A Critique on the Translation of “Ghazaliyat-e-Shams” in Arabic

Abstract

Translation of literary works of mystic scholars and wayfarer poets due to use of convolutions, the application of secrets, and specific terms has always been one of the main challenges facing translators. “Ghazaliyat-e-Shams”, a collection of mystical poems by Mawlana, have been translated into Arabic several times. Among these, the translation of "Mohammed Saeed Jamal al-Din" is presented as a selection of sonnets of Shams. This study attempts with a descriptive-analytical method to examine some of the failures of this translation and the factors that affect it. The lack of command of translator in Farsi, inaccuracy in reading words and phrases, presence of homonym (a word that sounds the same or is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning), misdiagnosis of the subject from the object, and inattention to punctuation in the original text are of influence on an incorrect translation of some verses of The Works of Shams. Obviously, the fact that this collection has been translated into prose in Arabic, the prosodic differences between the two works will not be investigated.

Keywords

• criticism
• translation
• ghazaliyat-e-shams
• mohammad saied jamaleddin