Anthology of Arabic Discourse on Translation

Tarek Shamma, Myriam Salama-Carr, Tarek Shamma, Myriam Salama-Carr

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000513400
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Lingüística

This anthology brings the key writings on translation in Arabic in the pre-modern era, extending from the earliest times (sixth century CE) until the end of World War I, to a global English-speaking audience. The texts are arranged chronologically and organized by two historical periods: the Classical Period, and the Nahda Period. Each text is preceded by an introduction about the selected text and author, placing the work in context, and discussing its significance.

The texts are complemented with a theoretical commentary, discussing the significance for the contemporary period and modern theory. A general introduction covers the historical context, main trends, research interests, and main findings and conclusions. The two appendices provide statistical data of the corpus on which the anthology is based, more than 500 texts of varying lengths extending throughout the entire period of study. This collection contributes to the development of a more inclusive and global history of translation and interpreting.

Translated, edited, and analyzed by leading scholars, this anthology is an invaluable resource for researchers, students, and translators interested in translation studies, Arab/Islamic history, and Arabic language and literature, as well as Islamic theology, linguistics, and the history of science.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

1From Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence (632)¹

Muhammad Ibn Idris al-Shafi’i, Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani, Ibn Qaiym al-Jawziya

DOI: 10.4324/9781003247784-3

Abu ’Abdullah al-Shafi’i (767–820)

One of the four great Imams [religious leaders] of Sunni Islam, whose legacy on Islamic law gave rise to the Shafi’i school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). He also wrote on Qur‘anic exegesis and Hadith (the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad). Al-Shafi’i was also a poet. He wrote more than 100 books, including Kitab al-Umm (The Exemplar), the first exhaustive compendium of the Islamic code of law, and al-Risala (The Epistle).

Al-Um (The Exemplar)

A book on the branches of fiqh, language, Qur‘anic exegesis, and Hadith. It is considered one of the most important works on comparative fiqh, and an authoritative guide by the Shafi’i school.

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (1372–1449)

A Shafi’i scholar of Hadith and fiqh. He was born in Cairo and lived in Egypt for most of his life, despite traveling in several countries including Yemen, Hijaz (Iraq), and the Levant. His professional career followed the usual pattern of lecturer, and finally judge.

Fath al-Bari: Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari (explanation of Al-Bukhari’s Hadith collection)

Ibn Hajar’s commentary on the Hadith collection by al-Bukhari, the most canonical Hadith source in Sunni Islam.

Ibn Qaiym al-Jawziya (1292–1349)

One of the most prominent Islamic jurists of his time. He lived in Damascus and studied under Ibn Taimiya (see below), with whom he maintained a close relationship. A controversial scholar like his mentor, he was imprisoned in the Citadel of Damascus along with him in 1326; he was released after Ibn Taimiya’s death in 1328. He was best known for his great number of works on fiqh, Prophetic biography, and medicine.

I’lam al-Muwaqqi’in ’an Rabb al-’Aalamin (Guidelines for Those Who Implement the Rules of God)

The book discusses the fundamentals of fiqh, the purposes of Shari’a, the history of legislation, and the religious foundations of governance. It also includes a detailed study on a range of fatwas (formal legal opinions by qualified Islamic jurists) concerning various issues.

[Translation/interpreting for judges and rulers]

[From al-Bukhari’s collection of Hadiths]

A chapter on translating for judges, and if one interpreter is admissible

• Kharija Ibn Zaid Ibn Thabit said that Zaid Ibn Thabit said: “The Prophet (BPUH) ordered me to learn the writing of the Jews. I even wrote letters on behalf of the Prophet (BPUH) to the Jews and also read the letters they wrote to him.
• ’Umar (Ibn al-Khattab)² said in the presence of ʾAli [Ibn Abi Talib], ʾAbd al-Rahman, and ʾUthman [Ibn ’Affan]: “What is this woman [who did not speak Arabic] saying?”’Abd al-Rahman Ibn Hatib said: “She is telling you about her companion who has committed adultery with her.”
• Abu Jamra said: “I used to interpret between Ibn ’Abbas [an eminent scholar] and the people.” Some people said: “A judge should have two interpreters.”
• [a hadith narrated by ’Abdullah Ibn ’Abbas]
  Abu Sufian Ibn Harb recounted that Heraclius had sent for him, along with the members of a Quraish caravan.³ Then he said to his interpreter: “Tell them that I want to ask this [Abu Sufian] a question. If he tells me a lie, you should contradict him.” So Abu Sufian related the whole narrative, whereupon Heraclius said to his interpreter: “Say to him, ‘If what you say is true, then he [the prophet] will take over the place underneath my feet’.”

