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Translation


  • Ahkam
    Sep 15 7:13 PM 2007
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    Letter From Under The Sea -Nizar Qabbani is one of the classics on our poetry site yet there are so many comments regarding the sub standered translation of the poem.please if some one among the team members can help me in finding a batter translation of the poem

  • I-Like-Rhymes
    September 17, 2007
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    READERS PLEASE HELP

    Re your question on the Qabbani translation of letter from under the sea.
    Qabbani was living in London for quite some time and is likely to have done his own translations. Do we have any indication that this is not his own translation?
    Or could it possibly be a case of a poet writing a different version of the poem when he comes to translate some time after he has written the first version.
    I know many of the great published poets who took the opportunity of a second printing of a poem to modify what they had earlier produced.
    This is an interesting puzzle. What was the original language used? Who did the translation (either to or from English) shown on this site and, if it is not Qabbani, is their a better one?
    Can anyone help with this conundrum? Please

  • Ahkam
    September 17, 2007
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    The Arabic Version

    Dear Sir, the poem is originally in Arabic and the English version of the poem on our poetry site is Translated by: Muqreez, But, yes a big But, the comments posted by many of our visitor on the poem say that the translation is not the correct one. I myself know a little Arabic, including Arabic Grammar called Sarf o Nahw, I have to the best of my knowledge compared the translation with the original poem and i believe it is the best possible translation form the original Arabic. If there is some one in our poetry team who has a good understanding of both the languages, here is the link ...

    http://muqreez.blogspot.com/2005/04/puisi-nizar-qabbani-surat-dari-bawah.html

    he can also verify the translation from the original text...but, this Big But which always annoys me, why so many of the commentators have left odd comments on such a beautiful poem and such a wonderful translation of the poem...please see the comments…I am still thinking, why?

  • algerian girl
    November 13, 2007
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    reply

    well i have just finished reading both versions , and since i'm a native arabic speaker, i think they're not really identical -which is normal- , however i guess a better and closer translation can be done, for there are few mistakes , so if you are still interested, i think i can do a better translation

    • rufina caraid
      December 3, 2007
      Reply
      sorry for the tardy reply. by all means give us your translation and post it here upon completion. Regards, Von - Oldpoetry
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