A Pathological Study of the Effect of Abdu and Subhi Salih on Contemporary Translation of Nahj al-Balagheh

Nahj al-Balagheh which is the mirror of the thought of the speaking Quran and the speaker of the Quran, namely Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, is a great and invaluable book, whose beautiful form and deep thoughts have distinguished it from other works. Since the conception and emergence of this work a special interest has been shown in editing it and extracting its knowledge. Chronologically the textual editions of Nahj al-Balagheh (text only) and its annotated editions (text along with commentary) can be divided into three groups: 1. Early editions, 2. Recent editions, and 3. Contemporary editions.Evidently the base in the study of the rate and credibility of the sources is the early textual and annotated editions, since recent and contemporary editions of Nahj al-Balagheh are based on earlier editions. But it is important to note that remarkable differences exist among contemporary editions, namely those of Abdu and Subhi Salih, and early and even recent editions. More importantly, it seems the text of most translations of Nahj al-Balagheh is based on the editions of Abdu and Subhi Salih and are influenced by them. This issue has caused some problems and errors in the text, translation and explanation of Nahj al-Balagheh among the contemporaries and there is evidence that there are certain expressions in the editions of Abdu and Subhi Salih which in consequence are found in many other editions and Persian translations which in earlier and even recent editions are either not mentioned or mentioned differently. This article explores and analyses the mentioned cases and some evidence of that which is mentioned.