[Comments by Islamic scholars on the Hadiths cited by al-Bukhari]

Al-’Asqalani, explanation of Al-Bukhari’s Hadith collection

Now al-Bukhari’s statement “if one interpreter is admissible” indicates the disagreement on this point […] Accepting one interpreter as sufficient in the opinion of the Hanafi school of fiqh […] According to Al-Shafi’i (and reflecting the prevalent opinion among the Hanbali school), if the judge does not know the language of a litigant, then only two competent interpreters are acceptable. For the interpreter would convey to the judge what is not accessible to him concerning governance, a case that requires all the conditions of competency, as in giving testimony.⁴ The interpreter would also inform the judge of something that he does not know, as in communicating to him a statement from outside his court.

Then al-Bukhari excerpted part of the narrative of Abu Sufian with Heraclius […] the purpose of which lies in the part “Heraclius said to his interpreter: ‘Tell him’,” etc.

Ibn Battal said: “Al-Bukhari did not include the Heraclius narrative as evidence that a non-Muslim interpreter is admissible (as Heraclius’ interpreter was an adherent of the faith of his people [i.e., a Christian]), but to show that interpreters in other nations were treated as informers, not as witnesses.

In his al-Ahkam (Legal Judgments), al-Muhib al-Tabari mentioned using one interpreter as sufficient, referencing the hadith of Zaid Ibn Thabit and the reports about ’Umar and Ibn ’Abbas. He said: “Those who opined for one interpreter used the overt meaning of these narratives as evidence” […]

As for the narrative of ’Umar with the woman, it seems from the context that it concerned legal judgment, for ’Umar absolved the woman from the legal punishment for adultery, owing to her ignorance that this practice was forbidden, after he had formally charged her and had been about to implement the punishment to her. In this, he relied on the information provided by one person who translated from her language.

The narratives of Abu Jamra with Ibn ’Abbas, and that of Heraclius (where interpreting was purely informative), may have been cited by way of support and confirmation […]

What we can glean from al-Bukhari is that a single interpreter is admissible in cases that do not require a judge. However, this is not the point of dispute, but rather what happens in cases brought before a judge, most of which can be seen as legal judgment. This is especially the case for those who say that the conduct of a judge by itself is judgment.

Ibn al-Munthir said:

Application of qiyas⁵ would lead to the necessity for multiple interpreters, for everything that is not readily available to the judge would be accepted only upon full proof, and one person is short of full proof unless complemented by the required minimum number. Still, the hadith, if proven to be authentic, puts an end to all debate; the prophet’s relying on Zaid Ibn Thabit alone is a clear proof that should not be challenged.

To this, it can be replied that the Prophet (BPUH) cannot be compared with other rulers, for, unlike them, he could have knowledge through divine revelation of what was not readily available to him. Therefore, we can conclude that what is delivered as information can be conveyed by one interpreter, whereas what is delivered as testimony requires the minimum number [of two].

Al-Karabisi reported that the Rashidun Caliphs,⁶ as well as the kings that came after them, had only one interpreter each.

Ibn al-Tin reported of ‘Abd al-Hakam: “No one can interpret save a free and competent man. When the interpreter delivers a statement, then it would be best for two witnesses to hear it and submit it to the adjudicator.”

Al-Shafi’i, The Exemplar

If a non-Arab comes before a judge who does not know his tongue, then interpreting is acceptable only through two competent men of equity who know his language.

