Translation of Metaphor in the Qur’an: A Comparative Study of Three Selected Translations

Abstract

This study is a qualitative descriptive study, which is intended to compare the translation of metaphor in three selected English translations of the Holy Qur’an. The three translations of the Holy Qur’an are the translation done by George Sale, which was published in 1821; the second translation is the translation done by A. J. Arberry, which was published in 1955; and the third translation is the translation done by Muhammad Asad, which was published in 1980. These three translations make up the corpora of this investigation. The paper describes the translation procedures used in translating metaphors, following Newmark’s (1981) and Nida’s (1964) theories of equivalence. The paper focuses on one variable of metaphor, which is the explicit metaphor. The data are identified, selected, and collected manually, using purposive sampling. The study reveals that the translation of metaphors in the Holy Qur’an based on the three prominent English translations selected for this study consists of a complex interplay between adequacy and acceptability. The translators' choices demonstrate varying degrees of adherence to the source text's linguistic and cultural features (adequacy) and adaptation to the norms and expectations of the target language (acceptability). This suggest that the nature of translating Quranic metaphors is complex, with each translator making different choices in their attempt to balance faithfulness to the source text with comprehensibility for the target audience. The predominance of Newmark's 1st and 4th strategies suggests a general tendency to either maintain the original metaphorical image or convert it into its underlying sense, depending on the specific context and the translator's judgment.