A Comparison between Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah’s and Mohammad Bukhari’s Farsi Translations of Arabic Kalila and Demna by Ibn al-Muqaffa' Based on Eugene Nida’s Translation Theory: A Case Study of the Pious Man and the Skunk

Abstract

Kalila and Demna was translated into Pahlavi language by Borzuya and two centuries later into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa'. Later, in the sixth century AH, as the Pahlavi version was lost, the Arabic translation became the basis for translators such as Nasrullah Munshi and Muhammad ibn Abdullah Bukhari. This article seeks to examine the similarities and differences between the two translations by focusing on the story of the Pious Man and the Skunk. For this purpose, the present article relies on the analytical-descriptive method and Eugene Nida’s Translation theory. The results of this study show that both translators, by distancing from word-for-word translation, which was very common at the time, relied on eloquence and made adjustments and immersed the reader in the discourse of the story. However, Nasrullah Munshi was more concerned with delivering the proper effect and conveying the main message of the text to the audience. Therefore, he made more adjustments in his translation and hence, added Quranic verses, hadiths, poems and Arabic proverbs to his translation which became closer to Nida's dynamic equivalence. On the other hand, Bukhari, on the order of the Shah who was the audience of his translation, remained faithful to the original text, sticking to the details and frameworks of the stories, hence, it is inclined toward Nida’s features of formal equivalence. Yet, he also sometimes makes minor adjustments in translation due to cross-cultural and cross-lingual differences, which are not very frequent compared to Munshi’s translation.

Keywords

• kalila and demna
• ibn al-muqaffa'
• nasrallah munshi
• muhammad ibn abdullah bukhari
• translation