A Study of the Transference of Simile Components in Persian and English Translations of the Qur'an

Abstract

This article presents a comparison of translators’ strategies in translating the figurative language of the Qur'an. In recent years, some research has been done on Qur'an translation, but little attention has been given to the methods of translating figurative language of this Holy Book. To this end, all the similes of the Qur'an were selected as samples for research and the changes of similes during the transference into Persian and English translations were examined. The statistical test of Chi Square was used to show the significance of translation differences in transferring similes' components. The results revealed that some changes occur in the process of transferring simile components, but there is no significant relationship between partial point of similarity and explicitation strategy in Qur'an translation.