The Translation of Sacred Texts: A Comparative Analysis of English-Arabic Practices (Theory and Practice)

Abstract

Translating sacred texts is far more complicated than transferring words from one language into another. When the source and target languages also belong to different cultural and religious traditions, the task becomes even more demanding. This paper examines the theoretical and practical difficulties involved in translating sacred texts between English and Arabic, focusing particularly on the Quran and the Bible. It draws on translation theory, linguistic analysis, and religious studies to consider how translators deal with doctrinal meaning, cultural context, rhetorical form, and linguistic nuance. The discussion also addresses the ethical and ideological pressures that can influence translation decisions. Although no translation can reproduce every feature of a sacred original, a careful combination of linguistic fidelity, contextual explanation, and sensitivity to religious meaning can provide readers with a more reliable representation of the source text.