Metaphors in Sacred Texts: A study of the procedures used in the English translations ofimamsajad s (AS) Sahifah As-Sajjadiah

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1 International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences 0 Available online at ISSN -X / Vol, (0): - Science Explorer Publications Metaphors in Sacred Texts: A study of the procedures used in the English translations ofimamsajad s (AS) Sahifah As-Sajjadiah Hossein Vahid Dastjerdi, Mohsen Shahrokhi, Sajad Pirmoradian*. Department of English Language Translation, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University,Isfahan,Iran Corresponding Author sajadpirmoradian@gmail.com ABSTRACT:This research attempts to study the procedures followed by English translators in translating metaphors of sacred texts from Arabic into English; in this study the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah has specially been in focus. To achieve this purpose the following research question was conceived: Are the metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah translated into English literally or freely? Then based on the content and extent of each supplication, a group of metaphors of that book was selected.the translation of selected metaphors by two English translators, namely William C. Chittic () and Sayyid Ahmad Muhani (), were compared with the original ones. Throughout this study the researcher moved in the direction of Newmark s theoretical framework regarding definition and procedures of translating metaphor. Thus, any translation based on Newmark s first procedure was regarded as literal, and those based on the remaining six procedures were considered as free. The analysis of the data showed that the metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah are translated literally into English. The finding of this research can provide students with a better tool for understanding the mechanisms of translating themetaphorsof Sahifah As-Sajjadiah and for evaluating the translation of sacred texts more objectively. Key words:sahifah As-Sajjadiah, Metaphor, Translation, Translation INTRODUCTION The title Sahifah As-Sajjadiah means simply The Book of al-sajjad. Al-Sajjad is one of the titles given to Zayn al-abidin (a.s) and signifies the one who constantly prostrates himself in prayer. The book is often called Al- Sahifat al-kamilat al-sajjadiah, that is, The "Perfect", or "Complete", Book of al-sajjad. According to its commentator Sayyid Alikhan Shirazi ()the word kamila refers to the perfection of the style and content; some sources state that the adjective was added to differentiate it from another, incomplete version of the work, which is known among the Zaydis. The Sahifa has been called by various honorifics, such as Sister of the Quran, Gospel of the Folk of the House, and Psalms of the Household of Muhammad. The Sahifah As-Sajjadiah is divine both in its form and meaning and enjoys a highly literary and eloquent language, making it a superb literary masterpiece. Anyone who knows Arabic can appreciate the unique quality of its style as compared to that of any other work of Arabic literature. It is replete with literary features such as proverbs, parables, metaphors, etc. Obviously no translation of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah can attain and convey all shades of meaning in the original. One of the literary elements used in this divine book is metaphor. Regarding the purpose of metaphor, Newmark (a) says: "The purpose of metaphor is basically twofold: its referential purpose is to describe a mental process or state, a concept, a person, an object, a quality or an action more comprehensively and concisely that is possible in literal or physical language; its pragmatic purpose, which is simultaneous, is to appeal to the senses, to interest, to clarify, to please, to delight, to surprise". The former purpose is cognitive and the latter is aesthetic. As Larson () states, "because the difficulty in discovering the meaning of metaphors in the source language can lead to misunderstanding of their interpretation, translators must give careful consideration when faced by a metaphor in the source language". Not all people have enough knowledge of Arabic to read the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah in its original Arabic and have to read its translated text. That is why studying the translation strategies adopted for the translation of the

