UK have no home of their own. We have all seen people asking for money, who seem to have all their possessions in a plastic bag, and nowhere to go. Although these people who are sleeping rough in doorways are the most visible, homelessness also includes those who are placed in hostels, bed and breakfast or other temporary accommodation, or local authority housing. It is difficult to understand how people become homeless and research shows that they are all ages, from all areas and backgrounds. There are charities that support the homeless and Centrepoint is a national organisation that focuses on young people. It provides emergency night shelters and short stay hostels. Their research shows that more than 80% of the young people who turn to Centrepoint for help are homeless due to family breakdown, abuse or eviction. Some young people become homeless following the death of a parent. It seems a double blow to be bereaved and homeless. However, often these vulnerable young people find themselves sleeping rough before seeking help. Many of these 16 to 20 year olds have no qualifications or means of supporting themselves financially. I feel that if our society wants these people to become self-sufficient, it is essential to offer help in the form of housing, and assisting them to either return to school, or to gain qualifications through training programmes to improve their chances of finding worthwhile employment. Tragically, many homeless young people are â€Å"befriended† by drug addicts or encouraged into prostitution. For those who have run away from home as a result of abuse, one wonders how bad their home circumstances must have been if they would prefer to face the risks of addiction and sexually transmitted disease. Of course it is not only young people who become homeless. Older people can face homelessness when they lose their jobs and are evicted from their homes because they cannot pay the rent. Sometimes these people have physical or mental health problems as well. Unfortunately in some circumstances these people either have no family, or their families are unable or unwilling to help them. Single homeless people are not a high priority for housing assistance and are therefore more likely to be sleeping rough, huddled under a bridge, trying to keep warm with newspapers. Other homeless people are ex-offenders. They have paid for their crime and yet they find themselves unable to find a job and therefore without resources. It is sad that many people coming out of prison have nowhere to go and may eventually end up in prison again. Often these people have been exposed to drugs in prison and will resort to dealing as a means of making money. Anyone is capable of turning to crime out of desperation, ending up harming others in an attempt to steal money. If people become homeless as a result of family breakdown or employment problems, should we not as a society make a stronger effort to help these people? Homelessness and having no money creates a climate for crime which is what we want to prevent. One of the ways of preventing it could be to offer more support to people before they find themselves homeless. For example, young people could have anonymous safe places to go to if they are in abusive situations. They should know that there is at least one adult at school who they can talk to, or a number they can phone. Although there are charities offering phone line assistance, it is not sufficient. The people who receive the least sympathy, it seems, are the mothers with small children. Although they may not be sleeping rough, these families are often in very cramped accommodation and they cannot really make it feel like a home. If they are fortunate enough to be given council housing they are often envied or disliked by others and made to feel that they have been given something they do not deserve. However, we do not know their circumstances and they may have been the victims of sexual abuse or domestic violence. It would be far better for them and their children to be in a safe place than to risk further violence. Homelessness is a problem all over the world. Places affected by flooding and earthquakes suddenly have thousands of people whose homes have been demolished and who have no possessions. Places in Africa that experience severe drought conditions force people to try to find food elsewhere. Unfortunately the result is often groups of homeless people who are starving.According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people worldwide have no housing whatsoever. This becomes a serious Human Rights issue and although we might like to think it is mainly a problem in the developing countries, the truth is that in first world countries such as the UK and United States, the number of homeless is growing. Although it is helpful to donate to charities who offer help, or to give people food, more needs to be done. Adequate housing needs to be available and we have to change our attitude towards people who may be in dire circumstances through no fault of their own. Bibliography Capdevila, G HUMAN RIGHTS: More Than 100 Million Homeless Worldwide http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086 Payne, J Clari; or, the Maid of Milan: an Opera. London: John Miller, 1823. See http://www.poetry-archive.com/p/home_sweet_home.html Pleace, N and Fitzpatrick, S (2004) Centrepoint Youth Homelessness index http://www.centrepoint.org.uk/documents/Centrepoint_YorkResearch-report.pdf

Oedipus Essay -- Literary Analysis, Sophocles

Anger is expressed through a variety of reasons. Vague with many divisions and levels, it comprises of different types. Anger is a powerful emotion that reveals the state of a person. Often, this emotion is uncontrollable because it is used to recompense for what has been lost and creates positive and negative effects. Particularly, it is evident when expectations and goals are unfulfilled or do not meet reality. In Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Shusaku Endo’s Silence, the protagonists experience anger for reasons that differ. Sebastian Rodrigues's non-acceptance towards others for their lack of moral values and dignity together with Oedipus's hubris and indignation bring a similar result of emotional change. Led by pride, s shows asperity towards those that he feels have the audacity to unfairly mistreat him. When Tiresias refuses to inform him of the murderer, Oedipus answers â€Å"What, nothing? You miserable old man! You’d drive a stone to fury. Do you still refuse? Your flinty heart set in hopeless stubbornness† (Sophocles 19). Through his questions, his anger is aroused. â€Å"Old man† (Sophocles 19) is a connotation to degrade Tiresias while the â€Å"stone† (Sophocles 19) is personified to erupt from anger due to his loathsomeness. Likewise, his heart is personified to be recreant for scheming together with a supposed assassin. After Tiresias divulges that Oedipus is guilty, Oedipus alleges, â€Å"So this is what he wants, Creon the loyal, Creon so long my friend! Stealing up to overthrow and snatch!† (Sophocles 22). Accusing Creon through his sarcastic tone, positive adjectives such as â€Å"loyal† (Sophocles 22) and â€Å"friend† (Sophocles 22) otherwise heightens a sense of betrayal. As he is unjustly surmised, chided and accused as self-cen... ...d the possibilities are hindered by pride, and the most unexpected and impossible can occur. Frequently, people are oblivious to their own flaws by unknowingly holding the same malfeasance and chiding others. By judging others, they become the very aspect and evil that they hate. Oedipus’s anger, while incognizant about the entire plight, seems more justifiable than that of Rodrigues who continues criticizing people after having seen the entire perspective of the situation. He focuses on the narrower view rather than evaluating it as a whole. Both characters exhibit different sides of anger and pose the question, ‘what extent anger is justifiable?’ Perhaps the message that the authors’ intended to convey was that human beings are biased based on their limited point of view, and therefore fallible. This is an ongoing and innate flaw that we must learn from. Oedipus Essay -- Literary Analysis, Sophocles Anger is expressed through a variety of reasons. Vague with many divisions and levels, it comprises of different types. Anger is a powerful emotion that reveals the state of a person. Often, this emotion is uncontrollable because it is used to recompense for what has been lost and creates positive and negative effects. Particularly, it is evident when expectations and goals are unfulfilled or do not meet reality. In Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Shusaku Endo’s Silence, the protagonists experience anger for reasons that differ. Sebastian Rodrigues's non-acceptance towards others for their lack of moral values and dignity together with Oedipus's hubris and indignation bring a similar result of emotional change. Led by pride, s shows asperity towards those that he feels have the audacity to unfairly mistreat him. When Tiresias refuses to inform him of the murderer, Oedipus answers â€Å"What, nothing? You miserable old man! You’d drive a stone to fury. Do you still refuse? Your flinty heart set in hopeless stubbornness† (Sophocles 19). Through his questions, his anger is aroused. â€Å"Old man† (Sophocles 19) is a connotation to degrade Tiresias while the â€Å"stone† (Sophocles 19) is personified to erupt from anger due to his loathsomeness. Likewise, his heart is personified to be recreant for scheming together with a supposed assassin. After Tiresias divulges that Oedipus is guilty, Oedipus alleges, â€Å"So this is what he wants, Creon the loyal, Creon so long my friend! Stealing up to overthrow and snatch!† (Sophocles 22). Accusing Creon through his sarcastic tone, positive adjectives such as â€Å"loyal† (Sophocles 22) and â€Å"friend† (Sophocles 22) otherwise heightens a sense of betrayal. As he is unjustly surmised, chided and accused as self-cen... ...d the possibilities are hindered by pride, and the most unexpected and impossible can occur. Frequently, people are oblivious to their own flaws by unknowingly holding the same malfeasance and chiding others. By judging others, they become the very aspect and evil that they hate. Oedipus’s anger, while incognizant about the entire plight, seems more justifiable than that of Rodrigues who continues criticizing people after having seen the entire perspective of the situation. He focuses on the narrower view rather than evaluating it as a whole. Both characters exhibit different sides of anger and pose the question, ‘what extent anger is justifiable?’ Perhaps the message that the authors’ intended to convey was that human beings are biased based on their limited point of view, and therefore fallible. This is an ongoing and innate flaw that we must learn from.

Explore Different Types Of Essays And Examples

Exploring The Different Types Of Essays And Examples ~ our site Essay writing is going to help you create a stream of academic success. If you can do this, you will excel in nearly all major arenas of writing, and education. But that’s not just a matter of school. You’re going to find that you can explore different types of essays to ensure that you’re working through writing for industry and learning as well. If you can write an essay well, you can write just about anything, and may find yourself offering companies a lot more than other employees that they may be looking into hiring. This is a great option that you’ll no doubt want to explore, especially if you want to ensure that you’re able to gain the upper hand in the job market today. The following will help you explore the major types of essays that you should know about. This will help you understand the bigger picture of what’s going on with writing in academia and beyond.Narrative Style The first option that you’re going to want to consider is that of narrative essays. This is a solution that lets you tell a story from the perspective of first person view points. It’s something that you are going to help create elements that will help you create lavish stories and more. You can sometimes see this in literature, where documentation in journals and more are written. The book â€Å"Dracula† for instance, has this narrative style, and it looks like an essay in many chapters that collect to form the larger picture of the story. Narrative essays are usually personal, and can help put forward real-life experiences for others to read etc. You can create a conclusion at the end, or you can leave it open ended, depending on what the purpose of the essay assignment truly is.Descriptive Style The next thing that you will need to consider is simple, descriptive style. This is a solution that lets you be more descriptive in what you’re writing. You will be writing like you were creating a short story or a novel. You’ll use descriptions that are absolutely focused on deeper elements, and meaning that goes beyond just telling a story. This is a novelization and narrative style that is more descriptive than the first essay style. It’s an interesting push forward that will give you details about the subject matter on a lot of deeper elements. It will no doubt help you gain the upper hand in whatever it is you’re trying to discuss with people, as it works with transitional elements from first person to second and even third person if need be.Expository StyleThe third type of essay that you may be asked to create is that of a factual essay option. This is an academic solution that is going to help you create definitive narration through media and statistics. This can be sometimes boring to write, but it’s an important aspect to consider. It’s something that helps you create outstanding avenues of comparative and contrasting elements. You will write how to, cause and effect, and much more. This is not a matter of personal elements. You will not use â€Å"I† or â€Å"me†, or anything personal elements. This is structured in an academic form that uses facts, citations, data, and more. This is the same type of options that get published in serious publications, and even medical journals. This is meant for academia and not much else.Persuasive Style The fourth solution that you are going to want to learn about is that of persuasive essay styles. This is an option that is going to help you work towards convincing someone of what you’re discussing. This is a writer’s best friend because you can present an argument that will help you gain the upper hand. This is a solution that many teachers are going to ask you to work with. Writers have to create an initial topic and then give arguments for or against it. It’s an interesting solution that will no doubt give you focused work throughout. The writer creates multiple sides of the argument through the presentation of facts, citations, status, points of view, and much more. There’s so much involved with this, that you may find that these could be quite long at times.Academia Demands Different StylesThere’s a lot of students that don’t know how to pick the proper essay format for their education. Do not become one of those students. Instead, learn how to write different types of essays to help you with learning, and much more. You’ll find that you will be able to work through any type of essay style if you work with these essay types. The options listed above will help you gain the upper hand in major