Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen – Khalifatul Masih I – The Way of the Righteous — Page 90
Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen The Way of the Righteous 90 Principles of Translation of the Holy Qur'an Through the good offices of Paisa Akhbaar , a Maulavi of Rae Braeli, Riaz Ahmad Sahib approached Hakeem Sahib with the request for a new translation of the Holy Qur'an in Urdu and invited his views on the subject. Hakeem Sahib wrote a detailed letter in which he outlined nine leading principles of the translation of the Holy Qur'an: 1. There has been an attempt on the part of the translators to convert the Arabic lexicon into Urdu by use of the Urdu lexicon, which often causes the loss of the original meaning and its significance, and this should be avoided. 2. The commentators have written a lot of errant nonsense, and levelled baseless allegations against the prophets. It is the duty of the translators to avoid unauthorized forays. 3. The translators should have a clear view of the verses and identify which ones are the commands. 4. Muqatta ‘ aat-i-Qur ’ ani need proper consideration [Abbreviations, like Alif Laam Meem , are known as al- Muqatta ‘ aat (letters used and pronounced separately), and occur in the beginning of not less than 28 chapters of the Holy Qu'ran, and are made up of one or more, to a maximum of five, letters of the Arabic alphabet]. The significance of these letters should be explained. 5. The question of naskh (cancellation) should be carefully considered. Hakeem Sahib maintained that not one of the verses has been cancelled and the issue of naskh is a fabrication and figment of the mind of some misguided scholars.