درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Fables of the Ancients? Folklore in the Qur’an is Alan Dundes’ first published work on an Islamic subject. The author introduces “Oral-Formulaic” theory and uses it to examine the Qur’an from a literary point of view with primary emphasis on oral and verbal (as distinct from written) aspects of language. Dundes uses general concepts of oral literature such as narration, transmission forms, recitation, divine origin and revelation. In Dundes’ account, there are specific features of oral literature, which can verify the folkloric nature of the Qur’an. These features include: proverbs, folk tales and ancient myths. The advantages of Dundes’ work as discussed in this article include: a new approach to understanding the terms “folklore” and “myth”, high accuracy in locating the repetitions in the Qur’an, accurate references to the similarities between the Qur’an and the Christian holy scripture and using the right order of chapters (Surahs) and Verses. The disadvantages of the book consist of: numerous typographical errors, wrong or incomplete references, insufficient use of Muslim writers’ works, incorrect interpretations, bringing up unnecessary theological subjects, making inconsistent statements, comparing three Qur’anic tales with Aarne -Thompson index and ignoring certain Islamic premises.

This paper aimed to study four translations of the Holly Quran using a comprehensive Appraisal theory approach by Martin and White (2005). In so doing, the Chapter Al-Munafequn (The Hypocrites) was considered as the source text and four English translations of the Holly Quran (Arberry, 1955; Irving, 1985; Shakir, 1999; Yusuf Ali, 1934) were considered as the target texts. The study used a corpus-based qualitative translation assessment design. The data collection was based on purposive sampling, and the data analysis was based on all the three sub-systems of Appraisal theory (Attitude, Engagement, and Gradation) based on a three point assessment scale namely ‘+’ meaning acceptable, ‘-’ meaning unacceptable and ‘≈’ meaning relatively acceptable. The study comprised two research questions: (1) What are the choices made by the four translations of the Al-Munafequn Chapter and how can the translations be evaluated individually? (2) Which of the four translations is most qualified in terms of Appraisal theory sub-systems? To answer the first question, data were collected from each source independently and then evaluated and tabulated based on the appraisal theory. Regarding the second research question the following results were obtained: TT1 (Arberry’s version) suggested acceptable translations in terms of the three aspects of Attitude, Engagement, and Gradation. TT2 (Irving’s version) showed a fairly acceptable translation quality by fulfilling most of the Appraisal features of the original verse with several shortcomings. TT3 (Shakir’s version) represented an acceptable translation as it dealt with many aspects of Appraisal in ST. Finally, TT4 (Yusuf Ali’s version) showed a highly acceptable transfer of Appraisals in its translation. As a result, from among the four translations, TT4 (Yusuf Ali’s translation) could be deemed as the most accurate version in translating the Appraisal sub-systems.