types of academic writing and more. Academia will always ask you to write essays. However, the most common are the ones we have covered above. The four above are going to help you with a lot of different elements that could help you get the information that is going to help you get a good grade. If you can work with the different styles above, you will not be surprised by what you will be asked to construct.What’s The Most Common Essay TypeHere’s the thing, the majority of scholastic options are not going to be focused on just â€Å"one† type of essay. We have covered the most common options, however, there maybe others. So, what’s the most common essay typesChances are you’re going to find that persuasive, and expository are the ones you will be asked to write most frequently. These are going to be the most common that you’ll have to turn into school past the college level. As you get closer to the masters and doctorate level, you’ll find that you’ll end up with a lot of writing. Now, there are times when the first two types of essay writing will be asked to be put together. For instance, you’ll find that if you’re going to apply to a college, so you’ll be working with with narrative essays. Descriptive essays will be more for creative circles, however. Either way, you should be familiar with these four major types of essays as you build towards academic glory. If you are worried that you need to survive the University, head over to our site and let our expert writers help you write a top class essay, on time and to the highest possible quality. We are often asked, can our site help me Write My Essay, the answer is of course. In addition, we provide free guidance to our clients on what to look for when you are choosing the best Essay Writing Company. You may also be interested in reading about:How to avoid Plagiarism in an EssayHow to avoid Plagiarism in a Dissertation

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay

Ralph Waldo Emerson, who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century, once wrote, â€Å"The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. † The Transcendentalist were a group of people who believed that everyone was equal and had power inside them as an individual. In the mid-19th century Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman were the main writers and thinkers of the transcendentalist movement. In the 1960’s as African American’s fought for civil rights in a cruel society. William Melvin Kelly combines the two in the book â€Å"A Different Drummer. † This book tells the story of Tucker Caliban, a black farmer who encourages a huge amount of blacks to leave the south when he decides to salt his crops and burn down his house and leave. Tucker embodies the characteristics of a Transcendentalist according to Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman in three ways: he does what he wants without an explanation, he’s self-reliant, and he fights a corrupt system in his own way. Tucker does what he wants without an explanation or logic. Tucker stays out all night to teach Dewey how to ride a bike, even though his grandfather would be mad. Tucker also burned his house down and salted his crops without explaining this to his wife or to anyone else. Tucker writes Dewey a letter in college, he ask about the bike he taught him to ride. Dewey doesn’t understand why because Tucker really didn’t explain what he wanted to know about the bike. This shows Tucker really doesn’t tell anyone his logic behind his actions. â€Å"To be great is to be misunderstood†, Emerson. This quote refers to Tucker because he is misunderstood by the whites. This shows he’s also self-reliant and free spirited. Tucker Caliban is self-reliant and unique. Tucker self taught himself to farm and ride a bike. He also doesn’t believe in the civil rights movement which most other blacks strongly believe in. He also believes everyone has to free themselves or else there not really free. This shows that Tucker Caliban is not just any other black, he’s unique. But he also fights the south’s corrupt system in his own one of a kind way. â€Å"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. † This quote refers to Tucker because he is different and others are afraid to be different. Tucker Caliban is a rebel and he fights the system. He burned down his house and salted his crops because that’s where the slaves worked for the Willsons. He broke the grandfather clock because it was bought the same day as the African. He cut down the tree that separated his land from the Willisons, that was there from the days of slavery. He did all of this to cut his ties from slavery and from the south.† Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its members. † This refers to the south and other blacks like Tucker. Therefore Tucker Caliban embodies the characteristics of a Transcendentalist according to Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman in three ways: he does what he wants without an explanation, he’s self-reliant, and he fights a corrupt system in his own way. Tucker’s movement from the south is a strong step in the right direction for racism in the south. To me what Tucker did was strong and no else was strong enough to leave before Tucker did it.

Word Repetition in the Qur’an: Translating Form or Meaning?

J. King Saud Univ. , Vol. 19, Lang. & Transl. , pp. 17-34, Riyadh (A. H. 1427/2006) Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? Ahmed Ali Assistant Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia (Received 13/10/1426 A. H. ; accepted for publication, 04/04/1427 A. H. ) Abstract. Word repetition is a feature that exists in all languages, and serves different purposes, rhetorical, emphatic, or otherwise. A problematic issue arises when a translation is attempted of repeated words in a target text. The dilemma is that owing to the different ways of expression and tools available to every language, what fits one language may prove absurd in another. When dealing with the translation of repeated words in a sacred text, this proves to be much more problematic. This paper deals with this specific area as far as repeated words in the Holy Qur’an are concerned. The present paper argues that each repeated word in the Qur’anic text serves a particular purpose which may be totally defeated, and, perhaps, the whole message distorted if the translator fails to render repetition in the same way. This, by no means, resolves the repetition conundrum. However, to put it in simple terms, the translator could, in an attempt to maintain the accuracy and faithfulness, and at the same time, maintain the flow of the translation, make use of footnotes to draw the attention of the reader/critic to the actual wording of the original. In this way, the translator minimizes the effect of, at least, the form of the original on the translation. The meaning is (hopefully) preserved, and thereby, the reader/critic – and most importantly – the believer, is satisfied by accounting for all the words in the text involved. Introduction The problems in translating a text from one language to another are legion. For example, it is quite common to find western critics referring to what they claim to be incoherence, inconsistency or lack of harmony in the Qur’anic style (c. f. Hyde Park Christian Fellowship [1] and Ghoneim [2]). Such views ignore the fact that: Ahmed Ali * it is both inconceivable and impossible to judge one language according to the rules of another; * what might be considered elegant style, or legitimate form, or appropriate function in one language is not necessarily looked upon the same way in another; * different languages very often express the same thing differently, necessitating