پژوهش نامه قرآن و حدیث
پیاپی 11 (پاییز و زمستان 1391)

Ellipsis is a rhetorical skill and an accurate technique used to convey meaning more eloquently. The Holy Quran, which is at the zenith of eloquence and rhetoric, utilizes ellipsis as a rhetorical technique. Given the extreme importance of the verbal ellipsis in the Quran and its reflection and impact on the Persian translations of the Quran, the present study deals with the concept of ‘ellipsis’, rhetorical mysteries of verbal ellipsis, reasons for verbal ellipsis, implications resulting from ellipsis and a review of the Persian translations of the Quran. Through this research, we found out that ‘emphasis’, ‘exaggeration’, ‘brevity’ and ‘specification’ are among the rhetorical purposes of verbal ellipsis. The review of the Persian translations revealed that since the source language and the target language do not have identical vernal ellipsis structure, its appearance or ellipsis in translation will not be identical either. Hence, translators have followed different techniques with respect to verbal ellipsis. At the same time, they have mentioned the omitted segments wherever this has not flawed or has improved the translation of the Quran. Also, they have avoided mentioning the unnecessary omitted segments which could otherwise blemish the rhetorical mysteries of the Quran.

The holy phrase «بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا» (mosquito and beyond it) is one of the Quranic phrases whose precise understanding can contribute to the perception of a fraction of the Quranic teachings and divine concepts discernable from this holy verse. The phrase has been under discussion among the interpreters and translators of the Quran since a long time ago. It seems that the word "favq" in the 26th verse of Surah Baqarah has not been used with its conventional sense, i. e. higher and greater, but rather it is utilized with its opposite sense, i. e. less and lower, as it has an allegorical function here. Therefore, referring to vocabulary, syntax and interpretation works and considering the nuances of the words "fa", "ma" and "favq" from linguistic and syntactic standpoints and also considering texture, our purpose in the present study is to evaluate and analyze the above-mentioned phrase and eventually determine its intended meaning using the analytical method and working on more than 60 translations of the Holy Quran, including ancient and contemporary translations, poetic and prose translations, and Persian and English translations.

Translating metaphors from one language to another is a very difficult undertaking and a number of contemporary theorists in the field of translation believe it to be impossible. Of course, translation reserachers like Newmark, who believe metaphors are traslatable, have suggested specific frameworks and methods for its accomplishement, which need to be pondered upon. Following a brief discussion on the the definition of metaphore as well as modern theories concerning the translation of metaphor and its various techniques, the present study examies translation of the Quranic metaphors in Tabari’s translation. The results indicate that to translate metaphors, different techniques have been utilized in this translation work. All these techniques are among the ones suggested by Newmark and this diversity not only contributes to attractions of expression but also denote other facts.

There are more than 170 translations of the Holy Quran in French language. This Heavenly book was, first, translated from Arabic into French by Andrea Doria in the first half of the seventeenth century. This translation was of such great authority that nobody thought of retranslating it for almost a century. Nevertheless, during the twentieth century, the Holy Quran was translated by a lot of translators among whom was Professor Mohammad Hamidullah born in Heidarabad, India. Besides making a strong translation of the Quran, Hamidullah is honored with being the first Muslim who has had such a great accomplishment in French language. Various translation and retranslation theories have been proposed. Some of them are briefly discussed in this article and following a comparison of some verses from Surah al-Ma’idah, it is shown to what extent these theories are actually true and reliable.

Texture is among the factors which play a significant part in understanding what words signify. It plays a very important role in the interpretation of the Quran as well; hence, it is utilized by the interpreters of the Quran in conveying the meanings of the Quranic verses. Clarification of the meanings of words, expansion and restriction of the meaning, recognition of the grammatical inflection of words in the verses, and rectification of the cause of revelation, and deciding upon a specific way of recitation are among the objectives fulfilled by texture. Texture is not widely used in translating the Quran and it is merely used to determine the meanings of words and phrases and find the antecedents of pronouns. Translators do not usually pay enough attention to texture in such essential cases as determining the structure, context and recitation of the verses. The present article seeks to express and prove this hypothesis, "As a significant element contributing to understanding the meaning of the Quranic verses, texture can indirectly impact the translation of the Holy Quran". Also, texture can impact translation by helping us to determine the grammatical inflection, a particular aspect of meaning, antecedents of pronouns and a specific type of recitation.

The Holy Quran is a book whose words have been chosen by the All-Wise God and only match His Status. Meanwhile, the translation of the Quran requires interpretation and interpretation demands knowledge of the Quranic sciences. Among the important issues in the Quranic sciences is the subject of literal allegories. Hence, the present article evaluates the accuracy of the seven Persian translations of the Holy Quran, i. e. Ayati, Dehlavi, Fuladvand, Mojtabavi, Meshkini, Makarem Shirazi and a group translation, in conveying the meaning of the literally allegorical verses. An attempt has been made to examine several areas of discrepancy in allegorical verses some of which are lexical discrepancy and disagreement about the number and composition of such verses. The carefulness of the translators in rendering of the translation identically has been evaluated as well. Our findings indicate that most of these translators have not paid enough attention to the translation of allegorical verses and the group translation by Mohammad Ali Rezaee Isfahani and his coworkers is more successful than others in translating allegorical verses.