Translating. Looking at: "In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful." Obviously starts with CAHI 'by the authority of'; & XAMGAU matches 'Beneficient'. (Question: should i append the honorific?) But there is no word in Lojban for 'Mercy'. I thought of & rejected something like 'law-beyond'... The best i can do is 'opposite-of-revenging' TOLVENFYKAI or TOLVEFKAI, with VENFU.
On second thought, this is exactly what i need.
(via tripadvisor dot com)
It is sometimes asserted that the Quran should be read only in the original Arabic (RABYBAU); this is an accomplishment i do not aspire to. On the one hand, i can understand how in order to truly grasp a poem, in whole or in part, some degree of familiarity with the linguistic material itself is necessary, including grammar, rhythm, genre, and even (while translators know this, most readers of translations remain oblivious) the semantic matrix in which one word was chosen in preference to another--the same, but not the same. Yes, the Quran is among other things a collection of poetry. It is thus like a famous building one must make a pilgrimage to experience, one that no amount of photography can do justice to.
On the other hand, the earth is crowded with architecture; with languages, even. Saying one spot on the globe is the only possible place does a disservice both to the spiritual value of travelling (on foot, as Werner Herzog specifies), and to the necessary illumination of sounding the depths of that unique natal region chance has (to no discernible end) assigned. ...[CX]ar Ni estas pli proksima al li ol lia gorgxvejno (50:16). You cannot privilege a language any more than a nation, a race, a gender, or any other arbitrary human variable; at most you can commit to a single narrative and a single purpose, for the duration of that purpose.
No one yet has been raised with Lojban as a first language. The number of even native Esperantists is minuscule. Thus the Quran in one of these languages, represents an equidistant alienation. It is the black stone none of us saw come down. I have a nice copy of Chiussi's translation, and though i find myself first searching out passages in my old Pickthall in English, it is the Esperanto text i return to. These are the words that hold me.
A joker might say, "You are not a real Muslim, and it is entirely fitting that you want a Quran that is not in a real language." Be that as it may, meaning lives behind the veil of language, and if there is any sense in the attitudes and practices of a religion, it will involve penetrating that veil. Which must first be acknowledged. [O]ndo kovras gxin, super gxi estas ondo, super tiu estas nubo... (24:41). Not to be content with a postcard of the place; or somebody else's definition of "Allah". And in the very effort to reconstitute a sought-out meaning, into a rotavator language without traditions or cliches, there will be built a new Enclosure.
In Lojban a gismu can have one, two, three, four, or five sumti, or arguments; like the variables of a mathematical function. I have long thought to separate out "conjugations" or 'the five classifying colors' LE MU TE KLESI SKARI as follows: 1 sumti = NARJU XARJU (Orange Pig); 2 sumti = GRUSI GUNSE (Gray Goose); 3 sumti = CRINO CINFO (Green Lion); 4 sumti = BLABI SMANI (White Monkey); and 5 sumti = NUKNI JUKNI (Magenta Spider).
Gismu for each of these could be printed in the appropriate color. (I would do my Quran translation that way--perhaps on buff paper.) --As an additional flourish, i can imagine poets working to organize their colors in patterns, somewhat in the manner of Chinese versification...
2:183
REKI'O PABICIMO'O
O ye who believe!
DOI SE LACRI
('faithful' rather than KRICI 'believers')
Fasting is prescribed for you
.i DO BILGA LEDU'U CE'U BRODA CEI DI'IZE'A RIVBI LENU CITKA
(still not entirely sure about RIVBI)
even as it was prescibed for those before you
.I BRODA BILGA DZENA
(after rejecting ...MU'U LENU LE DO DZENA PU BRODA BILGA)
(DZENA not PURCE)
that ye may ward off (evil).
.I TCATI .I SE JALGE LENU BANDU FI LO PALCI
2:184
.I REKI'O PABIVOMO'O
(Fast) a certain number of days
KO BRODA JI'E SO'O DJEDI .I
(SO'O 'several' is maybe not the best--)
and (for) him who is sick among you or on a journey, (the same) number of other days
DA'I BILMA JA LITRU JI'E LE DUNLI JE DRATA DJEDI
and for those who can afford it there is a ransom--the feeding of a man in need--
.I JI'A LENU BRODA FA LE RICFU KA'E SE BASTI LENU CE'U DUNDA LE CIDJA PA PINDI JI'E ZU'I
but whoso doeth good of his own accord, it is better for him:
.I KU'I ZUKTE LE XAMGU ZI'O KUKU .I'ECAI
and that ye fast is better for you [,] if ye did but know.
.I LE BRODA TCACI CA'A BANZU .EINAI SEKI'UNAI LEDU'U DO'O NA DJUNO
2:185.
2:186.
LI'O .I REKI'O PABIXAMO'O
And when My servants question thee concerning Me, then surely I am nigh.
.IJECALENU PRETI MI LEMI FUZME KEIKU MI BA'E JIBNI
2:187.
LI'O .I REKI'O PABIZEMO'O LI'O
...eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn.
.I .E'A DO CITKA JE PINXE JI'E LE MOKCA POI LO BLABI CILTA LO XEKRI CILTA NA SIMSA LE SKARI BEFOKE'A KU'O VI LE CERNI
(or CERNI MOKCA...)
(e.g. 9:72)
"...gardens that rivers flow under..."
LE PURDI POI FLECU LE RIRXE NI'A KE'A
but 'flow' is redundant
...POI LE RIRXE CU CNITA KE'A
simplifying
...POI SE CNITA LE RIRXE
actually, 'adjacent' is better
...POI LAMJI LE RIRXE
as a tanru
RIRXE LAMJI PURDI
41:28 ...That is the reward of Allah's enemies: the Fire. Therein is their immortal home, payment forasmuch as they denied our revelations.
'Reward' is VE CNEMU. However, SFASA 'punish' (with the same place values) is what is meant.
LI'O DAPOI BRADI LE MUSYCEI ZO'U
'All who oppose Allah.' At first i followed this with: CNEMU DA FO TU'A LE FAGRI, because 'fire' stands for something more elaborate involving screaming, burning, & repentance.
FO TU'A LE FAGRI BA SFASA DA
--adds the future tense BA & ends on the satisfyingly final DA. (Note that the tense marker also eliminates the need for a KEI or a KU which had me scratching my head.)
.I RI BA CIMNI RANJI ZDANI DA
Also in the future tense.
.i SFASA FILE ZU'O DA NATFE LE NOTCI BEFI MI'A
Confirming the TE SFASA (thing being punished) is an activity ZU'O not just a one-time denying, or state of denial (NU NATFE)--which was, though, a consideration. NOTCI may seem insufficient for 'revelation' (adding CENSA 'holy'?),
LE NOTCI POI CENSA KU'O BEFI MI'A
but the Quran is often referred to as a 'message' with Muhammad being the 'messenger'. MI'A is more problematic. Is this Allah speaking, M., or Allah speaking through M.?
