Translators' glossary of common Arabic/Urdu/Farsi religious terminology

naqshbandijamaati

naqshbandijamaati

sunniport user
:s1:

As a sometime translator I think it would be useful for myself and others if we could keep this thread permanent and add to it English translations of words that a translator of religious texts comes across commonly since it is necessary for any translator to be consistent. I think this will be useful.
exceptions could be made for words which have become so common that they've entered the English lexicon e.g. Shariah.

So here goes:

'ilm -- knowledge
ma'arifah/ma'arifat --gnosis?
madhhab - school of thought?
'ishq -- passionate love? passion? love?
Shar'iah -
(Islamic Sacred Law)
sajadah - prostration
ruku - genuflexion
raka'h/raka't -- prayer cycle?
tassawuf - sufism
sama' - audition?
wali -saint
dua - supplication
namaz/salah - canonical prayer
na'at -laudation/song of praise?/eulogy
hamd - hymn?
tawbah - repentance
gunaah - sin
gunaah- e- kabira - mortal sin
gunaah e saghira - venal sin
tasbih - rosary
wudu' - ablution
ghusl - greater ablution?
tajjali - theophany?
jalal - majesty
jamal - beauty
tawaaf - circumambulation
marsiya - elegy
istinja - abstemation ?
zikr/dhikr - chanting the names of God/remembrance?
ta'widh/taweez - amulets
tabbarak - sacred relics/holy relics
..

please help by adding more! feel free to disagree! lets make this a great resource!
 
mu'jiza - miracle /greater miracle
karamat - lesser miracle? /charismata?

I've found that a LOT of directly equivalent terms can be borrowed from Roman Catholicism...
 
nabi - prophet
rasool - messenger/apostle
khalifa - caliph
sahabi - Companion
taba'ii - Successor ?
hadrah -sacred dance ?
hadrat/hazrat - presence/the reverend?
ala hadrat - the most reverend?
jannat - paradise
ghawth - spiritual succour
ghawth al azam - greatest spirtual succour
qutb - spiritual pole
fana - annihilation
zawq/dhawq - taste
wajd - ecstasy
haal - state
maqaam - station/rank
 
the best place for data-mining islamic terms in english is shaykh gibril's work. his choice of words in english translated from arabic is impeccable, admirable and enviable.
 
mas'alah could be translated in varying contexts as
article
clause
rule
ruling
proviso
proposition
exposition
issue

or the tame:
problem or
question.

---------------------
listed under the entry of s-a-l [or he questioned] in al-qamus, taj al-arus and lisan al-arab, it is said:
---------------------

mas'alah is one of the many forms of the root [maSdar].

meaning requirement, necessity, need [Hajah]; as it is said: 'his need was fulfilled'

scientific* problems or rule or articles of knowledge [mas'alah al-`ilmiyyah.] an illustration of an issue [or issues cited as a problem]; for example, the issue of kohl among grammarians [mas'alah al-KuHl `inda an-NuHaah].

and similar to imam shafiyi's remark: 'if i bothered myself with buying onions** i would not have memorized '[or mastered] a single article of islamic law [law kulliftu bi 'l baSalah la ma Hafiztu mas'alah]

mas'alah as meant by researchers/scholars [ahl an-Nazar]: is a proposition upon which, or whose evidence, an enquiry is made. it is also used to mean the matter on which an exposition needs to be made. [sometimes] it is also used to indicate the ruling or opinion in the said matter.

------------------------
imho, no one-word in this case.

Allah ta'ala knows best.

* scientific here is used literally as 'pertaining to knowledge.'
** a hyperbole to mean: 'did not bother excessively with quotidian chores'
 
aH...thank you :)
yes Shaykh GF Haddad is a great source...someone should publish a dictionary for translators of arabic/urdu/persian into english!

btw there is an exact English equivalent of the word istinja (astanja) which I used to know but cannot remember -- i think it ended with --tion. Do u know it~?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top