[Mark_NyB]

During my absence from the forum friends have been facing difficulties with translation of some words and sentences.
Translation from one language to another is a very delicate and tricky matter. One has to be highly proficient in both the languages. Then, there is the problem that it is not possible to exactly translate meaning from one language to another. It is not possible to translate,for example, the Urdu word ‘Roza’ ( Arabic Saum) exactly into English.The Englisg word “fasting” is not the exact translation.There is no other English word which can convey what we Muslims mean by Roza.This is just one out of thousands of such examples.However, I feel that we should take up some basic exercise in translation on a regular basis.
Sister Nun has been facing problem with the word ‘Zarf’. I would like to say that we should never try to translate from word to word. It is the meaning that is and needs to be translated and not the words. The problem faced by sister Nun has arisen because she has used the word to word method of translation.It is the use of word ’show’ which has made it difficult to translate properly.'Zarf" here means 'appreciate' but it is not proper to use word 'show' with 'appreciate' I would write the sentence as:
We should appreciate when somebody shows his sense of humbleness. Instead of
“We should show our zarf when when some body showing us extreme state of humbleness.”
We can use the word 'show' دکھانا with the word ‘zarf’ in Urdu but this will be inappropriate in English.
To clarify the point I would like the participants to translate the following simple Urdu sentences into English:
میرا سر چکرا رہا ہے۔
میرا استاد کل میرا امتحان لے رہاہے۔
میں کل امتحان دے رہا ہوں۔
اسمان پر بادل چھایے ہیں۔ (Aasmaan)
بارش ہو رہی ہے۔
٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫ ٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫ ٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫٫………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..
I am starting a very useful activity from today. It is a vocabulary building activity.
I shall call it “TODAY’s WORD”. Here we go:
“TODAY’s WORD”.
Let’s (let us) talk and learn about people.
Every person we meet is different from all others.There are so many types of people.Let’s discuss and describe some of these types:
Type I: ALTRUIST ……………….. {this is how we say or pronounce it (all +true+ ist)
This person is always ready and willing to help others. He feels happy to see others happy and comfortable. He cares more about the needs and happiness of others than himself. We can say that s/he (she or he) is a selfless person.
Practice with the Use of the word:
1. Should a Muslim be an altruist?
2. Altruists win the hearts of people.
3. A Daii must be an altruist.
4.Abdul Sattar Eddi of Pakistan is an altruist.
5.Please write the names of some famous Muslim altruists.

Fii amanillah.