Translations of Stylistic Variations in the Noble Qur’an into English: Stylistic and Exegetical Perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT Stylistic variation is one of the prominent features of Qur’anic discourse, which deals with similar linguistic elements but varies stylistically and semantically. Translation of stylistic variations creates insurmountable challenges during comprehension and rendition into the target language, although they do not receive due attention in translation studies. To bridge this gap, the stylistic variations in seven prominent translations of the Noble Qur’an (Al-Hilali and Khan, 1996; Ali, 1934; Arberry, 1955; Pickthall, 1930; Sahih International, 1997; Sarwar, 1981; Shakir, 1999) that are taken from The Qur’anic Arabic Corpus are studied. Integrated exegetical and stylistic analyses of translations of stylistic variations are employed, highlighting many Qur’anic stylistic challenges. Findings revealed deviant translations and translation loss in some of the data, untranslatability of stylistic features and the relative possibility of rendering the meanings of untranslatable features into English. The implication of the results of stylistic variation has been discussed.