Hopelessly without Meaning

Submitted by Renox (United States), Sep 22, 2021 at 16:12

Thank you "dhimmi no more" for your comments on my posting "The Family of Imraan".

1- You are correct. The Verse in question is 110 and not 119 of Koran Surah (chapter) 3.

2- You asked: " Did you mean: Surat Ali-Imran: 110?"

No, I meant "Surat Al Imraan: " just as I wrote. The way you have written (Ali-Imran) will totally confuse English readers who will think "Ali" is a name, (like Mohammad Ali, the US boxer) which it isn't.....it's a term which means "(Family of......). In Arabic it is: ألف مدة) آل) (Aal) and not ال (al) and definitely not علي(Ali). In addition, most sources I have seen in English use "The Family of Imran" as the title, so I'm sticking with that usage other than the "aa" I use in the final word.

3- I think it's unproductive to use too much Arabic in any forum in which most of the audience does not know the language. Certainly actually "explaining" Arabic language points, as I have done above, is mostly fruitless, but in this case, I feel I had to. However, I've used as simple an explanation as possible.

4- I also thank you for your list of references and additional explanations on our theme here. However, I have long felt that the available English translations of the Koran are completely inadequate as are translations of the "tafsir"(explanation, interpretations etc of the Koran and other religious items). They use English words but the results are not really English......they read like some kind of code or "secret"' language.....ultimately incomprehensible, English words or not.

As an example, may I quote one of your examples in your posting....You wrote:
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"This can be rendered as: From Ibn 'Abbas (the cousin of Muhammad and Hibr al-Umma):
"You were the best nation brought out to the people." He (Ibn 'Abbas) says: You order them to perform what is right, truly that they witness that there is no god except Allah, and accepting what was sent down from Allah, and you FIGHT them about it. And "There is no God except Allah" it is the best (of what is) right. And you end what is immoral/corrupt and the immoral-corrupt is the lying/denial"
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Sorry....but this is not English. (Abadan, ya sayyidee) It's using English words, I grant, but the result is hopelessly without meaning - practically incoherent.

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