Translation of Quranic Euphemism into English: A Critical Review of Four Translations

Abstract

The present paper is a qualitative translation assessment of euphemism in the Holy Quran. The assessment included four world-famous translators; A. J. Arberry, M. Abdelhaleem, Mohammed Pickthal, Mohammad Khan and Taqi Al- Hilali. The study aims to explore the techniques used by translators to deal with translating euphemisms in the Holy Quran. In consistence with the problem and questions of research, the researchers adopt a descriptive qualitative method with exegetic text-based analysis. The study reveals that there are several factors that complicate translating euphemisms of the Quran, including the sensitivity of Quranic text, and temporal distance and structural differences between the classical Arabic and modern English. In light of Olimat (2018)’s model adopted in the current study, the translators use different strategies to render the meanings of euphemisms such as literal translation, non-euphemistic translation, and sense-for-sense translation. The translations in some cases failed to achieve a dynamic equivalence to the source text.