Lexical Meaning Translation of the Root Word in the Holy Qur’an; the Word “KATABA” an Example

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the translation of the lexical meaning of the root word verb in the Holy Quran. A relatively old and a contemporary translations of the meaning of the Holy Quran are employed to investigate the meaning of the word verb “KATABA”. These are George Sale’s and King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran’s translations of its meaning. The word appears eight times in six chapters (“suras” in Arabic) in the Holy Quran. The two translations give six synonyms for the word through the eight different contexts. The study finds that understanding the context, environment, and reason of revelation guide the translator find the proper equivalent of the Holy Quran word. It is also found that translating the Holy Quran with its miraculous and high linguistic style is not easy. Similarly, translating a word isolated out of its context will turn into a literal distorted text. Furthermore, it is also found that using footnotes and explanations is inevitable.