2 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah becomes especially important. When translating the metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah, the translator could face numerous problems as to finding the most appropriate equivalent. When translating such metaphors into a language like English the translator would face even a greater challenge. Because Arabic and English are not linguistically close. As stated before the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah is divine both in form and meaning. So at the same time that translator strives to convey its meaning s/he should also take great care of preserving its form in the target language. The greatest dilemma a translator could face in translating the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah is a choice between free and literal translation. It could be argued that following a free approach might better communicate its message while it could be counterattacked by saying that its form should also be transferred because of its holiness. On the other hand it might be argued that no linguistic form can express the wealth of meaning offered by the original Arabic, so it would be better to keep this form in the target language so that the translational loss is minimized. These issues can provide invaluable food for thought for interested researchers who seek answers to such questions. Of course addressing this issue on this general scale is not possible as there are many components in that book which could be deeply analyzed. Because of this, the researcher has narrowed down the scope of research and its question to the study of one literary component widely used in the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah. The literary component the researcher has decided to analyze in the present paper is metaphor. METHOD While there is a great volume of literature on translation, translation of metaphor seems to have been a highly neglected issue. It has been even more neglected in the context of translating the sacred texts such as the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah. Metaphor is an important feature of the language of that book and plays a very important role in conveying Imam's message to the followers. It becomes double important in a translational context. The way it is translated can greatly affect readers' understanding of the meaning of the word of Imam. If a metaphor is not translated properly the meaning of the text in which it appears could be misunderstood. Usually a choice between free and literal translation is one of the first and most frequently debated issues in translation classes. The same issue can be discussed for translation of metaphors in the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah to see what the most common approach is taken by the translators of that book when dealing with metaphors in it. Materials There are some data to be analyzed for any study and obviously for the present one, since the research aim is studying the translations of metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah into English, the researcher chose metaphors which have been extracted from that book and of course two English translations of that book; by William C. Chittic () and Sayyid Ahmad Muhani () which are both the most accredited translators of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah are in consideration for analyzing the data. Procedures To increase the validity of the study the researcher decided to choose the metaphors from the entire book. In line with such thinking, metaphors were chosen the book has been divided into supplications. These metaphors were selected from the original Arabic version of the book. In choosing them the researcher took great benefit from books such as "Sharho Al-Mokhtasar Fi Al-Maani Va Al-Bayan Va Al-Badii" by Taftazani ()and "Nooro Al-Anvar Fi Sharhe Al-Sahifah Al-Sajjadiah" by Jazayeri (000). The researcher also made great use of "Tafsir va Sharhe Sahifah Sajjadiah" by Ansarian (00)and "Riaz Al-Salekin Fi Sharhe Sahifah Sayedo Al- Sajedini" by Hosseini Madani Shirazi () to explain some of the metaphors which needed more elaboration.it is known that metaphors are subject to normalization through time, that is, they lose their metaphoric aspect and are accepted by speakers of the language as normal language. Because of this, not all the metaphors could be extracted from these books. So the researcher selected the rest of metaphors by reading the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah and picking up metaphors which matched Newmark's definition of metaphor (a). The researcher followed the notion that metaphor can be both one word and extended (Newmark, ) and so he selected the metaphors accordingly. In selecting the metaphors, the researcher has used his knowledge of Arabic as well as consulting some Arabic Speakers. Because of what was pointed out regarding the normalization of metaphor, the researcher did not include the type of metaphor as a criterion for selecting the metaphors. The detailed explanation of this phenomenon goes far beyond the scope of this study. For example, what is considered by some Arabic speakers as original metaphor could be taken as dead metaphor by others. So it was not scientifically possible to determine the type of metaphor. Since the research aims at studying the translation of metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah into English, the researcher chose two English translators of that book;

3 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 William C. Chittic and Sayyid Ahmad Muhani which are both the most accredited translators of the Sahifah As- Sajjadiah. Then the English equivalents of the selected metaphors were found and extracted from these translations. In analyzing the data, exegeses such as "Riaz Al-Salekin Fi Sharhe Sahifah Sayedo Al-Sajedini" by Hosseini Madani Shirazi ()and "Tafsir va Sharhe Sahifah Sajjadiah" by Ansarian (00) were used to explain the metaphors and the decoded the meaning behind them. To accomplish the purpose of the study a step by step procedure was followed; first, each Arabic metaphor was inserted into a table along with its two English equivalents extracted from the translations by Chittic and Muhani and also its. In the next stage each Arabic metaphor was compared with its English equivalent in both English translations. Each metaphor was carefully studied to see how it had been translated into English. At the end the percentage of free and literal translations was measured for each translator. Then the average percentage of literal translation was measured for both translators. It was decided to determine translation as free or literal based on the percentage of their frequency. For literal translation there was just Newmark's first procedure which could have been applied. But in the free category there were remaining six procedures which could have been applied. So, in this category the researcher determined the procedure most frequently applied by citing the percentage of its frequency for each translator and the average percentage for both of them. Model of Analysis Throughout the whole study the researcher has been moving in the direction of Newmark's theoretical framework regarding the definition and also the strategies for translating metaphor. So, for each metaphor it was determined which one of the Newmark's seven approaches mentioned below had been applied by the two translators. ) Reproducing the same SL image in TL, ) Replacing the SL image with a standard TL image, ) Translation of metaphor by simile, ) Translating by simile plus sense, ) Converting the metaphor to sense, ) Deletion, ) Same metaphor combined with sense Since in his first procedure, Newmark transfers the same image to the target language without any attempt to decode the metaphor and given other definitions of literal translation, the researcher took any translation based on this first procedure as literal. Accordingly, translations based on the remaining six procedures were considered as free. Analysis and Discussion of Data As explained in the previous part, in analyzing the data,theresearcher moved in the direction of Newmark's theoretical frame work regarding metaphor, its definition, its types and also the procedures for translating it. In fact the analysis was conducted to address the research question conceived on its basis. Below is an analysis of the procedures adopted by Chittic () and Muhani () in translating the selected metaphors of the Sahifah As- Sajjadiah. In fact the data were categorized in the form of the following tables consisting of the number of supplication and number of its verse, original metaphor and its English equivalents translated by the two translators and also its s. Some of them are brought here in this paper as example. Table. Metaphor in supplication verse #$%! " a praise which will become a link to His obedience and pardon, a tie to His good pleasure, a means to His forgiveness, a path to His Garden. a praise of a kind that constitutes a link between our service to Him and His Forgiveness of us; a cause of His good pleasure; a means towards His Forgiveness; a path to His Paradise..!','-&.!',/ 0*!!&!'()!'*)$ +' Explanation In this verse " " has metaphorical meaning. In Arabic ") " is a kind of rope which is used for climbing up something or somewhere and here it has been metaphorically used to indicateachieving something and arriving at a place. Neither translators have reproduced the metaphorical image in their translations, and have rather translated it literally in the target language following Newmark's first procedure.