different phrasing in expression in translation; * there is no perfect synonymy or exact equivalence between languages in translation. there will always be a â€Å"translation loss† of different degrees as a result of not only linguistic, but also cultural factors. Therefore, no translation can be the original, even when the translation may seem to be â€Å"better† than the original. The inherently problematic nature of translation is further complicated when the principal text, as is the case with the Holy Qur’an, is considered to b e a sacred one, containing the inspiration for a complete way of life. In such a case, accuracy in translation becomes a religious and moral duty, not merely a linguistic or logistical exercise. Since it would be impossible here to discuss the complexities encountered by innumerable translators in the field of translating the Qur’an, this paper focuses on one small — but not inconsiderable — aspect encountered in the sacred text, that is, the issue of repetition. The Qur'an Muslims believe that the religion preached in Arabia by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be Allah’s (God’s) final revelation to humanity. For Muslims, the Qur’an, which is Allah’s words revealed to humankind, supplements and completes the earlier revelations on which all theistic religions are built and corrects the human interference and misinterpretations that corrupted and adulterated those earlier revelations. The whole of the Qur’an is arranged into 114 suwar (singular: surah) of unequal size, though a logical thread of meaning — of revelation from Allah — runs through them all. Each surah, which means degree or step, consists f a number of verse divisions, which are called ayat (singular: ayah) which are usually determined by the rhythm and cadence in the Arabic text. Sometimes, an ayah, meaning a sign, contains many sentences. Sometimes, a sentence is divided by a break in an ayah; but, usually, there is a pause in meaning at the end. The ayah is the true unit of the Qur’an, since â€Å"it is a verse of revelation as a sign of God’s wisdom and goodness, just as m uch as God’s beautiful handiwork in the material creation or His dealings in history are signs to us† (Ali [3, p. 3]). The Qur’an, therefore, is the Holy Writ, sent down to us, as surah al-Nahl reveals: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [explaining all things, a guide, a mercy, and glad tidings to Muslim] (Qur’an 16:89). Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? The Qur’an exists in its original language, i. e. , Arabic. Muslim scholars unanimously agree that the Qur’an is only the Qur’an when it is in Arabic, in its original wording as revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Cook [4, p. 94] refers to Ibn Hizam (d. 1064), a scholar of Muslim Spain, who stated laconically that â€Å"NonArabic isn’t Arabic, so it’s not the Qur’an†. This is derived from the fact that there are eleven references in ten Qur’anic suwar Al-Laithy [5, p. 46] confirming exactly this notion. By way of example, surah Fussilat states: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [And if We had sent this as a Qur’an in a foreign language (other than Arabic), they would have said: â€Å"Why are not its ayat explained (in our language)? What! (A book) not in Arabic and (the Messenger) an Arab. ] (Qur’an 41:44). As Ali [3, p. xi], in his preface to the first edition of his translation of the Holy Qur’an, states, it is the duty of every Muslim — m an, woman or child — to read the Qur’an and understand it according to his own capacity. For non-Arabic Muslims, this poses something of a problem. As Cook [4, p. 8] points out, Arabic is not just the original language of the Qur’an (as ancient Hebrew was the original language of the Torah); it is the language of the Qur’an. Therefore, talking about â€Å"translating the Qur’an†, is problematic. The question that needs to be posed is: Is the Qur’an – as a sacred text – translatable? On the one hand, the view of the untranslatability of sacred texts is championed by Stiener’s comments (in Ali [6, p. 174]) on the troubles encountered when translating the word of God. He states in his foreword to Translating Religious Texts [6, p. xiii] â€Å"Here we flounder in deep waters. If a text is ‘revealed’, if its initial encoding is then transferred into a mundane and fallible sign-system, that of secular and post-Adamic speech, to what truth-functions, to what correspondent faithfulness can any translation aspire? † On the other hand, what do we call the well-known â€Å"translations† of Ali [3], Pickthal [7]. Arberry [8], Asad [9] and others? It is the view of the present author that if an original text exists in another language, this second product is a translation. The translation of any text is a means of rewriting the meaning/message of the original text using a target language. Yet, any translation of any text, no matter how immaculate and scholarly, can never be the original, and will always be imperfect and subject to error. Therefore, the Qur’an is translatable, even though the translation might be laden with shortcomings and inaccuracies, and can serve as no more than an introduction to nonArabic speaking audience, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. For the Muslim, anything other than the Arabic original will always be merely an interpretation, an attempt at conveying the message of the Qur’an, and will always be an approximation of the original. Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali The fact is, though, that conveying the message of the Qur’an has become imperative in the light of global interest – for a variety of reasons – in Islam and in the beliefs and practices of Muslims. As Muslims and Islamic affairs rise more and more to prominence in global politics, the need to access the contents and meaning of the Qur’an, specifically through the medium of English, becomes more pressing. It is how this Holy Writ should be translated that forms the basis of this paper. Orignal and Translated Text As any translator knows, translating from a source language to a target language presents a minefield of complications. In his discussion of issues related to the Soviet school of translation, Lauren G. Leighton [10, p. 17] asserts that few Soviet translators would agree with the dogmatic literalist Vladimir Nabokov’s assertion that one should dismiss the conventional notion that a translation should â€Å"read smoothly†, and â€Å"should not sound like a translation†. Indeed, says Leighton, Nabokov asserts that any translation that does not sound like a translation is bound to be inexact upon inspection. Nabokov’s assertion here justifiably raises the following questions: What are the criteria that produce a translation sounding like a translation? How does a translation, sounding like a translation, sound? There must, by implication, be certain features in the translation itself that makes it sound like one. Does this mean, for example, complete adherence to the linguistic rules of the source language, even at the expense of both the style and the linguistic integrity of the target language? Such an argument raises more questions than answers because ‘how a translation should sound’ is not defined. Whether a translation should sound like a translation or not, does not mean that ‘bad translations’ are admissible. In other words, a translated text should read well and with no clumsiness of style caused by the interference of, for instance, the linguistic rules of the target (or second) language. Still, the majority of the translations of the meaning of the Qur’an actually do sound like translations. The main reason for this is the inevitable impact of the Qur’anic