Cultural-specific items in translation of the Holy Quran by Irving

Translation of cultural-specific items (CSIs) has always been a challenge for translators. To overcome this problem, they employ different strategies. The present study focused on the role of CSIs in English translation of the Holy Quran by Irving and how he has used different strategies in rendering them. The design of the study was a descriptive one and the data were collected from the second surah of the Quran (Baqara). The theoretical framework was Venuti’s (1995) domestication and foreignization Model. This study analyzed the differences in the use of these two strategies through descriptive statistics by presenting frequency and percentage of each alternative.  The analysis of the data showed that Irving used domestication as the main technique to render CSIs. The findings of this study could be beneficial for both students of translation and the practitioners in the field to get familiar with the most influential strategies in rendering cultural specific items.