Cultural and Semantic Challenges in Arberry’s Translation of the Qur’anic Dialogue: The Dialogue between God and Moses

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines cultural and semantic challenges in translating Qur’anic dialogue from Arabic to English. Using Arthur Arberry’s translation as a case study, this study aims: to find Arberry's translation strategies to render Qur’anic dialogue between God and Moses from Arabic into English, and assess whether these strategies are successful in revealing the intended message. This study compares Arberry’s translation with al-Hilālī and Khān's to examine the differences in translation between a non-Muslim Arabist translator of English origin and Muslim translators of Arabic and non-Arabic origin. The study assumes that the cultural background of the translators affects the accuracy of the translation. Arberry’s translation is amongst the most credible Qur'anic translations, while al-Hilālī and Khān’s translation is the most widely available translation in English-speaking countries. This paper considers Venuti’s domestication and foreignization strategies as a standard in the analysis of the cultural differences between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT). Newmark’s translation strategies are used to determine the frequency of domestication and foreignization in the translation of Qur’anic dialogue. The findings provide a more accurate guide for translation of Qur’anic texts to uncover the intended meaning and reduce cultural and semantic loss in the TT.