Translating Key Arabic Rhetorical Devices into English: The Nahǧ Albalāġa as a Case Study

Abstract

The principal challenge of translating the range of rhetorical aspects of Arabic contained within the Nahǧ Albalāġa (NA) arises from the style of classical Arabic, which is not only rich in figurative language, but which weaves such language inextricably into all the levels of meaning within the text. Translation is inseparable from exegetics in that regard. Moreover, the acute linguistic and cultural divergences between Arabic and English also present obstacles to the translator. As well as its religious dimension, this wide range of reference – the book covers a variety of subjects, such as religious aspects, social justice, historical events, existential teaching, and moral wisdom – inevitably complicates such exegetical translation.

The NA is a manuscript consisting of different sermons, letters, and the sayings of ʿAlī Ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muḥammad. The book’s title – Nahǧ Albalāġa (Path of Rhetoric) – derives from the fact that it presents and implements all of the aspects of rhetoric that exist in Arabic: The Branch of Meanings, the Branch of Figures of Speech, and the Branch of Embellishments. Accordingly, chapter one examines the analysis of the translation of Affirmation, Concision and Amplification which are fundamental categories of the Branch of Meanings. As far as chapter two is concerned, it encompasses a critical analysis of the translation of Simile, Metaphor and Metonymy in the Branch of Figures of Speech. For chapter three, the translation of Pun, Antithesis, Alliteration and Assonance in the branch of Embellishments is analysed. Consequently, this study will compare and contrast the selected rhetorical styles (RSs) in Arabic rhetoric (AR) and their counterparts in English rhetoric (ER), and then will conduct a critical

Arabic rhetoric

discourse analysis (CDA) of the translation of selected rhetorical devices (RDs) from its two English translations by Jafery (1965) and Al-Jibouri (2009) in order to examine how the translation of rhetoric, in terms of both form and content, leads to very different translation solutions.

The study concludes that the translations of the NA are different ranging from literalness and exegesis as well as they generally have a restricted audience: Muslims. So, as one of the main aims of this study is to expand the audience of the NA in the English language, one of the central objectives of the translations that I offer in this study as well as the underpinning criticism of Jafery and Al-Jibouri’s work is that the NA can be presented holistically, not solely as a religious text so as to make its rhetorical richness more evident to a broader landscape of audience.