The Inimitable Quran

Khalid Yahya Blankinship

Hardback

9789004412521

Some Problems in English Translations of the Quran with Reference to Rhetorical Features

In this work, Khalid Yahya Blankinship examines certain Arabic rhetorical features of the Quran as represented in seven English translations. The author addresses the intersection of two important topics in Quranic studies: the critique of the available English translations and the role of rhetoric in the interpretation of the Quran. He identifies a number of figures characteristic of Quranic style which represent some of the chief stumbling blocks for readers who are used to English in attempting to understand, interpret, and appreciate the text. The book should be useful to all those interested in rhetorical and translation studies and theory as well as Islamic studies.

Contents

1 Word Order 

2 Iltifāt 

3 Indicative in Place of Imperative or Jussive 

4 Indefinite Nouns 

5 Non-Consequential Exception 

6 Pleonasm and Redundancy 

7 Repetition for Emphasis 

8 Parallelism 

9 Juxtaposition of Contrasting Conditional Sentences 

10 Coordination 

11 Lack of Conjunctive (Asyndeton) 

12 Parenthesis (iʿtirāḍ) 

13 Succinctness, or ījāz al-qiṣar 

14 Ellipsis, or ījāz al-ḥadhf