4 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 Table. Metaphor in supplication verse (!: "# ;! %( $ "!# " #-#. + O ALLAH bless MUHAMMAD, entrusted by thee with thy revelation, distinguished by thee among thy creatures, devoted to thee among thy servants, the IMAM of mercy, the leader of good the key to blessing. O God, bless Muhammad and the descendants of Muhammad, the trustee of Thy Inspiration, the elect of Thy creatures, the chosen one from Thy servants, the master of grace, the leader of goodness, the key of affluence.!/<(*!0!/*" +! "! " *!!!= *+!+ (>.'= Explanation Here " (!: " has been used metaphorically. In Arabic!: is a person like a shepherd whose job is to take care ofand lead animals. Here the Prophet is also the leader to goodness, so in this verse!: is a metaphor for the Prophet. In both translations a literal approach has been taken and the same image has been reproduced in the target language. Table. Metaphor in supplication verse. )"# $/ /( The keepers of the rain, the drivers of the clouds. (Bless) the keepers of the stores of rain and the drivers of clouds..!.!+!/(+?' Explanation In this verse " /( " has metaphorical meaning. Here the angels who are responsible for raining are likened to treasurers. They bring out something from treasury for which they are responsible. Both translations show that the same image has been literally transferred. Explanation Table. Metaphor in supplication verse %#'-$.# Those who were left by their clans when they clung to his handhold. Bless those who were deserted by their people when they followed Here " " has been used metaphorically. Islam is like a rope around which all are called to gather and this metaphor depicts the image of those who follow the Prophet and thus were left by their clans. Chittic has translated the metaphor literally by transferring the same image but Muhani has converted the image into sense by using follow as an equivalent, and he has taken a free approach in translating this metaphor which is an indication of Newmark's fifth procedure of translating metaphor. Table. Metaphor in supplication verse. A$B" Those who profit through commerce with Thee. Those who benefitted by their bargain with Thee..!+!*$! Explanation In this verse " " " and " A$B " has been used metaphorically. There are two metaphors in this verse. First " " " which isa metaphorfor the faithful mood in doing good deeds which is like a merchant who profits a lot in a commerce, and second " A$B " which is a metaphor for a trade with God or otherworldly trade. Both Chittic and Muhani have translated this image literally in the target language following Newmark's first procedure. Explanation Table. Metaphor in supplication verse. -.#" -! / -! Keep them far away from their stores, bewilder them in their roads. Interpose distance between them and their provisions, perplex them in their path..!'"'!!0!!=&''!/' ++@ In this verse " " has been used metaphorically. This supplication is about the people of the frontiers, and in this verse Imam asks God to keep their enemies far away from their stores and their provisions and confuse them in their path. Here " " is the plural of " " which is

