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Books · Religion
Islamic books into English and Christian books into Arabic, approved by the reviewer you choose
For Islamic publishers taking classical texts into English, and for Christian publishers taking books into Arabic. Your Sharia or theological reviewer opens the book through a private link, comments, and records a decision under their own name.
A saying quoted in an Arabic classic, in English
وحديث «اخشوشنوا، فإن النعم لا تدوم» هو لأنّه يحمل على التعوّد جسماً على المشاقّ في الحروب والأسفار وعند الحاجة.
As for the tradition, "Accustom yourselves to roughness, for ease does not last," it was only meant to habituate the body to hardship in war, travel, and times of need.
From Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi’s Taba’i‘ al-Istibdad (“The Nature of Despotism”), 1902, a political treatise in the public domain, at the sentence where it quotes a saying it calls a hadith. The English is Tarjum’s output with no human edit, taken from the comparison on our home page. There a free online translator gives the saying’s first word, ikhshawshinū, as “Be careful”. It means “live roughly”.
A verse keeps its own words
When an English book quotes the Bible, the verse is not re-translated from the English quotation. It returns in the wording of the Arabic Bible you choose, with its reference, and your reviewer sees it before deciding. What the author paraphrased stays in the author’s words. Checking Quran verses and hadith is coming soon, and the examples below show how it will work.
An English book quotes the verse word for word.
The whole sermon rests on one line: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
The quotation is foundIts own words go inYour reviewer sees it
If the sentence were simply translatedالرب هو راعيّ، ولن أحتاج شيئًاLiterally: “The Lord is my shepherd, and I will not need anything.”
ٱلرَّبُّ رَاعِيَّ فَلَا يُعْوِزُنِي شَيْءٌ.
Literally: “The Lord is my shepherd, so nothing shall I lack.”
Psalm 23:1Van Dyck
The verse is set in the words of the Bible translation you chose, and keeps its chapter and verse.
A verse that looks like a grammar mistake to anyone who doesn’t know it.
The prologue opens: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The quotation is foundIts own words go inYour reviewer sees it
If the sentence were simply translatedفي البدء كانت الكلمة، وكانت الكلمة عند اللهLiterally: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God”, with “was” in the feminine, as the Arabic word for “word” is feminine.
فِي ٱلْبَدْءِ كَانَ ٱلْكَلِمَةُ، وَٱلْكَلِمَةُ كَانَ عِنْدَ ٱللهِ، وَكَانَ ٱلْكَلِمَةُ ٱللهَ.
Literally: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, with “was” in the masculine.
John 1:1Van Dyck
This translation gives “the Word” a masculine verb, and that is how it stays. Nobody corrects it to the feminine.
The author did not quote the verse but put it in his own words.
As the psalmist reminds us, we lack nothing when the Lord leads.
The quotation is foundIts own words go inYour reviewer sees it
The translation itselfلا يعوزنا شيء حين يقودنا الربLiterally: “We lack nothing when the Lord leads us.”
كما يذكّرنا المرنّم، لا يعوزنا شيء حين يقودنا الرب.
Literally: “As the psalmist reminds us, we lack nothing when the Lord leads us.”
ParaphraseStays as the author wrote it
A paraphrase is not swapped for the verse. It stays in the author’s own words.
This works today for Christian books, with the Bible translation you choose. From Arabic into English, the same check works with the English Bible translation you name.
An English book quotes a verse by its meaning. An illustration.
As the Qur’an reminds us, God does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear, and the author returns to this verse in every chapter.
The quotation is foundIts own words go inYour reviewer sees it
If the sentence were simply translatedالله لا يثقل على نفس أكثر مما تحتملLiterally: “God does not weigh on a soul more than it can bear.”
﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا﴾
Literally: “God does not charge a soul except with what is within its capacity.”
Al-Baqarah 2:286Uthmani script
The verse is not translated back from the English. It returns in its own words, with its place in the Quran.
An English book quotes a hadith. An illustration.
The tradition is well known: actions are judged by intentions, and every person will have what they intended.
The quotation is foundIts own words go inYour reviewer sees it
If the sentence were simply translatedالأفعال تُحاكَم بالنوايا، ولكل شخص ما قصدLiterally: “Deeds are put on trial by intentions, and every person has what he meant.”
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
Literally: “Actions are only by intentions, and every person shall have only what he intended.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 1
A hadith comes down in versions whose wording differs, so your reviewer sees what the sources record and chooses. In Sahih Muslim (1907):
إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّةِ وَإِنَّمَا لاِمْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
Literally: “Actions are only by intention, and a person shall have only what he intended.”
Checking Quran verses and hadith is coming soon to Tarjum; the text here shows what it will do. In a book going from Arabic into English, the verse will keep its own Arabic words, shown with the English translation you choose. We do not offer a new translation of the meanings of the Quran.
What a religious text needs
A term that does not shift
The reviewer settles each term once, so a word of doctrine does not change from one chapter to the next.
graceنعمة
covenantعهد
Quoted scripture
In Christian books, Bible quotations keep the wording of the translation you choose, and what the author paraphrased stays as written.
Psalm 23:1Van Dyck
Checking quoted Quran verses and hadith is coming soon.
How a religious text is reviewed
Choosing the reviewerYou choose who reviews: a shaykh, a priest or a committee.
A glossary of doctrineTerms are decided before the translation starts.
TranslationA draft edited against the original, with notes attached.
The decisionThe reviewer’s decision is recorded under their name.
FiqhAqidahSeerahHadithChristian theology
Questions about religious translation
Who reviews a religious text?
A reviewer you choose, such as a shaykh, a priest or a committee, or one we choose with you.
Do you translate the meanings of the Quran?
We do not offer a new translation of the meanings of the Quran. This page is about books that quote it.
Do both directions work?
Yes, from Arabic into English and from English into Arabic, with the same review.
Send us a book whose difficulty you know
First we agree on who reviews and how they record their decision, then we start.
The trial: 14 days and 10,000 words, about 40 pages, no card needed. Upload a file or a chapter within that limit, and we will agree on a longer book with you.