Özet:

This research compares Pickthall and Asad‟s English Translation of The Holy Qur‟an. The trend of translating The Holy Qur‟an seems very common all across the world. The translation of The Holy Qur‟an is rendered and perceived commonly as a multipurpose product. Further, the purpose-specific translations are mostly associated with negative impression of unfaithfulness with their source texts. This sentiment may affect the quality as well as the utility of a translation. The present research analyses two English translations of The Holy Qur‟an by comparing them to highlight the significance of purpose-specified translation. The study adopts qualitative descriptive research method and Vermeer‟s (1978) general theory of translation to compare the selected translations. For this purpose, starting forty verses of surah Maryam (a chapter of The Holy Qur‟an) were selected, analyzed and compared in the light of Skopos theory. The analysis demonstrates that both translations satisfy the requirements of the Skopos theory. The comparison reveals that while having some differences, Asad‟s translation is more or less a derivative of Pickthall‟s version. Pickthall‟s version is a literal rendering while Asad‟s translation is an idiomatic sense to sense rendering. Both translations are comprehensible, faithful to the source text and fulfils the demands of the target readers. The research insists on purpose-based translation determined by the target readership. It concludes that an aim specified translation is more useful than a multipurpose rendering.

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