Workshop Program

 

Sunday, January 27, 2019:

 

Focus Topic: “TRANSLATING THE CLASSICS: CHALLENGES FOR THE TRANSLATOR”

Time	Description	Location
12:30pm – 12:40pm	Opening Session Welcome Message by Dean Prof. Ali Ansari, Dr. Fahad AlSumait, and Prof. M.A.R. Habib.	W6 - 200
12:40pm – 13:30pm	Workshop Session 1 (Part 1): Opening Lecture Challenge and Prospect for Hope in the Last Three Verses of Surat al-Hashr (Q.59) By: Professor Bruce Lawrence The lecture will look especially at the challenge and the prospect for hope in Q 59, Surat al-Hashr, especially the final three verses Q 59:22-24. He will examine to what degree the three often-used criteria for Qur'an translation – accuracy, clarity and rhyme – can reflect this jewel within the multiply splendid jewels of the Holy Qur'an, as also in its unique exposition of tawhid.	W6 - 200
13:30pm – 15:00pm	Workshop Session 1 (Part 2): Panel Discussion A panel discussion with the 3 speakers: Professor Bruce Lawrence1 (Duke University, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies) Professor Miriam Cooke2 (Duke University, Emerita Professor of Arabic) Professor M.A.R. Habib3 (Presiding) (Rutgers University/GUST, Professor)	W6 - 200

 

Monday, January 28:

Focus Topic: “Interactive Translation”

This would consist of three sessions where the workshop speakers would compare different translations of a given passage, and get important feedback from the workshop participants.

Time	Description	Location
10:00am – 11:00am	Workshop Session 2: Problems of interpreting meaning Led by Prof. Bruce Lawrence; moderated by Dr. Kamel El-Saadany	W1 - 153
11:00pm – 11:30am	Break
11:30am – 12:30pm	Workshop Session 3: Problems of interpreting style Led by Prof. M.A.R. Habib; moderated by Dr. Tareq AlRabei	W1 - 153
12:30pm – 1:30pm	Break
1:30pm – 2:30pm	Workshop Session 4: Problems of translating between cultures Led by Prof. miriam cooke; moderated by Dr. Shahd Al Shammari	W1 - 153
2:30pm – 3:00pm	Concluding Session	W1 - 153

 

¹ Professor Bruce Lawrence (Duke University, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies); his interests include: Contemporary Islam as Religious Ideology; Islamic Cosmopolitanism; the Multiple Roles and Uses of the Qur’an. Among his recent books are: The Koran in English - A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2017), Who is Allah? (UNC/EUP Press, 2015), The Qur’an – a Biography (Grove/Atlantic, 2006); and Sufi Martyrs to Love (with Carl Ernst; Palgrave, 2002). 

² Professor miriam cooke (Duke University, Emerita Professor of Arabic) will examine the notion of a “classic,” and then talk about the challenges of translating Arabic literature, focusing on al-Ghazali's al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance from Error) and Taha Husayn's Al-Ayyam (The Days).

³ Professor M.A.R. Habib (Rutgers University/GUST, Professor) is a scholar and poet; he will address the stylistic challenges of translating the Qur’an into English verse.

Main Topics to be Discussed:

1. The problems of interpretation and translation in general.
2. The definition of a “classic” of world literature.
3. Problems in interpreting and translating classics:
4. Texts to be analyzed:
   • The Qur’an
   • Al-Ghazali's al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance from Error)
   • Taha Husayn's Al-Ayyam (The Days).