form on the target language. The division of the Qur’an into ayat; the translator’s clear attempt to adhere to the source text’s wording; the importance of the source text; the attempts to follow the Arabic style n the translation; the existence of terms that are untranslatable without detailed footnoting – these are but a few reasons why many Qur’anic translations sound like translations or do not sound natural. This is a difficult problem to tackle. While the aim of translators should be to present the given text in the appropriate style and to conform to the linguistic demands Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? of the target language, in many cases they might find themselves in a situation where the impact of the source language displays itself glaringly – with sometimes unacceptable yet unavoidable results. Translating Repetition Repetition, as an element of rhetoric, is an important characteristic of Arabic texts (both ancient and modern), as it is in European discourse (Connor [11]). It would not be apposite in a paper on translation to discuss how and why repetition functions as a rhetorical device in Arabic discourse, and the reader should refer to the noteworthy contribution of Al-Jubouri [12] in this regard in the Swales and Mustafa study English for Specific Purposes in the Arab World. Suffice it to say that repetition plays a vital role, specifically in the context of attempts to translate the Qur’an accurately. In the succeeding sections, a brief attempt will be made to locate the incidence of repetition in non-Qur’anic sources merely to show that repetition is a deeply rooted feature in the Arabic discourse. The section after that will discuss repetition in the Qur’an, giving two examples, and then attempt to outline the problems that translating these presents. Repetition in Non-Qur’anic Sources – Examples This dissonance between the source and the target languages refers most particularly (though not uniquely) to the incidence of repetition(1) in Arabic. As an ? ? ? ? Arabic literary critic once wrote: â€Å"A man may say to another ‘? : ’ Hurry up, says: â€Å"(3) hurry up’, and to an archer: ‘? ‘ : ’ Shoot, shoot’. (2) A famous, yet anonymous, poem † ? ? ? [How many favors have you had (upon us) how many, how many and how many (favors have you had) and how many] and another says: (1 ) For more details about ‘Repetition’, see Holes [13, pp. 269-74]; Nasif [14, p. 21]; Ibn Qutaybah [15, p. 10]; Ibn Faris [16, pp. 177-8]; Al-Jubouri [12, pp. 99-117]; Koch [17]; and Tytler [18]. According to Al-Mulla [19, p. 232] quoted from Al-Maydani, pp. 9-108 on Ibn Qayyim, pp. 159-167: â€Å"Ibn Qayyim identifies three types of Repetition in the Qur’an: Repetition with similarity of meaning e. g. Q74:19-20. Repetition with difference of meaning e. g. Q3:7. Repetition of meaning with different wording e. g. Q55:68. † (2) Ibn Qutaybah [15, p. 183]; and Abu Hilal [20, p. 193]. (3) Abu Hilal [20, p. 193]; the poet is not named. This line is also found in Al-Murtada, ’Amali al-Murtada (1954), Vol. 1, p. 84. ‘ ’ is, however, missing from this line in Ibn Qutaybah [15, p. 183], and Ibn ? ? Faris [16, p. 177]. â€Å"(4) Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali ? ? â€Å" ? ? ? ? ? [Why do you not ask the masses of (the tribe of) Kindah , when they ran away from the battlefield, where, where (did they run away to)? ] where the underlined words are repeated successively. Muhalhal also repeated the following more than twenty times in one of his poems: (5) â€Å" ? â€Å" ? [It was not fair of (the tribe of) Kulayb to (have done)†¦] Al-Harith ibn ‘Abbad successively repeated, with great effect, the half-line: (6) â€Å" â€Å" ? ? ? [Make (you two) close to me Marbit Al-Na’amah (the name of the place where his beloved one lives)]. The above are sundry examples of repetition commonly used in non-Qur’anic sources. The author believes, however, that the repetition employed in these and similar instances are merely rhetorical devices. As such, they are not much different in structure, intent and meaning as that used in European prosody or poetry. Repetition in the Qur'an – Two Examples The Qur’an, being in Arabic, is no exception to the need for the correct citati on and elaboration of the repetitions as linguistic features during translation. However, the Qur’an, as has been pointed out, is a sacred text, and as such, requires more than just This line is ascribed to ‘Abi:d ibn Al-’Abras Al-’Asadi according to Ibn Qutaybah [21, p. 224]. The next line is: ‘ ’ ? ? ? ? ? ? The line is also found in Abu Hilal [20, p. 194], and in Al-Baqillani [22, p. 160], without the name of the poet, (or Al-Baqillani [22, pp. 136-7]). However, the poet is named again in Ibn Qutaybah [15, p. 143] but not in p. 83, where the following line by ‘Auf ibn Al-khari‘ is quoted: â€Å" ? † ? ? ? ? ? ? This latter line is also found in Ibn Faris [16, p. 194], where we have instead â€Å" † and the poet’s name ? is not mentioned, while Baqillani [22, p. 160] quotes it as â€Å" . † ? ? (5) Abu Hilal [20, p. 194]. (6) Abu Hilal [20, p. 194]. (4) Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? literary critique of its f orm and usages – repetition included. This is because those very forms and usages are intrinsic in, and an essential part of, the sacred message that Muslims believe is the original, unadulterated and incorruptible Word of God. They therefore invite, not mere literary critique, but metaphysical reflection. Let us cite two examples: Example one The opening ayat of surah ’Iqra’ read: ? (? )? ?)? ( ? ? ? ? ? [Read in the name of your Lord who created (1) Created Man of a blood-clot (2)] (Q96:1-2) In this example, the word (created) is repeated twice; and while Read in the ? ame of your Lord who created Man of a blood-clot would read smoothly in English without the reader feeling that something more is needed to make the sentence sound like good English, the result is that the translator has omitted part of the original text. Whether such omission affects the meaning or not, it does not alter the fact that the translation did not cater for an ‘item’ in the original. One might conjec ture, therefore, that, in the science of translation, even if the meaning does not suffer as a result of such omission, all texts are words put together and translators must not forget that they translate on the basis of these words. Newmark [23, pp. 36-37] states: â€Å"Many translators say you should never translate words. You translate sentences or ideas or messages. I think they are fooling themselves. The SL [source language] text consists of words. That is all that is there, on the page. Finally, all you have is words to translate, and you have to account for each of them somewhere in your TL [target language] text, sometimes by deliberately not translating them [†¦ ], or by compensating for them, because if translated cold you inevitably over-translate them. In the example from Surah ’Iqra’ cited above, Q96:1 ends with the word , ? and does not require a complement — unlike create which requires an object. Also, Q96:2, due to the Arabic structure and rules of grammar is a ? complete and meaningful sentence. Yet, if we compare this to English, we find that it goes against the rules of English to start a sentence in the way ayah 2 has been translated, i. e. Created Man o f a blood-clot. While the fa‘il ‘ ?