Comparative Analysis of the Theological and Literary Foundations of English Translations of Sūrat al‑Mā’idah

Document Type : Scholary

Authors

1 Ph.D. (Level 4) Student of the International Institute for Islamic Studies (IIIS), Qum, Iran

2 , Professor, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the theological and literary foundations underlying selected English translations of the Quran, with particular reference to selected verses from Sūrat al‑Mā’idah. Adopting a descriptive‑analytical and comparative methodology, the study examines how translators’ theological commitments, especially Sunni and Shiʿite exegetical orientations, and their literary competence influence lexical selection, grammatical construction, and semantic precision. Drawing on authoritative Arabic lexicons, classical Sunni and Shiʿite tafsīrs, and linguistic analysis, the paper investigates the translation of key Quranic expressions such as walī, wa‑hum rākiʿūn, yuqīmūna al‑ṣalāh, and munkar. The findings demonstrate that Quranic translation functions as a condensed form of exegesis, wherein inadequate attention to theological premises or Arabic literary features may result in semantic reduction or doctrinal distortion. The study concludes that faithful Quran translation requires an integrated approach combining theological rigor, exegetical awareness, and literary precision in both source and target languages

Keywords

References

Alhawary, Mohammad T. (2011). Modern standard Arabic grammar: A learner’s guide. Wiley-Blackwell.
Arberry, Arthur J. (1964). The Koran Interpreted. London: Oxford University Press.
Asad, Muhammad. (1980). The message of the Qurʾān. Dar Al-Andalus.
Bayḍāwī, ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar. (1418AH/1997). Anwār al-tanzīl wa asrār al-ta’wīl. Beirut: Dār Iḥyā al-Turāth al-ʿArabī.
Dickins, J., Hervey, S., & Higgins, I. (2002). Thinking Arabic translation: A course in translation method: Arabic to English. Routledge.
Furūtan, Behrūz. (1398Sh/2019). A study of the lexicons and structures in the English translations of the Quran. Tehran: Nashr-i Āthār-i Sabz.
Haywood, J. A., & Nahmad, H. M. (1965). A new Arabic grammar of the written language (Rev. ed.). London & Bradford: Lund Humphries.
Ibn Fāris, Abu al-Ḥusayn. (1404AH/1983). Muʿjam Maqā’īs al-Lughat. Qum: Publications of Daftar Tablīghāt-i Islāmī.
Iqbal, Muzaffar. (1378Sh/2000). Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Asad: Two Approaches to the English Translation of the Quran. Journal of Quranic Studies, 2(1):107-123. 
Īrānī, Sayyid Ḥusayn. (1399Sh/2020). Naḥv-i kārburdī-yi mutvassiṭih. Mashad: Publications of Khurasan Seminary.
Khattab, Mustafa. (2015). The Clear Quran: A thematic English translation. Siraj Publications.
Longman English Dictionary. (2009). UK: Pearson Education Limited.
Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. (1374Sh/1995). Tafsīr Nimūnih (2nd ed.). Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyyah.
Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī. (1382Sh/2003). Tārīkh-i Qur’ān (5th ed.). Tehran: Samt.
Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. (1442AH/2020). Al-Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur’ān al-Karīm (6th ed.). Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
Najjār, ʿAlī. (1381Sh/2002). Uṣūl va mabānī-yi tarjumih-yi Qur’ān: Hamrāh bā naqd va barrasī-yi tarjumih-yi ḥizb-i avval-i Qur’ān-i Karīm az panj tarjumih. Rasht: Kitāb-i Mubīn.
Naqīpūrfar, Valiyullāh. (1381Sh/2002). Pazhūhishī pīrāmūn-i tadabbur dar Qur’ān. Tehran: Sāzmān-i Awqāf va Umūr-i Khayriyyah, Intishārāt- Uswah.
Newmark, Peter. (1988). A textbook of translation. Prentice Hall.
Nizhād-Anṣārī, Dāriyūsh. (1381Sh/2002). A Comparative Study of the Translations of the Holy Quran by Shakir and Arberry. Research Journal of Humanities, 13 (1), 167-180.
Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). (1989). Clarendon Press.
Pickthal, Muhammad Marmaduke. (1930/2001). The Glorious Qur᾽ān. New York: Alavi Foundation.
Pickthall, Muhammad Marmaduke. (1977). The Glorious Qur᾽ān: text and explanatory translation. New York: The Muslim World League.
Qarai, Ali Quli. Trans. (2005). The Qur᾽ān: With a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2nd ed.). London: ICAS Press.
Qarashī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. (1412AH/1991). Qāmūs al-Qur’ān (6th ed.). Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah.
Rāghib Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad. (1412AH/1991). Mufradāt-i alfāẓ al-Qur’ān. Lebanon-Syria: Dār al-ʿIlm-Al-Dār al-Shāmiyyah.
Riḍā’ī Iṣfahānī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. (1385Sh/2006). Manṭiq-i Tarjumih-yi Qur’ān. Markaz-i Jahānī-yi ʿUlūm-i Islāmī.
Saffarzadeh, Tahereh. (1385Sh/2006). The Holy Quran: Translation with Commentary. Tehran: Pārs Kitāb.
Ṣāfī, Maḥmūd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm. (1418AH/1997). Al-Jadwal fī iʿrāb al-Qur᾽ān (4th ed.). Damascus/Beirut: Dār al-Rashid Al-Ayman Foundation.
Sale, George. (1844). The Koran, commonly called The Alcoran of Mohammad. London: William Tegg & Co.
Sarwar, Muhammad. (1981). The Holy Qur’an. Imam Al Khoei Islamic Center.
Shakir, Muhammad H. (2024). The glorious Quran: Translation and transliteration. Shia Books.
Sterling, R. (1904). A Grammar of the Arabic Language. London: Routledge.
Ṭabarsī, Faḍl ibn Ḥasan. (1372Sh/1993). Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān (3rd ed.). Tehran: Intishārāt-i Nāṣir Khusraw.
Ṭabāṭabā’ī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. (1417AH/1996). Al-Mizān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān (5th ed.). Qum: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī.
Vāʿiẓī, Maḥmūd. (1388Sh/2009). Critique and Evaluation of English Translations of the Holy Quran from Sūrat al-Insān. Religious Research Journal, 9 (18), 133-162.
Wright, William. (1896). A grammar of the Arabic language (W. R. Smith & M. J. de Goeje, Eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yusuf Ali, A. (1934). The holy Qurʾān: Text, translation and commentary. Islamic Foundation.
The Quran: Contemporary Studies
Volume 4, Issue 14
Fourth year, Number 14, Winter 2026
March 2026
Pages 119-140

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics