Translating Poetry and Prose: A Journey from English to Arabic
Translation is a profound art that involves not only the conversion of words from one language to another but also the conveyance of cultural and emotional nuances, ensuring the text resonates with the target audience. When translating two pieces from English to Arabic, "Epistle: Hagar" by Sarah Ghazal Ali and "Oppenheimer Leaves His Family For Work Again, Los Alamos, 1945" by Catherine Sasanov, it is crucial to understand the fluency of Arabic, its role as a language of poets, and the specific challenges it presents. I will explore some of the process of the ongoing translating of these works.
Arabic as an Eloquent Language
Arabic has a long history of being celebrated as a language of eloquence and poetry. Its rich vocabulary and complex syntax allow for the creation of evocative and profound verses. As a translator, I decided to challenge myself by delving into this field, despite my primary background (social development), as an avid reader of Arabic literature. I recognized that I needed to approach these translations with an attempt to understand the Arabic language's capacity for depth and beauty.
"Epistle Hagar” by Sarah Ghazal Ali
The first piece, "Epistle: Hagar" is a poem that revolves around the life, faith, and the seeking of Hagar, an Abrahamic religions figure. Translating this poem into Arabic requires an understanding of the context and where Hagar's pursuit of Zamzam water took place—in Mecca, a location without water in the middle of the desert at the time. To effectively convey this context, readers need to be familiar with the historical and cultural aspects of the story.
One of the most significant challenges in translating this piece is capturing the smartly-used metaphors, such as in line 10, "cull want from wait." This metaphor alludes to Hagar's patience and her quest for Zamzam water, which resonates deeply in the Arabic Islamic culture. The story of Ismail's redemption is well-known in Arabic literature and is essential for understanding the depth of this metaphor. In the Arabic translation, I aimed to preserve the metaphor's eloquence, ensuring that it evoked the same emotions and meaning as in the original English text. Hence, I used “كيف أنحر الرغبة بالانتظار”.
"Oppenheimer Leaves His Family For Work Again, Los Alamos, 1945” by Catherine Sasanov
The second piece, "Oppenheimer Leaves His Family For Work Again, Los Alamos, 1945," explores the struggles of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer as he departs from his family to work on the Manhattan Project during World War II.
Translating this work into Arabic involves more than just literal translation. Arabic is renowned also for its ability to convey profound ideas with brevity. I encountered a sentence that beautifully encapsulates a complex concept at the end of line 2: "not leaving in the first place, I've always entered one time more than I left."
In Arabic, there's a saying that captures a similar idea, "الحاضر الغائب," which can be translated to "Being there and being absent at the same time." I have consulted Noha Labani, a PhD student in the Writing Rhetorics, and Literacies at ASU, and she advised me to use the inspired phrase from mentioned idiom “وكان حضوراً يشبه الانصراف ”. This translation effectively communicates the concept that physical presence does not equate emotional or spiritual presence. It exemplifies Arabic's ability to convey more meaning with fewer words.
Contextual Differences between English and Arabic
Understanding the differences between English and Arabic is crucial when translating literature. The Arabic language, deeply rooted in culture and history, often requires readers to be familiar with the context of a text. English, on the other hand, can sometimes be more explicit in conveying information. As a result, translating into Arabic often demands the inclusion of additional contextual information to ensure that the text is fully understood by the target audience.
Initial Conclusion
In translating "Epistle: Hagar" and "Oppenheimer Leaves His Family For Work Again, Los Alamos, 1945," I aimed to preserve the beauty and depth of the Arabic language while ensuring the texts remained accessible to Arabic-speaking readers. I learned that in order to accurately convey the intended meaning and emotions, a translator must delve into the cultural and historical context of both the source and target languages. This journey allowed me to explore a glimpse of the unique challenges and opportunities that Arabic translation presents, emphasizing the importance of capturing the essence of the original work and maintaining the cultural nuances that make both languages rich in their own right.
About the Translator
Yaser Alhindi is a curious being about the awe and wonders around him in the universe! Right now he is in his third year in the Innovation in Global Development PhD program at SFIS school.
He is a husband and marathoner. He likes reading history, playing chess and learning different languages (currently Spanish). He participated in Co-founding the Lingua Lab Association club at ASU to learn languages in informal experimental ways. His background was in working and studying the social entrepreneurship field. In his current research work, he aims to broaden his understanding, learning and investigation about indigenous knowledge systems and the possible influence in the public sphere in the Arab world.
Translations
"Epistle Hagar” by Sarah Ghazal Ali (Arabic)
"Oppenheimer Leaves His Family For Work Again, Los Alamos, 1945” by Catherine Sasanov (Arabic)
With grateful acknowledgment to Arabic language reviewers: Noha Labani and Norah Almarzoki