5 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 metaphor for the enemies war tactics and thoughts. Both translations of the metaphor show that the same metaphoric image has been literally transferred into English. Explanation Table. Metaphor in supplication verse. C#'A"D Cool for him the heat of yearning. Quench in him the fire of (worldly) desires.. ',!!!C',0 Here "C#'A"" has been used metaphorically. In this verse " C#' " means inner excitement used to achieve specific goals, and here it is a metaphor for fire which has restlessness as one of its characteristics. With a little lexical alteration the same image has been transferred by both translators. Explanation Table. Metaphor in supplication 0 verse. :/E") $ Allow me to attainmy provisions through lawful means. Let my sustenance flow from honest sources../&$ &.&/E"&./ Here "C/" has metaphorical meaning. In this verse the verb " $ " means to flow, and flowing is one of the qualities of water. so " C/" which includes all God s blessing is likened to and is a metaphor for water. Chittic has translated "$" to attain following Newmark's fifth procedure of translating metaphor, in fact he has converted the metaphor to sense which has resulted in free translation. Mhani has translated it literally by transferring the same image following the first procedure of translating metaphor. Table. Metaphor in supplication verse F% ). "-+ O my cave when the ways thwart me, O He who releases me from my stumble! O my defender, when the paths perplex me, O forgiver of my error!!'.*:.! =&! -'//!+*'& Explanation Here " D-+ " has been used metaphorically. The literal meaning of " D-+ " in Arabic is cave. In his translation Muhani following Newmark's fifth procedure of translating metaphor,has converted the metaphor to its sense and has used defender as equivalent. But Chittic has reproduced the same metaphoric image in the target language. can be labeled as free and Chittic's as literal. Table0. Metaphor in supplication verse. G% &!:B" (!#! I am the frequenter of my own offense, the cofused in my intended way, the thwarted. I am the one moving to and fro in my guilt, I am the one who has gone astray from his right course, I am the one left behind (the caravan)..*!!!',' +.& F!+!(H!(&.(! Explanation The words " G% " have metaphorical meaning. Here " G% " means the traveler whose provisions has been finished and left behind the caravan and is a metaphor for a person who did not get his/her wishes. In spite of some little structural and lexical alterations both Muhani and Chittic have translated the metaphor literally by transferring the same image following Newmark's first procedure of translating metaphors. The analysis of the translations of metaphors by Chittic (Table ) indicates that he has translated.% of the analyzed metaphors freely. The analysis of these metaphors in Newmark's framework shows that Chittic has used Newmark's fifth procedure in four cases: (:,:, 0:, :), his sixth procedure in one case (:), and his first procedure in the remaining cases. The analysis of his translation shows that he has translated 0.% of the

6 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 metaphors literally. Based on our procedure definedd in Methodology, Chittic's translation of the metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah can be concludedd to be literal. He has translated of the analyzed metaphors literally. In, metaphors ofthe Sahifah As-Sajjadiah are translated literally. As for the research question -are the metaphors ofthe Sahifah As-Sajjadiah translated literally or freely?-the answer is the metaphors ofthe Sahifah As-Sajjadiah are translated literally (Figure ). Table. Analysis of Chittic s Translationn Supplication Verse Chittic Supplication 0 0 Verse Chittic Figure: Chittic s Translation The analysis of the translations of metaphors by Muhani (Table ) indicates that he has translated.% of the analyzed metaphors freely. The analysis of thesee metaphors in Newmark's framework shows that Muhani has used Newmark's fifth procedure in eight cases (:, :, :, : :, :, :, 0:, :) ), his sixth procedure in

7 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 two cases (:, :), and his first procedure in the remaining cases. The analysis of shows that he has translated.% of the metaphors literally. Based on our procedure defined in Methodology of the metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah can be concluded to be literal - he has translated of the analyzed metaphors literally. In, as for the research hypothesis it is verified. And for the research question, the answer is; the metaphors of the Sahifahh As-Sajjadiah are translated literally (Figure ). Table. Analysis of Muhani s Translation Supplication Verse Muhani Supplication 0 0 Verse Muhani Figure. Muhani s Translation

8 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 RESULTS The analysis of the translation of selected metaphors by both Chittic and Muhani reveals that in total they have translated.% of the metaphors freely. The most frequent strategy both Chittic and Muhani have applied in their freely translated metaphors is Newmark's fifth procedure of translating metaphors in which the metaphoric source language image is converted to target language sense. Chittic has applied this procedure in 0% of the freely translated metaphors and also Muhani applied this procedure in 0% of his freely translated metaphors that is in total 0% of freely translated metaphors have been translated by converting the metaphoric image to sense. Regarding the literal translation in total Chittic and Muhani have translated.% of the metaphors literally. So as far as the findings of the present research show, the translation of the metaphors of the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah can be concluded to be literal. As for the research hypothesis - the metaphors ofthe Sahifah As-Sajjadiah are translated literally - it can be concluded that the hypothesis is verified. And for the research question the answer is positive (Figure ). Figure. Results RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Discussion of Results As discussed in the previous part, it was found that in total..% of the metaphors analyzed in this study have been translated literally. It was also found out that 0% of the freely translated metaphors have been translated by applying Newmark's fifth procedure of translating metaphor, making it the most frequent approach taken by both translators in their free translation of the metaphors. The most heated arguments in translation classes are usually about a choice between freee and literal strategies. The findings of this research offer good insight into choosing any of these approaches. The answer to the research question was found to be that the metaphors of the Sahifah As- Sajjadiah are mostly translated literally from Arabic into English and as a result the research hypothesis was positively verified. Certainly this research does not intend to make any prescription. But the findings heree show that native speakers of English have preferred a literal strategy over a free one. Their strategy correlates with many other translator scholars who believe the sacred texts should be translated literally for the reason that it's, as pointed out by Manafi (00), not divine just in meaning but in its form as well. Such a point and also the findings of this research could indicate that it could be most appropriate for any translator to take a literal approach when translating the Sahifah As-Sajjadiah. This is the conclusion which can help translation teachers and students make a choice between literal and free strategies much easier. At the end it should be insisted that the results of this research are solely based on Newmark's theoretical framework in terms of the definitionn and the strategies for translating metaphors as well as the criteria to label a translation of a metaphor as free or literally.

