Translating the Names of Allah and Translating the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And regarding the matter of the head, did it turn or did the Majesty bring it, or not? From the dialects and languages and idioms, especially if the speaker is speaking the Arabic language.
The Shaykh:
The Names are not translated; rather, they are brought as they are in all languages. Allah is brought as "Allah" in all languages with this word, and all the Names, as far as we know, are not translated; the Names come as they are, but the dialect may change, the dialect only changes in some languages, like Musa and Moshe among the Hebrews, Moshe, like Sulayman and Shalomah, like Yusuf and Joseph, meaning only the dialects change, but the Name does not change, so it is not permissible, specifically, it is not permissible.
Translating the Names of Allah into other languages, no, they remain as they are, even if the dialect differs. Yes.
The questioner:
And He said, the Exalted, or He bestowed upon the previous earth.
The Shaykh:
Like 'Isa, they say Yisus, this is a difference in pronunciation, a difference in dialect only, yes.
The questioner:
What?
The Shaykh:
Light? We return, correct. Yes.
The questioner:
I found something, may Allah preserve him, I only point out His saying, the Exalted, upon His saying, the Exalted, or We sent down upon the earth evil.
The Shaykh:
Indeed
The questioner:
When the meaning of His saying, the Exalted, Allah now, is presented regarding taking the banner, there is a meaning indicating the description of the taking, and another meaning indicating that it is a saying higher than it, which of the two meanings?
The Shaykh:
You translate what the Salaf said,[Taha 20:5] meaning He rose and was Exalted, (Glorified and Exalted is He) above the Throne, so you do not bring a phrase from yourself or a meaning from yourself, so you are translating the interpretation of the Salaf, and so the interpretation of the meanings of the Qur'an, the Qur'an itself is not translated, but its interpretation is translated, its interpretation is what is translated, and therefore it is called translating the meanings of the Noble Qur'an, and you do not interpret it from yourself or answer with words from yourself, you translate what the Salaf and scholars said in the interpretation of the verse, and you do not produce a word from yourself, because in some translations they brought words from themselves and they corrupted the meaning, like when some translators came to His saying, the Exalted, [Al-Baqarah 2:187] they said these are pants for you and you are pants for them, because he does not know of clothing except the pant, so he interprets with his own word, he did not go to bring the words of the scholars and exegetes and translate them, no, he brought a word from himself, every person if we oblige him with a plane says bird, because he does not know of the bird except the sparrow only, so it is not permissible for the translator to use phrases from himself or common simple words to interpret the words of Allah, but he comes to the reliable interpretation of the Qur'an from the interpretation of the scholars of the Salaf and interprets it literally, he does not change anything from it, as for the word of the Qur'an, it is never touched and it is not possible, the Qur'an is a miracle, it is not possible to bring a word that equals the word of the Qur'an ever from any language, you cannot bring a word that equals the word of the Qur'an from any language, because it is a miracle, yes.
And regarding the matter of the head, did it turn or did the Majesty bring it, or not? From the dialects and languages and idioms, especially if the speaker is speaking the Arabic language.
The Shaykh:
The Names are not translated; rather, they are brought as they are in all languages. Allah is brought as "Allah" in all languages with this word, and all the Names, as far as we know, are not translated; the Names come as they are, but the dialect may change, the dialect only changes in some languages, like Musa and Moshe among the Hebrews, Moshe, like Sulayman and Shalomah, like Yusuf and Joseph, meaning only the dialects change, but the Name does not change, so it is not permissible, specifically, it is not permissible.
Translating the Names of Allah into other languages, no, they remain as they are, even if the dialect differs. Yes.
The questioner:
And He said, the Exalted, or He bestowed upon the previous earth.
The Shaykh:
Like 'Isa, they say Yisus, this is a difference in pronunciation, a difference in dialect only, yes.
The questioner:
What?
The Shaykh:
Light? We return, correct. Yes.
The questioner:
I found something, may Allah preserve him, I only point out His saying, the Exalted, upon His saying, the Exalted, or We sent down upon the earth evil.
The Shaykh:
Indeed
The questioner:
When the meaning of His saying, the Exalted, Allah now, is presented regarding taking the banner, there is a meaning indicating the description of the taking, and another meaning indicating that it is a saying higher than it, which of the two meanings?
The Shaykh:
You translate what the Salaf said,
The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.
الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىٰThey are clothing for you and you are clothing for them.
هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَّهُنَّ
Source
شرح لمعة الاعتقاد [ صالح الفوزان ]، المقدمة — islamhouse.com (56:41)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
