Rhetorical Figures in Poetic and Prosaic Translations of The Holy Qur'an[Latin Thesis]

Shirin Moammer

The Holy Qur an is a sacred book that was sent to Prophet Muhammad in order to guide human beings. There are many translations of it into different languages. It is considered a literary work full of rhetorical figures in order to achieve special effects. Therefore, it is important to maintain these figures in the translations. The present study investigated the way in which the rhetorical figures have been rendered in the poetic and prosaic translations of the Qur an. To this aim, the rhetorical figures of the 30th part of the Qur an were identified according to Shamisa s (2010) category of rhetorical figures. Then, these figures were investigated in four translations of the Qur an: English prosaic, English poetic, Persian prosaic, and Persian poetic translations. Next, the figures were analyzed based on a modified version of Delabastita s (2004) categorization of strategies for pun translation. The results showed that the rhetorical figures were mostly conveyed in Persian poetic translation by 64.34%. The English poetic, Persian prosaic, and English prosaic translations were respectively the second, third, and fourth translations in this regard. It may be concluded that poetic translations are more likely to convey the rhetorical figures than prosaic translations. In order to have a translation that transfers the meaning of the Qur an accurately and the form of it similarly, the translators should have a high level of linguistic competence in the Arabic and the target language, as well as, an advanced knowledge in Arabic rhetoric and the rhetoric of the target language.