Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2nd edition)

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whonaturallyhadalongstandinginterestinastronomy.IbnQurrahandhis

discipleswereresponsiblefortranslatingmostoftheGreekworkson

astronomyandmathematics,includingtheworksofArchimedesandApollonius

ofPerga(Hitti1937:314).AsinthecaseofIbnIshāq,othermembersofIbn

Qurrah’simmediatefamilyfollowedinhisfootstepsanddistinguished

themselvesastranslators,includinghissonSinān,hisgrandsonsThābitand

Ibrāhīm,andhisgreatgrandsonAbualFaraj(ibid.).

Twomethodsoftranslationseemtohavebeenadoptedduringthisperiod

(Rosenthal1975:17).Thefirst,associatedwithYuhannaIbnalBitrīqandIbn

Nā

imaalHimsi,washighlyliteralandconsistedoftranslatingeachGreek

wordwithanequivalentArabicwordand,wherenoneexisted,borrowingthe

GreekwordintoArabic.Thismethodwasnotsuccessfuloverallandmanyof

thetranslationscarriedoutbyalBitrīqwerelaterrevisedunderalMa’mūn,

mostnotablybyHunaynIbnIshāq.Thesecondmethod,associatedwithIbn

IshāqandalJawhari,consistedoftranslatingsenseforsense,creatingfluent

targettextswhichconveyedthemeaningoftheoriginalwithoutdistortingthe

targetlanguage.IbnIshāqandhisfollowersthusgaveprioritytothe

requirementsofthetargetlanguageandthetargetreaderfromtheoutset,

stressingreadabilityandaccessibilityinawaywhichsuggeststhatthe

translationswereconceivedashavingadidacticfunction:IbnIshāq,for

instance,explicitlypraisedhisowntranslationsfortheir‘pleasantandlimpid

stylewhichcanbeunderstoodbythenonexpertinthefieldofmedicalscience

orbyhewhodoesnotknowanythingofthewaysofphilosophy’(citedin

SalamaCarr1996).

Inadditiontocommentsconcerningthemostsuccessfulmethodoftranslation,

therewasalsosomereflectionduringthisperiodonsuchissuesaswhether

translationofcertaintexttypeswasatallpossible,whethertranslatedtextsin

generalofferedareliablesourceofinformation,andtheeffectofinterference

fromGreekandSyriaconthestructureofArabic.AlJāhiz(d.869),oneofthe

bestknownwritersoftheperiod,wasparticularlycausticinhisstatements

abouttranslatorsandtranslation,insistingthat‘thetranslatorcanneverdo[the

philosopher]justiceorexpresshimwithfidelity’(citedinSalamaCarr1996).

Butapartfromsuchoccasionalcriticismoftheirprofession,translatorsgenerally

enjoyedamostenviablepositionundertheAbbasids.Theirworkwashighly

valuedandtheyseemtohaveenjoyedaratherluxuriousstyleoflife,atleastthe

moresuccessfulamongthem.AlNadīm(988,citedinHitti1937:306)givesa

lavishdescriptionofthedailyroutineofHunaynIbnIshāq:hebathed,relaxedin

aloungingrobe,enjoyedalightdrinkandabiscuit,hadhissiesta,andon

waking‘burnedperfumetofumigatehisperson’,haddinner,wentbackto

sleep,wokeupagainanddrankseveralrotlsofwine‘towhichheadded

quincesandSyrianapplesifhefeltthedesireforfreshfruits’.

ThisGoldenEraoftranslationunderearlyAbbasidrulewasfollowedbyarich

periodoforiginalwritinginmanyfields,includingastronomy,alchemy,

geography,linguistics,theologyandphilosophy.Hereagain,themost

outstandingcontributionscamefromArabicspeakingsubjectsoftheEmpire

(i.e.nonethnicArabs),especiallyPersianssuchasIbnSīna(Avicenna),al

TabariandalRīzi(Rhazes).Muchofthisoriginalwritingincludedasubstantial

amountofcommentaryonGreeksources,suchasAristotle,bywriterswho

oftenhadnoknowledgeofGreekandwhoreliedonexistingArabictranslations

indevelopingtheirownphilosophicalpositions.Thisistrue,forexample,ofthe

worksofIbnRushd(Averro’s)andtheJewishphilosopher(aswellas

astronomer,theologianandphysician)MūsaIbnMaymūn(Maimonides).

Anotherinterestingfeatureofthe‘originalwriting’whichfollowedtheGolden

Eraoftranslationisthatsomeofit,thoughwritteninArabic,waseitherlostand

laterfoundonlyinHebrewtranslationsorLatintranslationsfromtheHebrew

(asinthecaseofIbnRushd’scommentaries)orwaswritteninHebrew

charactersfromtheoutset(asinthecaseofIbnMaymūn’sworks(Hitti

1937/1970:582ff.).

ThefloweringofknowledgethattookplaceintheIslamicworldduringthetenth

andeleventhcenturiesandthatlaterprovidedtheimpetusforthedevelopment

ofallbranchesofknowledgeintheWest,includingnaturalscienceand

philosophy,couldnothavetakenplacehaditnotbeenfortheintense

programmeoftranslationcarriedoutundertheAbbasids.Thustranslationlayat

thecentreofthemost

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importantperiodofintellectualactivityinthehistoryoftheIslamicWorld.

