The Shaykh spoke on the issue of translating the Qur'an word-for-word.

The Shaykh : I gave him an example of this miraculous verse: It is not possible to translate the Qur'an with a word-for-word translation. After the priest realized that the word "a'sa'sa" in Arabic has two contradictory meanings, "to approach" and "to recede," he could not find a synonym in his French for this Arabic word "a'sa'sa." We said, "So what do you do?" The wicked man said, "I exerted effort and decided to look for the meaning that fits the context and the preceding text, and I put that down." I said, "First of all, both meanings fit the context and the preceding text, because Allah is presenting cosmic signs that guide people to the fact that He is One, (Glorified and Exalted is He). If you choose, for example, to interpret this word by saying 'And the night when it approaches,' another translator might come along and choose 'recedes,' and two contradictory translations would appear before people: one saying 'And the night when it approaches' and the other saying 'And the night when it recedes.' Then a third man might come and say 'And the night when it approaches or recedes,' and we would have three translations. This is not a translation; rather, this is a semantic translation. There is no harm in that. As for the word-for-word translation, this is part of the inimitability of the Qur'an and its challenge to all of humanity that they can never produce anything like it. I said: And there are many things and examples, for instance: In the language, "qur'" means purity, and "qur'" in the language means menstruation. So your position toward this verse will be the same as your position toward the other verse. The truth is that the journey by train was a distance of fifty kilometers from Damascus to a Syrian village or summer resort called Madiyyah. We were debating with this priest, and unfortunately, we debated better with him than with a Muslim Shaykh, unfortunately, because they are good at taking and responding, even though the argument is established against them and their backs are broken, yet they continue to argue in the best manner. Whereas many of our Muslim brothers whom we meet, it is difficult to complete five minutes with them, let alone an hour of time. Now, you are present, so inform us about this point, which is that it is not permissible to interpret the translation of the Qur'an as a word-for-word translation, whereas the semantic translation is a necessity. Do you see in the two previous examples anything that can be corrected or added to, at least, that helps us to expand the topic? And this is a reminder, and We will strengthen you with your brother.

The questioner:

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly, and they translated it as "pants." Allahu Akbar.

Another questioner : There is a lot of this, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : There is a lot of this, yes,

Another questioner : As it is.

The Shaykh : As it is.

The questioner : Metaphor exists in all languages, not just in Arabic; every language has metaphor.

The Shaykh : Okay, why did they put "pants" instead of "clothing"?

Another questioner : He is not skilled in translation...
Abu Malik: He fell into another difficulty; we are talking about metaphor now.

The Shaykh : There is no harm in metaphor. But are you an expert in the French language?

The questioner : I am an expert only in my own language.

The Shaykh : So it is not permissible for you to attribute to the one who interpreted the Qur'an or the word as "pants" in French, as long as you do not know it.

The questioner : "Pants" in French is the same meaning as in our language. "Pants" in all the languages of the world means "pants," that is, trousers, what is called Western trousers; this is called "pants." But "clothing" is a completely different meaning...

The Shaykh : Okay, what is the equivalent meaning of "clothing" in French? You will say, "I do not know," and that is enough for you; half of knowledge is "I do not know."
Abu Malik: What is your language?

The Shaykh : Yugoslav.