A Study of Al-TaϚajjub (Exclamation) in the Glorious QurɁaan with Reference to Translation into Arabic

This paper aims at studying the phenomenon of al-taajjub (exclamation) in The Glorious Quraan. It sheds some light on the different forms and meanings of al-taajjub following a rhetorical approach. It also pinpoints areas in the Quraanic aayaat (verses) posing difficulties to translators. Renderings by five Moslem and non-Moslem translators have been chosen as samples for analysis. The renditions are discussed with the aim of showing the most appropriate areas of success and proposing slightly modified renderings when necessary.
The study hypothesizes that al-taajjub does not stand as equivalent to exclamation in English. It also hypothesizes that there is no one to one formal correspondence between the forms of al-taajjub in Arabic and their counterparts in English. Consequently, translators use different devices to transfer the forms and meanings of al-taajjub to English.
The procedure followed in this work involves a description of the phenomenon of al-taajjub in Arabic, its forms and functions, and its counterpart in English, as well as analysis of renderings by five well-known translators chosen as subjects in order to discover the areas of success or failure they adopted in their transferring the Glorious aayaat involving al-taajjub. Proposed renderings have been provided when necessary. The main conclusion the study arrived at is that there is no
one to one formal correspondence between al-taajjub in Arabic and their counterparts in English which can be attributed to different devices used in Arabic as well as English.