( ’ ubject) position can be filled in Arabic with no other pronoun but He, seven options are available in English to choose from (i. e. I, you, he, Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali she, it, we and they). Considering the context of Q96:1-2, the translator will have to relate the two ayat together in his translation in order to make sense. The significant difference in Arabic is that each ayah can also stand on its own, separately, as complete and meaningful in itself. The Qur’anic text indicates that the Lord created — that is, He created all things, known and unknown, tangible and intangible, visible and invisible. This sense is conveyed in ayah 1. The vision of the power of creation is then narrowed, in ayah 2, to one specific item, where we are told what He created — indeed, He created mankind. In the Arabic, it is clear that what we have here is a movement in focus between creation in general, and creation in particular. The translated text, without the repetition, reads: Read in the name of your Lord who created man of a blood-clot. This makes the ayat lose the important dimension of generality. It loses, too, the dimension of specificity. Furthermore, the Qur’anic text clearly indicates parallel rhetorical movements -between generality and particularity on the one hand, and between basic and complex on the other. But, these rhetorical movements have metaphysical implications. As has been shown above, the text your Lord who created shows the power of the Lord in His creation of all things. The text Created man is a movement to the particular, showing the power of the Lord in His creation of specific things. At the same time, we must be aware that humankind — one of a host of Allah’s creations — is itself a composite of complex organisms, mechanisms and systems. The uniqueness of humankind (its generality) rests not only in being one of many, but, at the same time, the quintessence of creation (its specificity). Similarly, reference to the blood-clot indicates the basic-to-complex shift. Blood is a basic component in the functioning of the human organism, but is also a complex component in itself. The blood-clot referred to is merely a speck on the lining of the womb, represented by the word , which, apart from meaning blood-clot also carries the meaning of ‘leech-like’, ‘hanging’ and/or ‘clinging’ (c. f. Ibrahim [24, p. 6] and Al-Rehaili [25, p. 1]). Yet, in spite of being so basic a component, and so basic a stage of development, it still comprises all the elements of the complex human embryo. The dynamic between the poles of general-to-specific and the complex-to-basic, is reinforced in the Arabic text by the repetition, that is, the repetition of the word created ? . The repetition acts as a cat alyst whereby the two movements are activated. The Arabic reader, reading the original, is immediately aware of the synonymy. The nonArabic speaker, reading a translation where the repetition has been left out, is not. Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? Therefore, the string of complexities in meaning having occurred with the use of a repeated word that ties all the involved strings together is lost. Also, the word created ? ends (in the Arabic) with a syllable that rhymes with the last word in ayah 2. As a result, a rhythmic effect is created; it possesses a poetic beat at short intervals emerging from a powerful, intense and meaning-laded pattern. ? This shows clearly the importance of repeating the word ith regard to meaning and rhythm. The translator might not be able to achieve such an effect in the translation because of the target language rules of grammar and the difference in assonance — the sound gap — between the source language and the target language. The wording of the Qur’an is deliberate and every word serves a purpose. Therefore, it is justifiable to say that if a word is repeated in the original it should, if possib le, be repeated in the translation, unless of course the context dictates a different rendering for the repeated word. Unlike other texts (be they sacred or not), when it comes to translating the Holy Qur’an, every word must be catered for. The translator has to account for each and every word in the original text, in addition to considering their meaning in context. Example two Another example, of the literally hundreds to choose from, that can be cited is in Surah Yusuf, which relates the story of Prophet Joseph, may peace be upon him, who says: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [I saw eleven planets and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrating themselves to me](7) (Qur’an 12:4) (7) Many translations, such as most of the ones used in this work render as ‘star’ not ‘planet’ (see Pickthall [7]); perhaps the translators have been influenced by Genesis 37:9 where Prophet Joseph told his brothers and father about his dream: â€Å"†¦ the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me†. However, in the Arabic translation of the Bible, the verse refers to the word ‘? ’ which is the same as in the Qur’an. One wonders where the translator of this Biblical verse into English, assuming the correctness of the Arabic, got the word ‘star’ from? Genesis 37:9 in Arabic reads: . « :  » ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? c. f. [26]. On the other hand, Al-Nuwayri [27, pp. 38-9 & pp. 61-70] talks about and quotes lines of Arabic poetry where the word kawkab ‘ ’ is used to refer to both planets and stars. The Qur’an uses the word kawkab to refer to a shining body as in Q6:76, Q24:35. See also, the plural form kawakib in Q37:6 and Q82:2. Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali The verb ‘? ( ’ saw) is repeated twice in the Arabic as well as in the translation, although the translation could have done without such repetition. It would have still made perfect sense if the translation had been: I saw eleven planets, the sun and the moon prostrating themselves to me. (8) We have already said that: the wording of the Qur’an is deliberate; every word serves a purpose; and deformation of the text’s original meaning can occur if the repetition in not adequately catered for in the translation. The above should not be interpreted as a defence of literal translation (see the discussion on Nabokov above) for all kinds of text. Still, it cannot be denied that literal translation can sometimes be a most effective form of translation, therefore its value for certain texts — the Qur’an in particular — should not be devalued. However, if adopting such a method results in inaccuracy, or deviation from the original sense and intent of the source language text, it should be abandoned. Baker [28, p. ] puts it like this: â€Å"[†¦] text is a meaning unit, not a form unit, but meaning is realized through form and without understanding the meanings of individual forms one cannot interpret the meaning of the text as a whole. Translating words and phrases out of context is certainly a futile exercise, but it is equally unhelpful to expect a student to appreciate translation decisions made at the level of text without a reasonable understanding of how the lower le vels, the individual words, phrases, and grammatical structures, control and shape the overall meaning of the text. † After quoting and analyzing many Arabic texts, Johnstone [29, p. 177] concludes: â€Å"An arguer presents truths by making them present in discourse: by repeating them, paraphrasing them, doubling them, calling attention to them with external particles. [†¦ ] Argumentation by presentation has its roots in the history of Arab society [†¦ ] Arabic argumentation is structured by the notion that it is the presentation of an idea — the linguistic forms and the very words that are used to describe it — that is persuasive, not the logical structure of proof which Westerners see behind the words. † The present author challenges Johnstone’s assertion that Arabic resorts to linguistic forms rather than logical structure of proof in the science of persuasion. Such an assertion ignores the fact that it is impossible to prove the truth of anything by merely presenting it as a rhetorical structure like repetition, paraphrase and so forth. Linguistic features of this kind are merely elements of style and discourse, not elements of deductive or inductive argument. Linguistic devices for the purposes of persuasion are (8) It is clear that the connective ‘ ? ’ waw (? ) is also repeated which is one of the features of ? ? Arabic. For details about the uses and functions of the waw, see Holes [13, pp. 217-20]. Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? used in every language (which, essentially, is what the art of rhetoric is all about). Rhetoric, however, can never substitute for proof — neither in English nor Arabic! What Joh nstone’s argument does do, however, is to shed light on the importance of repetition in Arabic and that, as a feature, it is deeply rooted in the language itself. The example in surah Yusuf cited above provides a relevant dimension to this argument. It is understood that Prophet Joseph (peace be upon him), saw what he believed was real in a dream although he did not say this himself. This is understood from his ? ? father’s answer not to tell his brothers about his dream (your dream) (Q12:5). The repetition of (I saw) indicates that there was not the least doubt in the dreamer’s mind that what he saw was real; it was at least a bit more than just a normal dream. He, of course, could not prove that he saw what he claimed, owing to the very nature of dreams. Therefore, he resorted to that feature in the language that gave his argument the confirmation it needed — and that was repeating the key word (I saw). In this ayah, the reason Prophet Joseph repeated the verb was not to persuade his listeners, but to emphasize that, what he saw, was true. This example shows recourse to a feature of the language when concrete proof cannot be provided. The proof of the veracity of what Prophet Joseph ‘saw†™ lay, not in his linguistic presentation of simply saying it again and again (as claimed by Johnstone [29, p. 155]), but in the physical coming true of his claim – his dream – near the end of the narrative. There is no doubt in the mind of the Arabic-speaking reader of the Qur’an that the repetitive nature of Prophet Joseph’s language is verbally precursive to, and predictive of, an actual event fated to occur by the virtue of God’s divine will. This is not, as Johnstone [29] would have us believe, mere linguistic form in order to persuade or convince, devoid of logical proof. The Prophet’s convictions, emphasized by repetition, serve as testimony to his faith, and to his submission (Islam) to his God. His visions cited by repeated words, confirm his prophethood. The repetition here is no mere rhetorical device — it serves, instead, to confirm the Divine Hand behind the Prophet’s visions and what subsequently occurred. The rational argumentation for the actuality and the veracity of the events is implicit, rather than explicit — and is vested in the repetition. Translating this implicit rational argumentation is not easy. Of course, in cases where explicit rational argumentation (â€Å"logical proof†) is needed, we find that repetition becomes a means that communicates the truth and supports the proof. Ample examples can be found in Surah al-Naml. ?) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?) ( ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?) ( ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?) ( ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?) ( ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ( ) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ( ) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [Say: Praise be to Allah, and Peace on His servants whom He has chosen (for His Message). (Who) is better? Allah or the false gods they associate (with Him)? (59) Or, who has created the heavens and the earth, and who sends you down rain from the sky? Yea, with it We cause to grow well-planted orchards full of beauty and delight: it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees in them. (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Nay, they are a people who swerve from justice. (60) Or, who has made the earth firm to live in; made rivers in its midst; set thereon mountains immovable, and made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Nay, most of them know not. 61) Or, who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him, and who relieves its suffering, and makes you (mankind) inheritors of the earth? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Little it is that ye heed! (62) Or, who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea, and who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His mercy? (Can th ere be another) god besides Allah? High is Allah above what they associate with Him! (63) Or, who originates Creation, then repeats it, and who gives you sustenance from heaven and earth? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Say, â€Å"Bring forth your evidence, if ye are telling the truth! † (64) Say: None in the heavens or on earth, except Allah, knows what is hidden: nor can they perceive when they shall be raised up (for Judgment). (65)] (Q27:59-65) Word Repetition in the Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? Generally speaking, one of the functions of repetition in Arabic is to give force to the point made, and to add emphasis to the argument; in most cases, the repeated words are not redundant nor do they affect the style in a way that makes it gauche or clumsy. Consider, for example, the different ranslations for Surah al-Rahman where the word almizan (balance) is repeated three times. (9) The English translations, do, to the English ear, have a tiresome, repetitive quality which is absent in the Arabic: )? ( ?)? ( ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (? ) ? ? (Q55:7-9) From Khan & Helali [30] 7. And the heaven He has raised high, and He has set up the b alance. 8. In order that you may not transgress (due) balance. 9. And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient. From Ali [3] 7. And the firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the balance (of justice). 8. In order that ye may not transgress (due) balance. 9. So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance. We can see from such examples that the original (source) language text does have a clear impact on the translation. This impact, especially when dealing with religious and sacred texts, is inescapable. It shows further how important the form is; what considerable influence form exercises on translated text; and what effect form has when translated. is repeated 31 times, Q30:20-25 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? where is repeated six times in six successive ayat. See also Q54: 15, 17, 22, 32, 40 and 5 ? , Q69:1-3 , Q74:19-20 , Q75:34-3 , Q76:15-16 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , Q82:17-18 ? , Q95:5-6 ? , Q101:1-3 , Q102:3 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , Q109, etc. ? ? ? ? (9) Othe r examples are also found in Q55 where Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali Conclusion The most difficult problem to resolve in translating Holy Writ is, certainly for Muslims, a moral one. This paper has focused on the debate of whether or not to translate repeated words which appear in the Arabic Qur’an into the target language. It has been shown that if translators choose to deliberately ignore the repeated words, they have actually failed to cater for all the words — and, thereby, all the meanings — in the original. It is of secondary importance whether the translator may be justified or not for not translating