Split- Is it possible to translate Quran and still capture

Society Religion & Philosophy
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power and beauty of its message ?

If someone says that the message and power of message in Quran cannot be captured in any other language. They should talk to those who revert or convert to Islam because of power of this message not because the beauty of lexicon of Quran. Most of the reverts or converts to Islam do not know how to read Quran in Arabic. What does that mean ?

Some Muslim scholars in their zeal to prove that the the lexicon of Quran in itself is a miracle therefore it is impossible to translate it . They try to do that to impress the non muslims , for a true muslim it does not matter if the lexicon of Quran is Miracle or not.

Should Quran be read by a Muslim to judge its beauty and appreciate beauty of language or for the message it carries ? More than 85 percent of masses of Muslim countries are illiterate and cannot even read their own language. They are communicated the message of Quran by imams of masajids they go to. Does it make them less of a Muslim ?
It is not true that beauty of writings of one language cannot be captured by another language. If the translator is expert in both languages and understand the message carried by that language he/she can capture the beauty of message in his/her native language completely. Yes I have seen people crying in namaz when the listen to certain iyats of Quran . So do the Shia’s when they listen to a noha or marsia, so do concert goers in USA and UK and other countries.
My point is the beauty of Quran can be captured in other languages to make it more appealing and meaningful for the native listeners. Allah and our Holy Prophet knew this that is why it was never mandated that to be a Muslim you have to know Arabic. So many people in Arab countries do not understand and comprehend the major portion of Quran because it is in classical Arabic.
Yes Allah Challenges non believers to produce surahs like it. But that challenge does not apply to the lexicon the challenge applies to the message and the power of the message in those surahs.

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Re: Split- Is it possible to translate Quran and still capture

Salam brother,
I have always held that it is the message of the Quran that forms it's essence, and that can indeed be translated into other languages. The idea about Quran being "revealed lil-'Arabiyyah" needs to be understood properly.

The Reading claims that it was revealed in "Arabic" so people could understand. Why would this be important? Especially in those days... what I have concluded after quite a bit of research is that Arabic fo surely not a religious or literary lanugage of late anqieuity. It was instead "The Nomadic Lanugage" (Lisaan il-Arab or al-Arabiyyah). So the revelation of the Reading in a commonly understood spoken language does indeed shed light on the nature of the message/expression. It was meant to be understood by the commoners, without any explanation by the clergy (or the so-called "educated ones").

Today, the commoners language is not Pre-Islamic Nomadic Language (al-Arabiyyah of late antiquity) and is instead, English, Urdu, Colloquial Arabic Dialects, etc etc. So proper translations, especially in colloquial dialects with proper linguistic mapping (literal and idiomatic) is a must keeping the nature of the revelation and the mode of its spread in mind. Obviously, to do that, we need language experts who can translate the Quran into their respective lanugages (more of them) who understand that Classical Arabic and Pre-Islamic Arabic may not be the same, and that current translations may have to be revised...