The Comparison of Rhetorical Meanings of "aw" (particle of conjunction) in Dehlawi, Meybodi, and Fooladvand's Translations of the Quran

 
1. Introduction
In the Arabic language, letters do not solely signify their meaning, rather they need another word to express their original meaning in the sentence. In some instances, letters are used interchangeably and do not signify their frequent meaning known in translations. The Quran uses the same method. The secondary meanings of the letters are specified in the books on the Quran's exegesis and diacritical marks. The particle "aw" is mostly used to imply discretion, which is indicated by "ya" (meaning or) in the Persian language. In some other instances, "aw" also implies "connective waw", "but", "ambiguity", "concession", "doubt", "discrimination", and "division". Since they translate the Quran using a "semantic" or "communicative" approach, the translators of the Quran have offered different methods for these secondary meanings. In this regard, Meybodi, Dehlawi, and Fooladvand present various translations and in some instances, approach literal or semantic translation, and in some other instances, use communicative translation. To what extent these three translators consider these meanings is a point that can reveal their precision in the books on the Quran's exegesis and diacritical marks.
 
2. Research methodology
In investigating the second meaning of "aw", first, different Quranic verses in which this letter is used were selected. Then, the meanings used in these sentences were explained in various books on the Quran's exegesis, diacritical marks, and lexical complexities. In addition to comparing Dehlawi's translation with these meanings, Meybodi, and Fooladvand's translations were examined. Three translators were selected from three different centuries and accordingly, the present article had a comparative approach to different centuries.
 
3. Discussion
Translators' precision differs in their secondary meanings. In this translation of the Quranic verse, "aw" is translated into "but": "as a glance of the eye but even nearer," (Surah An-Nahl: 77) (Ibn Ishaq, 1984: 13). This is carefully stated by Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, who uses "rather" in his translation: "as a glance of the eye rather even nearer" (Dehlawi, 1997: 401). Fooladvand uses translates "aw" into "or": "or a glance of the eye or even nearer" (Fooladvand, 2014: 275). Meybodi translates "aw" into the connective "waw" (meaning and): "as a glance of the eye and even nearer" (Meybodi, 2003: 5/410). In Meybodi's translation, although two different intervals are seen, it is not clear that the translation is presented in the shorter interval. Therefore, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi has greater precision in the secondary meaning of the "aw". The other two translations, with "or" and "and," fail to express this meaning.
This translation of the Quranic verse, "They say, 'Be Jews or Christians [so] you will be guided,'" (Surah Al-Baqarah, 135), does not imply any of either "Jews" or "Christians", rather both of them, that is, both "Jews" and "Christians" consider the path to guidance to be theirs exclusively. Dehlawi and Fooladvand provide literal translations and fail to point this out, "They say, 'Be Jew or Christian to be guided'" (Dehlawi, 1997: 29); "They say, 'Be Jew or Christian, so you may be guided,'" (Fooladvand, 2014: 19). In Dehlawi and Fooladvand's translations, no one realizes that the Jew is not willing to consider a Christian as guided; and similarly, a Christian is not willing to consider a Jew as guided. In his translation, Meybodi considers this point precisely, and connects the sentences to present the meaning with greater accuracy: "The Jews say, 'Be Jew,' and the Christians say, 'Be Christian,'" (Meybodi, 2003: 1/369). Thus, Meybodi translates the meaning of discrimination accurately.
 
4. Conclusion
In Arabic language, "aw" is a particle of conjunction that is often known to mean discretion between two possible things, and in the Persian language is translated into "or". However, in the Quran, "aw" implies "discretion", "connective waw" (meaning and), "but", "ambiguity", "concession", "doubt", "discrimination", and "division". Indeed, there are disagreements in syntactic and exegesis books about the meaning used in the various verses.
In many of the verses under discussion, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi uses the secondary meaning; particularly in connective waw" (meaning and), discretion, comprehension, ambiguity, ambiguity, and concession, he translates quite accurately and excellently.
Since his translation is exegetical, Meybodi, compared to the other two translators, is able to use more words. In other words, although at first, he presents the translation of the verses, since later on, he presents exegetical and mystic meanings, his translation has such specific characteristics. Therefore, using conjunctions in sentences, instead of connected words, or by using different adverbs in his sentences, Meybodi approaches the secondary meanings, and in some instances, is even superior to others.
With his communicative and comprehensible translation, Fooladvand is also able to make symmetry between the role of Arabic words and their Persian translation. Yet in most instances, he translates "aw" only into "or" and uses fewer other meanings. Indeed, Fooladvand's translation is closer to that of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi than Meybodi's. This is evident in many instances in his translation.
 
 
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