Tasnif Style Guide — Page 121
CHAPTER 12: TRANSLATION GUIDE 121 text remains untranslated. As long as every aspect of the original has been encapsulated in the target language, this is acceptable. Arabic, Urdu, & Persian It is imperative to expand upon one's breadth of knowledge in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian. These are the primary languages in which the Community's vast literature is present. As one can imagine, if one lacks proficiency in the source languages they hope to translate, they will find it difficult to understand the true purport of the work they seek to convey in English. This is all the more important when seeking to understand the deeper meaning and sense of words and phrases in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian. An individual may know the meaning of specific words in an Urdu sentence, but not necessarily know the actual meaning of the sentence itself. For example, the plural third-person pronouns are sometimes used in Urdu to refer to single individuals as a sign of respect. is a sentence انہوں نے کہا کہ وہ آئیں گے As an illustration of this that could have its literal English translation as They said that they would come, whereas its correct translation would be He said that he would come. So as it is evident, a deeper understanding of the source language is required and this comes with experience and study. Another way to develop one's translation skills is to read trans- lations which have already been published by the Community to see the style of writing that is employed in our literature. It is truly an effective exercise to read an English translation whilst