Traduction du Coran et traduction selon le Coran : aspects d’une problématique intemporelle

Abstract

Quran Translation and Translation through Quran: Aspects of a Timeless Issue  

The translation of the Quran, a text which declares itself impossible to equal, has always posed a problem, whatever the language concerned, since, obviously, its inimitability is linked to its composition in Arabic. The question which arises above all from this fact is that of the grasp of its meanings and the criteria of their approach. It seems logical to try to answer it by questioning it directly, since it expresses itself in a clear and detailed way both on the accession to the meanings of the divine messages and on their possible translation. It emerges from this first exploration that, as a certain number of theologians and mystics had thought, i'jâz resides in the perfection of the relation between the meaning and the mode of composition of the sacred text, itself an exegesis, definitive and complete of all previous revelations. This perfection, which is expressed both by the precision and by the richness of meanings, implies in particular, on the one hand the absence of any absolute synonymy, on the other hand, an extensive use of polysemy, which goes up to the production of entirely bisemic sentences and passages, which play an essential educational role. The cases which have been discussed in this paper revealed that it would seem that the only possibility of faithful translation consists in presenting the two meanings: “God guides whom he wills and misleads whom he wills” or “God guides who wants it and lets whoever wants to go astray” accompanied by a commentary, as was imposed in the situation of non-synonymy illustrated by “the mount” and “the mountain”. Such an explanation should, of course, be completely neutral, objective and non- binding, knowing that, from the Quranic perspective, each theological-moral position taken during a reading that engages the whole being and influences its future, is called to be adopted in an absolutely free manner. Herein lies the crux of the problem encountered by translators who, not being able to report these cases directly, are in principle obliged to accompany their text with a certain number of explanations. However, such a situation confirms the Quranic declaration of perfection and inimitability of the Arabic text. On the one hand, the translation thus proposed cannot constitute a unified and an autonomous text, since it is interspersed with considerations and explanations. Moreover, whatever the effort of neutrality deployed by the translator, the presentation of bisemic sentences can never leave the reader free, if only the possibility of 'ignore - voluntarily or not - their very existence, as well as the process to which they come, and their repercussions on the appropriation of meaning. It should be noted however that, for the translator plagued by doubts and difficulties, the Quran offers, through the example of the translation of the passage from the Torah into Arabic (shemanou ve assinou) by (sami'nâ wa-ata’nâ) and not by (sami'nâ wa-'asayna), a rule of which the Quran iteself guarantees. This is the choice to be taken in the case of ambiguity which would surely lead to an error, by opting without hesitation for the translation which explicitly accounts for the meaning which leads to the right path not that of delusion. This suggestion should be essentially free from scruples related to the impossibility, duly noted, to imitate the inimitable in its pedagogy of which only the Arabic language allows an accomplished expression, by simply striving to respect the truthfulness of the Quranic teaching. The presentation of these few emblematic examples, far from claiming to lead to a new theory of the translation of the Quran, has set itself the goal of proposing the experience of a renewal of all the problems posed by any search for an equivalent of the Arabic text, to the principle of perfection of Revelation.