January 15, 2002

ONE way to know the world is through the translation of its literature. Translators have done much to bring the world closer, to develop a cosmopolitan view of life and make diverse people learn from the experiences of each other. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as well as the Upanishads hold great lessons for us. Translations also allow the possibilities of creating a new work of art in the new language as happened in the case of Sir Thomas North’s Plutarch.

Translations have also played a major role in alerting cultures to literary achievements and philosophic thought: the works of Aristotle arrived in Western Europe through Arabic, and those of Shakespeare in Germany though the brilliant work of Schlegel and Tieck.

A.R. Nicholson performed the same service when he translated Allama Iqbal’s Asrar-i-Khudi (The secrets of life) and got it published in 1920. Later Iqbal made some changes in the ARN version, a facsimile copy of which was obtained by Dr Saeed A. Durrani. The book under review is an analysis by Dr Saeed A. Durrani of the two editions (1920 and 1940) of The secrets of the self ARN’s translation in the light of Iqbal’s MS amendments to the first edition.

It is very revealing in a number of ways: first what had transpired over 80 years ago between Iqbal and ARN is nothing short of a treat to Iqbal’s readers in the 21st century. The credit for providing this treat first goes to Dr Saeed who thought it worthwhile to take much pains to show how the two great minds — Iqbal and ARN — responded to each other’s rendering of Asrar-i-khudi. Very ably, Dr Saeed has tabulated in a multipage, three-column broadsheet recording — section, page and linewise — ARN’s first version (of those lines etc where Iqbal had made changes); Iqbal’s comments, amendments and suggestions; and action taken by ARN in his second edition (i.e.the new version), if modified, or a statement to that effect if no action had been taken.

An important aspect of the book is that it contains a substantial quantity of original, hand-written material by Iqbal which is valuable in its own right as unpublished MS matter. Moreover, the book constitutes a critique of the first translation of his seminal work, Asrar-i-khudi by so outstanding an orientalist as ARN. The publication of the book in this form is no less than a discovery. The accompanying analysis of the amendments and their adoption, or otherwise, by ARN give the reader a full idea of how important a work of translation is.

A slight shift in the choice of words can upset the theme or the sensibilities of the thought. Translating poetry from one language into another — specially across the divide between the Oriental and Occidental poetical and cultural traditions, with entirely disparate wealth of imagery, allusions, fables and allegory — is a daunting task. An example of how a great linguist and translator like ARN could stumble pitifully is provided by verse line 446 where ARN had misread zay - nay (of the/from the reed) as zunay (woman). He thus translated the verse as: “And ride like children on a woman’s back”. After Iqbal’s correction, ARN changed the version to: “And ride like children on a reed.”

An earlier work in the form of notes on Asrar-i-khudi, edited by J. Arberry, while containing a meticulously researched account of ARN’s two versions of the translation, and Iqbal’s own amendments did not reproduce Iqbal’s MS comments in his own hand, or lay out, in graphic form, the three stages of the evolutionary process involved. Dr Saeed overcomes these limitations.

But what is strange is that ARN has nowhere in the introduction to the revised edition acknowledged or referred to the amendments made by Iqbal. Why he did so will remain a mystery for all time to come.

We may safely say that Dr Saeed’s work constitutes a great effort towards further studies in the translation of Iqbal’s Asrar-I-khudi by A.R. Nicholson.

 

Facsimile reproduction of R.A.Nicholson’s translation of Asrar-i-khudi by Allamah Muhammad Iqbal

Edited and analyzed by Dr Saeed A. Durrani

Karachi University Press, Karachi.

ISBN 969-404-44-0 240pp. Rs160

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