repeated (or unrepeated) words as long as the meaning is not affected. This is because every word in the Qur’an (repeated as well as unrepeated) serves a purpose; and if translators fail to see this, it is not for them to decide that the reader, too, will not see what they have failed to translate. (10) This brings one to the opinion that what the translator of the Qur’an should do is opt for the straight translation. This does not preclude the fact that translators might labor in vain. They might be genuinely sincere in preserving the stylistic features of the original text, hoping always to maintain, as best they can, the stylistic beauty of the repetition they find there. Yet, there is always the possibility that those very labors might be doomed to failure owing to the differences between the source and target language systems of meaning-making and functioning. (11) (10) (11) This is explained clearly in the Arabic saying â€Å"? ? ?. † ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The following examples are meant to shed some more light on this point. According to Nasif [14, p. 22], Si:bawayh says: â€Å"The Arabs say: ‘? ’ and ‘ ? . ’ The former is used when ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? something good happens and as a result one praises Allah, while the latter is used when one expresses how he is†. In his own words: .† ?† ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? By way of example, Dickins [31] also suggests comparing ‘ ? ’? with ‘ ? ? ? .’ He says: â€Å"Clearly, these two are distinct in Arabic, and in some contexts it might be possible in ? ? English to translate ‘? ? ’? ? ? as ‘This man is indeed great’. In many contexts, however, ? both ‘? ? ’? and ‘? ? ’? ? ? would have to be translated as ‘This man is great’ ? ? (etc. ); the very real difference between the two sentences simply cannot be relayed in English†. Word Repetition in th e Qur’an – Translating Form or Meaning? ? Several sincere attempts have been made in the past to minimize the effect of these differences, which result in unnatural sounding translations of the Qur’an. However, the result is always at the expense of something else. Arberry [8, p. x], for example, compares the Qur’anic translations prior to his own, saying: â€Å"In making the present attempt to improve on the performance of many of my predecessors, and to produce something which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms hich — apart from the message itself — constitute the Koran’s undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind. [†¦ ] This very characteristic feature [†¦ ] has been almost totally ignored by previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what they have w rought sounds dull and flat indeed in comparison with the splendidly decorated original. [†¦ ] I have striven to devise rhythmic patterns and sequence-groupings in correspondence with what the Arabic presents, paragraphing the grouped sequences as they seem to form original units of revelation. As is clear from his comments above (as well as in many other places in the introduction to his translation of the Qur’an), much has been lost in previous translations and even his own attempt is but a faint echo of the â€Å"sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran†. The question of what to do about translating repetition becomes consequent on recognizing the limitations of translating (or not translating) repetition in the Qur’an. Gaining a better understanding of the Arabic language definitely diminishes such misperceptions of incoherence. Since Arabic is spoken by approximately one billion people, Muslims can hope for a greater awareness of Arabic as a religious, cultural and social force on the planet on the part of non-Arabic and/or non-Muslim countries. Where Arabic recognized as the world language it is, the study thereof could conceivably be introduced throughout the various tiers of education in the rest of the world, and through that, attune non-Arabic speakers throughout the world to the differences and uniqueness inherent in the language. This would aid readers of the Qur’an – believers or otherwise to make the necessary mindshift from the rhetoric and discourse of their mother tongue to the translated text. In his â€Å"The Qur’an: A New Interpretation’, Colin Turner says: â€Å"When one considers the complexities involved in translating a work such as the Quran, one often wonders whether it might not be easier for the whole English-speaking world to learn Arabic in order to read the Quran than for one translator to bring the Quran to the whole of the English-speaking world. As far-fetched as this option might sound, it is the one favoured by most Muslim scholars, whose opinion it is that the Quran is only the Quran if it is in Arabic and that however much it is translated, and into however many languages, the product which emerges on the other side can never be anything more than one man’s humble – and, it goes without saying, fallible – interpretation†. (Turner & Bahbudi [32, p. xiii]) In the meantime, until Arabic becomes more widely studied, the answer to the conundrum of how to translate repetition extant in the Qur’an must be a simple one. The translator could, in an attempt to maintain the accuracy and faithfulness, and at the same time maintain the flow of the translation, make use of footnotes to draw the attention of the reader/critic to the actual wording of the original. In this way, the translator Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali minimizes the effect of, at least, the form of the original on the translation. The meaning is (hopefully) preserved, and thereby, the reader/critic – and most importantly – the believer, is satisfied by accounting for all the words in the text involved. References 1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] Hyde Park Christian Fellowship. Downloaded 5th June, 2002 from the Internet at: http://debate. org. uk Ghoneim, M. Some Answers to the Claimed Grammatical Errors in the Holy Quran. Downloaded 5th June, 2002 from the Internet at: http://www. angelfire. com/mo/Alborhaan/Gram. html Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an: Revised Translat ion And Commentary. Maryland: Amana Corporation, 1992. Cook, M. The Koran. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 2000. Al-Laithy, Ahmed Abdle-Fattah. What Everyone Should Know about the Qur’an. Abha, Saudi Arabia: Sarawat Printing House, 2002. Ali, Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Muhammad. Measuring and Weighing Terms in the Qur’an: Their Meaning with Reference to Six English Translations. 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Downloaded 6th June, 2002 from the Internet at: http://www. baytallah. com K K K [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] Baker, Mona. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge, 1992. Johnstone, Barbara. Repetition in Arabic Discourse, Paradigms, Syntagms, and the Ecology of Language. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1991. Khan, Muhammad Muhsin and Al-Helali, Muhammad Taqi-ud-din. Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English Language: A Summarized Version of Al-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir with Comments from Sahih Al-Bukhari: Summarized in One Volume. Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam, 1994. Dickins, James. (personal communication), Center for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University, April 1998. Turner, Colin (translator) and Bahbudi, Muhammad Baqir. The Quran: A New Interpretation. 1st ed. , Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997. ? ? K Ahmed Abdel-Fattah M. Ali ? – E L L L L F K K ? ? K ?