Wednesday, September 07, 2005

LESSON OF THE DAY 313

Ayah of the Day:
And any help they (the believers) give, be little or much, and any alley they ford, it is recorded in their favor, that God may recompense them for the best of what they did. [9:121]

Hadith of the Day:
Guard (your duties toward) God and He will guard you; guard (your duties toward) God and you will find Him before you. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Everyone in this world is a guest, and his money is but a loan. The guest must return sooner or later and the loan must be returned. [Ibn Mas'ud radiAllah anhu]

Guidance of the Day:
No translation could possibly do justice to the Quran's meanings, purposes, and aims. It would be devoid of its qualities of eloquent clear expression, the secrets of its inimitable miraculousness, the awe it inspires, and its majesty. This is why the scholars all agreed that it is impossible to translate the Quran literally in any way that would truly correspond to it and reproduce its meanings and intents, or convey its secrets and special properties. The productions of those who have had the audacity to try are very far-off indeed from the Quran, and represent an obvious attempt to tamper with its holiness.

As for literal translations which lay no claim to an identical status, they are less perilous than the sort discussed above, but are still incapable of reproducing the meanings of the verses or of possessing the unique aspects of eloquence, or the secrets of the Quran's miraculousness.

However to translate only the meanings of the Quran and the sayings of the reliable commentators into any language is required, although it must be done by those who can translate well, and without altering the original meanings. In this way those who know no Arabic, or not enough, will be able to know the true nature of the Islamic call and what it involves, through the meanings of the Quranic verses, and that is what Muslims have been doing ever since the scholars started writing commentaries on the Quran. [Key to the GARDEN]

Food for Thought:

Conscience: that still voice that makes you still smaller. The best tranquilizer is a clear conscience. Most of us follow our conscience as we follow a wheel barrow, we push it in front of us in the direction we want to go.

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