Tasnif Style Guide

Tasnif Style Guide — Page xviii

xviii TAŞNİF STYLE GUIDE Translation Principles Tasnif work is a spiritual undertaking that begins and ends with prayer. Our responsibility is to convey the Message in the most accurate and eloquent manner. In addition to seeking Allah's help and the counsel of experienced hands, three principles guide the translation and review of books in Additional Wakālat-e-Taşnif: 1. Accuracy 2. Completeness 3. Readability ACCURACY refers to understanding clearly and fully the meaning and tone of the original source text and rendering it correctly into English. Strive for as literal a translation that will nevertheless be readable. It is not appropriate to interject one's own opinions or commentaries in a translation unless done so in form of publish- er's brackets, footnotes, or endnotes. Do not translate specifically chosen Attributes of God simply as 'Almighty' (e. g. Rabb-e-Karim should not be 'God Almighty', but rather, 'the Noble Lord'). Learn the translation of specific terms (e. g. Rasul is 'Messenger', whereas Nabi is 'Prophet'). COMPLETENESS means accounting for every single word, prep- osition, and punctuation mark of the original text in the transla- tion. Summarization is unacceptable, in particular for the books of the Promised Messiah as and his Khulafa'.