TranslationundertheOttomans

Startingwiththelatetenth/earlyeleventhcentury,theIslamicEmpirebeganto

experiencealongperiodofgradualdisintegration,resultingintheestablishment

ofrivalcaliphatesinEgyptandSpainandendlesspettydynastiesinvarious

partsoftheEmpire.AseriesofbarbariconslaughtsbytheMongolseventually

culminatedinthedestructionofBaghdadandtheslaughterofthecaliphandhis

officialsbyHulaguin1258.Foratime,theIslamicworldhadnocaliphtorule

it.TheMuslimOttomans,anewpowerwhichwastoendurewellintothe

twentiethcentury,eventuallytookcontroloftheregionandclaimedthetitleof

caliphfortheirrulersin1517.

Underthisnewpoliticalorder,Arabiccontinuedtobethelanguageoflearning

andlaw,thelatterbecausetheOttomans,beingMuslim,hadtoruletheEmpire

accordingtoIslamicjurisdiction.Inotherareas,Arabicbegantolosegroundto

Turkish(nowthelanguageofgovernment)andPersian(whichbecamethe

languageofpoliteletters).Asthelanguageoflearning,Arabiccontinuedtoplay

amajorroleinthetranslationmovement,thoughnowithadtosharethisrole

withTurkish.AsMuslims,theTurkswereeagertoaccesstheresourcesof

Islamicculture,andthereforemoretranslationwasdonefromArabicinto

Turkishthanviceversa(Oghli2006).Oneofthemostprominenttranslators

intoTurkishintheearlynineteenthcenturywas‘UthmānNūralDī,nPasha,

whowasthefirsttobesentbyMuhammadAlionaneducationalmissionto

Italyin1809.Onhisreturnheembarkedontranslatingbooksonmilitaryarts

andindustryintoTurkish(forafulllistoftranslatorsintoTurkishunder

MuhammadAli,seeOghli2006:183–5).InadditiontobooksonIslamic

religionandcultureandmilitaryarts,theTurkswereinterestedinhistoryand

politics.

TheArabworldwaslargelyisolatedanddeprivedofculturalcontactduringthe

firstfewcenturiesofOttomanrule.ThefirstmajorcontactwithEuropecame

withtheFrenchinvasionofEgyptin1798,whichlastedonlythreeyearsbuthad

aconsiderableimpactontheintellectualdevelopmentofthearea.Napoleon

hadbroughtwithhima‘scientificexpedition’whichincludedanumberof

orientalistswhosetupthefirstArabicpressintheregion.Initially,hebrought

hisowntranslatorsandinterpreterswithhim,includingsomeMuslimsailors

whomhehadcapturedinMalta(alShayyāl1950:36).These‘foreign’

translatorspreparedtheArabiccircularthatNapoleondistributedonlandingin

Alexandria,acirculardesignedtoreassuretheEgyptianpopulaceandtoincite

themtorebelagainsttheirrulers.Thecircular,likemuchofwhattheseforeign

translatorsproduced,wasgrammaticallyunsoundandstylisticallypoor(al

Jabarti,citedinalShayyāl1950:36).TheFrenchalsoreliedonforeign

interpretersforreadingouttheirdecrees,andevenforpacifyingangrycrowds.

Inaddition,interpretersworkedinthedīwān,wheretheyinterpretedlawsuits

andreadoutlettersandstatements.AlJabartitellsusthattheseforeign

interpretersoftenusedFrenchwordswhileinterpretingintoArabic.

Translatorsandinterpretersduringthisperiodfellintothreemaingroups:(a)

Moroccan,ArabandTurkishsailorscapturedbytheFrenchinMaltaand

releasedtoworkastranslatorsinEgypt;(b)Frenchorientalistswho

accompaniedthescientificexpedition,thebestknownamongthembeing

Venture,Jauperandl’Homaca;(c)ChristianSyrianswhohadagood

knowledgeofbothFrenchandArabic,inadditiontosharingthereligionofthe

invaders.Some500oftheseChristianSyriansleftwiththeFrenchin1801and

settledinMarseilles(alShayyāl1950:45ff.).VeryfewEgyptianswereinvolved

inthetranslationeffortduringthisperiod.ThebestknownwasPèreAntūn

Raphaīl,aChristianpriestofSyrianoriginwhobecametheonlyArabmember

ofNapoleon’sEgyptianAcademyofScience.UnderFrenchrule,PèreRaphaīl

becameimportantenoughtosignhisnameasChiefTranslatoronlegaldecrees

andsimilarofficialdocuments.AfterthedepartureoftheFrenchhestayedin

Egyptfortwoyears,butthenleftforPariswherehewasrewardedforhis

supportofNapoleonin1803withanassistantprofessorshipattheOriental

InstituteinParis(alShayyāl1951/2000).

ThegreaterpartoftranslationactivityundertheFrenchfocusedonofficial

documentsandlegaldecrees.However,afewinterestingtexts