Ibn Qaiym al-Jawziya, Guidelines

If the fatwa issuer does not know the inquirer’s language, or if the inquirer does not know the mufti’s, one person can interpret between them. For this would be a case of pure information, where one informant would be enough, similarly to reports about other religions, an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Transliteration guide
• Introduction
• The Classical Period (c. 500 ce–1800 ce)
• 1 From Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence (632)1
• 2 Interpreters in Islamic Conquests (823)
• 3 Epistle Regarding What Was Translated of Galen’s books (859)
• 4 Book of Animals (869)
• 5 The Letter of ’Abdullah al-Hashimi to ’Abd al-Masih al-Kindi, Inviting him to Islam, and al-Kindi’s Response, Inviting al-Hashimi to Christianity (ninth–eleventh centuries)
• 6 Nabataean Agriculture (930)
• 7 Debate on the Merits of Grammar and Logic (935)
• 8 Explanation of the Torah in Arabic (941)
• 9 Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems (957)
• 10 The Index (990):
• 11 Approximating the Scope of Logic: (1063)
• 12 Commentary on Aristotle’s Poetics (1198)
• 13 History of Wise Men (1248)
• 14 The Translation of the Samaritan Torah (The second half of the thirteenth century)
• 15 The Chronicles of Time (late thirteenth century)
• 16 Classes of Physicians (1270)
• 17 Treaties between Islamic States and Italian Cities (fourteenth–sixteenth centuries)
• 18 Collected Fatwas, Refutation of al-Jahmiya, Response to Those Who Have Changed the Religion of Christ (1328)
• 19 Commentary on the L-Rhymed Poem (1363)
• 20 The Reconciliation of the Fundamentals of Islamic Law (1388)
• 21 On the Fundamentals of Jurisprudence, On the Rules of Jurisprudence, On the Sciences of the Qur‘an (1392)
• 22 Ibn Khaldun’s Journey (1406)
• 23 The Craft of Composition (1418)
• 24 A Treatise on the Translation of the Qur‘an (1542)
• 25 Translation of Ulugh Beg’s Astronomical Tables (c. 1543)
• 26 The Holy Scriptures in Arabic (1671)
• The Nahda Period (1800–1918)
• 27 The History of Al-Jabarti (c. 1822)
• 28 Document for Appointing Rifa’a al-Tahtawi (1831): Promotion of Al-Tahtawi to the Rank of Amiralay (1846)
• 29 Speech Delivered at the Staging of The Miser (1848)
• 30 Translation of Robinson Crusoe (1861)
• 31 The Bible, that is the Old and New Testaments, Newly Translated from the Hebrew and Greek Languages [The Protestant Translation of the Bible] (1865)
• 32 The Seekers’ Guide to the Precious Bible (1869)
• 33 Proofs of the Fundamental Truth of Christianity (1877)
• 34 Revealing the Hidden Arts of Europe (1866)
• 35 The Holy Bible (the Jesuit translation): First Edition (1876–1881)
• 36 Official Documents about His Service as a Translator (1887–1896)
• 37 Edifying Plays in the Art of Tragedy (1893)
• 38 The Tale of Qubul and Ward Jinna (1912)
• 39 “Arabization” (1895)
• 40 “Language and this Age” (1897)
• 41 Copyright of authorship and translation (1899–1905)
• 42 Translation in Islamic history (1900–1912)
• 43 Translation of Les Misérables (1903)
• 44 Homer’s Iliad (1904)
• 45 Celebrating the translator of the Iliad (al-Muqtataf magazine) (1904)
• 46 Europe’s Crime Against Itself and the World (1906)
• 47 Guide for the Modern Translator (1906)
• 48 The Gospel of Barnabas (1908)
• 49 “Copyright Law” (1910)
• 50 “Poetry and Poets” (1910)
• 51 “Translation Lessons” (1912)
• 52 “‘La Marseillaise’: History of the French National Anthem and its Translation into Arabic” (1918)
• Bibliography
• Appendices: Abbreviation list
• Appendix (1): Statistical Tables for the Classical Period
• Appendix 2: Statistical Tables for the Nahda Period
• Index