Hilali and Khan render the source metaphor with the context of the sentence or translation metaphor into sense. They use literal word in the
target language reward. This translation is acceptable and accurate; otherwise, it involves losing the metaphor in the target language.
Translating metaphor into the same vehicle with addition of the topic can also be practiced in this verse.
e. Chapter al Imron 103
1 Translations
a Yusuf Ali: And hold fast, all together, by the rope which God
stretches out for you, and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude God‟s favour on you; for ye were enemies
and He joined your hearths in love, so that by His grace, ye become brethren. p. 149.
b Pickthall: And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and
do not separate. And remember Allahs favour unto you: how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye
became as brothers by His grace. p. 70. c
Hilali and Khan: And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah i.e. this Quran, and be not divided among yourselves, and
remember Allahs Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became
brethren in Islamic Faith. p. 88. d
M Asad: And hold fast, all together, unto the bond with God, and do not draw apart from one another. And remember the blessings which
God has bestowed upon you: how, when you were enemies, He brought your hearts together, so that through His blessing you became
brethren. p. 82. 2
Context of the Verse It is a command from Allah to the all servant to hold on cord of
Allah. This cord means the Pure Essence of Allah, whether it be the religion, the Ho
ly Qur‟an or the prophet, and do not make any separation.
84
3 Types of Metaphor
The literal meaning of hablun is rope or cord.
85
In this verse, it is used to express the pure essence of Allah. This type of original non-
lexicalized metaphor, because it will not clearly fixed without looking to the context of the verse, and it is not simply relatable to existing
linguistic or cultural conventions. The topic of this metaphor is pure essence of Allah which contains of His books, religions, etc. And the
ground is the same function of rope and pure essence of Allah which binds something or someone.
84
Ibid. p. 87
85
Hans Wehr 1980, op.cit. p. 154. See also al Munjid fi Lughah wa al A’lam 1984, p.115
4 Translation Analysis
The techniques used in all English metaphor translations remains the same translation of the source metaphor vehicle rope along with
other alternative one such as bond, cable. Both of these translations however failed to express the aforementioned meaning of the verse,
except Hilali and Khan who give an explanation in the parentheses i.e. this Qur‟an. The idea of those words rope, bond or cable is absent in
pure essence of Allah. Both words are simply too weak to keep full import of hablun in this verse.
f. Chapter al Imron 112
