Translation as a Parallel Discourse: A Linguistic Analysis of the Qur’ān’s Translated Concept of Tahrif in the Selected Urdu and English Translations

Abstract

This study aims to examine the Qur’an’s two translations as a parallel discourse with respect to the theme of tahrif (distortion, falsification, misrepresentation, hide, addition, omission) in the previous books Torah and Bible. The study utilizes André Lefevere (1992) translation theory of rewriting and manipulation as a research framework. The study is delimited to the eighteen verses of topic of tahrif and discovers the four research objectives. The importance of the study is; it manifests the disparity between the Qur’anic concept of tahrif and its representation in the target languages (TLs) Urdu and Egnlish and it also demonstrates the manipulation of the ST (source text) in the TTs (target texts). The study finds additions, omissions, different sense representation of the concept of tahrif in the TLs. The selected two translators intervene and shape the discourse according to their preconceived concepts as explained in their introductory pages and preliminary discourse. The study shows both translations also represent parallel discourse on the Qur’anic concept of tahrif.