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Renovatio: The PodcastA multimedia, multi-faith publication about the ideas that shape the modern world from the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States, Zaytuna College.. Author: Zaytuna College
A multimedia, multi-faith publication about the ideas that shape the modern world from the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States, Zaytuna College. Language: en Genres: Islam, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Can English Capture the Language of Revelation?
Episode 55
Friday, 9 January, 2026
Can English Capture the Language of Revelation? Robert Alter's Torah and Lessons for the Translation of the Qur'an by Caner K. DagliCan English truly capture the language of divine revelation? Robert Alter's literary approach to translating the Hebrew Bible offers profound lessons for how Muslims might translate the Qur'an—and why most English Qur'an translations fall short.KEY INSIGHTS: • Why Alter's one-man Torah translation caused a literary sensation • How respecting register, rhythm, and rhetoric preserves sacred text's power • The problem with committee translations that flatten sacred language • Three historical English Qur'an translations that achieved literary excellenceRobert Alter, a comparative literature professor, challenged centuries of biblical translation by prioritizing literary style over theological smoothness. His jarring translation of Esau's crude demand—"Let me gulp down some of this red red stuff"—preserves the original's colloquial register, shocking modern readers just as it shocked ancient audiences.Scholar Caner K. Dagli explores what Muslims can learn from this approach, examining three English Qur'an translations that rise to literary merit: George Sale's 1734 version (Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an), and more recent attempts to capture the rhetorical power of Arabic revelation. While Muslims have traditionally insisted the Qur'an cannot be translated—only "interpreted"—Dagli suggests Alter's methodology offers a path forward for conveying the Qur'an's linguistic majesty in English.The essay challenges translators to honor both the uniqueness and beauty of sacred language rather than domesticating it into contemporary idiom, preserving what makes scripture unlike ordinary speech.Read the full essay: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/robert-alters-torah-and-lessons-for-the-translation-of-the-quranAbout the Author: Caner K. Dagli is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross and general editor of The Study Quran.Subscribe for more essays on sacred texts and translation#QuranTranslation #BiblicalStudies #RobertAlter #SacredTexts #LiteraryTranslation #IslamicStudies #HebrewBible #Renovatio #ZaytunaCollege #ComparativeReligion