9 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., (0), -, 0 CONCLUSIONS The analysis of the translation of selected metaphors by both Chittic and Muhani reveals that in total they have translated.% of the metaphors freely. The most frequent strategy both Chittic and Muhani have applied in their freely translated metaphors is Newmark's fifth procedure of translating metaphors in which the metaphoric source language image is converted to target language sense. Chittic has applied this procedure in 0% of the freely translated metaphors and also Muhani applied this procedure in 0 % of his freely translated metaphors that is in total 0%of freely translated metaphors have been translated by converting the metaphoric image to sense. Regarding the literal translation in total Chittic and Muhani have translated.% of the metaphors literally REFERENCES Ansarian,H. 00. Exegesis and Inerpretation of Sahifa As- Sajjadiah. Tehran, Iran:payam Azadi. Baker M.. In Other Words: a Course book on Translation. London: Routledge. Bell Roger T.. Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. London: Longman Group Ltd. Catford John C.. A Linguistic Theory of Translation: an Essay on Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press. Chittik William C.. Al-Sahifah Al-Kamilah Al-Sajjadiyyah: The Psalms of Islam, Qom, Iran: Ansariyan. House J. 00. Quality of translation. In: Baker, Mona (ed.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Routledge. House J.. A Model for Translation Quality Assessment. Tubingen: Gunter Narr. Jakobson R.. 'On Linguistic Aspects of Translation', in R.A. Brower (ed.) On Translation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Jazayeri,N Nooro Al-Anvar Fi Sharhe Al-Sahifah Al-Sajjadiah. Beirout: Darol majmahol beiza. Khansari S, Baradaran A.0. The Theories and Principals of Translation. Tehran, Islamic Azad university Press. Larson Mildred L.. Meaning-based Translation: A Guide to Cross-language Equivalence. Lanham: University Press of America. Madani Shirazi, S.A..Riaz Al-Salekin Fi Sharhe Sahifah Sayedo Al-Sajedini. Qom, Iran: : Islamic Propagation Organisation Manafi Anari S. 00a. An approach to English Translation of Islamic Texts (I). Tehran, SAMT. Manafi Anari S.00b.An Approach to the English Translation of Literary and Islamic Texts (II). Tehran, SAMT. Manafi Anari S. 00. 'Accuracy, Clarity and Naturalness in Translation of Religious Texts', Translation Studies Quarterly; : (-). Miremadi SA.. Theories of Translation and Interpretation. Tehran: SAMT Muhani SA.. Imam Zain Al-Abidin s Al-Sahifah Al-Sajjadiyyah, Tehran, Iran: Islamic Propagation Organisation. Munday J. 00. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London & New York: Routledge. Newmark P. a. A Textbook of Translation. London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd. Newmark P.b. Approaches to Translation. London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd. Nida Eugene A, Taber CR.. The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Nida Eugene A.. Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden: Brill. Richards IA.. The Philosophy of Rhetoric. London: Oxford University Press. Snell-Hornby M..Translation Studies - An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Sherani, A.. Complete Interpretation of Sahifah As-Sajjadiah. Qom, Iran: Ghaem Al Mohammad. Taftazani, S..Sharho Al-Mokhtasar Fi Al-Maani Va Al-Bayan Va Al-Badii. Qom, Iran: Darolhekmah. Venuti L.. The Translator's Invisibility - A History of Translation. London and New York: Routledge. Vinay JP, Darbelnet J.. Comparative Stylistics of French and English: a Methodology for Translation, translated by J. C. Sager and M. J. Hamel. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins