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أعمال الخلافة

English translation: the (ordinary) affairs of the Caliphate

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Arabic term or phrase:أعمال الخلافة
English translation:the (ordinary) affairs of the Caliphate
Entered by: Ziena

21:28 Sep 14, 2004
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
History
Arabic term or phrase: أعمال الخلافة
وكان كالخلفاء الراشدون لم ينتصبوا لهذه المهمة منصبا خاصا بل كانت مهمتهم مندرجة في اعمال الخلافة كما كان القضاء في اول الامر
Ziena
the (ordinary) affairs of the Caliphate
Explanation:
The sentence contrasts the notion of a special post vs. the ordinary/usual affairs/works entailed by the Caliphate. "Duties" strikes me as unecessarily adding something explicit that is only implicit in the original. "Affairs" leaves the notion of duty implicit.

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Note added at 1 day 14 hrs 32 mins (2004-09-16 12:01:21 GMT)
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My point is that how one translates ط§ط¹ظ…ط§ظ„ depends on one\'s translation philosophy. I tend to favor a policy of strict linguistic faithfulness to the text, so that it speaks for itself. The translator should neither add nor omit. In this case, \"duties\" is an addition based on the translator\'s opinion of the overall sense of the text. That opinion may well be correct, but it is still translator interference. It also represents distrust of the author; after all, the author could easily have written ظˆط§ط¬ط¨ط§طھ or the like if that was the intended meaning. Instead he or she chose ط§ط¹ظ…ط§ظ„ , leaving it to the reader to interpret this rather neutral term. A strict translation should do the same. On the other hand, a looser translation philosophy, that allows for a certain amount of \"helpfulness\", might support \"duties\" here.

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Note added at 1 day 14 hrs 34 mins (2004-09-16 12:03:05 GMT)
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Darn! My browser was set to use Unicode. The Arabic in my note should read, in order: اعمال - واجبات - اعمال

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 21 hrs 36 mins (2004-09-16 19:05:08 GMT)
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Unless I\'ve misread (always a possibility): \"...they did not establish a separate post for this duty [task], but rather it was included in the ordinary affairs [business] of the Caliphate...\"
Selected response from:

ArabInk
Local time: 11:12
Grading comment
Thank you
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +5Duties of the Caliph (Imam or Khalifah)
Nancy Eweiss
4Deeds of Caliphate
Awad Balaish
4the (ordinary) affairs of the Caliphate
ArabInk


  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +5
أعمال الخلافة
Duties of the Caliph (Imam or Khalifah)


Explanation:


Nancy Eweiss
Egypt
Local time: 19:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nagla Zaki
6 hrs
  -> Thank you Nagla
agree  Nesrin
10 hrs
  -> Thank you Nesrin
agree  Saleh Ayyub
12 hrs
  -> Thank you Saleh
agree  Randa Farhat: duties of Khalifate
17 hrs
  -> Thank you randa, but it is usually Caliphate or Khilafah
neutral  ArabInk: "duties" (lower case) and maybe add "ordinary" or "usual" because of the contrast set up by خاص .Use of caps implies some kind of official list; was there such a thing? And definitely "Caliphate", not "Caliph".
1 day 20 hrs
  -> Thank you ArabInk, anyway 'الخلافة' denotes "الخليفة' the word has some connotation, which was very common in writing at this time.
agree  Alaa Zeineldine
3 days 22 hrs
  -> Thank you Alaa
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
أعمال الخلافة
Deeds of Caliphate


Explanation:
Jobs of Caliphate

Awad Balaish
Saudi Arabia
Local time: 19:12
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

20 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
أعمال الخلافة
the (ordinary) affairs of the Caliphate


Explanation:
The sentence contrasts the notion of a special post vs. the ordinary/usual affairs/works entailed by the Caliphate. "Duties" strikes me as unecessarily adding something explicit that is only implicit in the original. "Affairs" leaves the notion of duty implicit.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 14 hrs 32 mins (2004-09-16 12:01:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My point is that how one translates ط§ط¹ظ…ط§ظ„ depends on one\'s translation philosophy. I tend to favor a policy of strict linguistic faithfulness to the text, so that it speaks for itself. The translator should neither add nor omit. In this case, \"duties\" is an addition based on the translator\'s opinion of the overall sense of the text. That opinion may well be correct, but it is still translator interference. It also represents distrust of the author; after all, the author could easily have written ظˆط§ط¬ط¨ط§طھ or the like if that was the intended meaning. Instead he or she chose ط§ط¹ظ…ط§ظ„ , leaving it to the reader to interpret this rather neutral term. A strict translation should do the same. On the other hand, a looser translation philosophy, that allows for a certain amount of \"helpfulness\", might support \"duties\" here.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 14 hrs 34 mins (2004-09-16 12:03:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Darn! My browser was set to use Unicode. The Arabic in my note should read, in order: اعمال - واجبات - اعمال

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 21 hrs 36 mins (2004-09-16 19:05:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Unless I\'ve misread (always a possibility): \"...they did not establish a separate post for this duty [task], but rather it was included in the ordinary affairs [business] of the Caliphate...\"

ArabInk
Local time: 11:12
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Nancy Eweiss: The special post here is not for the Caliph as he would usually appoint someone for it,but before the Ummayad rule, the Caliph used to do it as well. أعمال الخلافة (duties, reponsibilities.) include all what he is entitled to do by virtue of his post.
11 hrs
  -> Right; that's why I wrote Caliphate (later: and I added some other text but proz seems to have lost it!) :(
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