Translation Analysis of Qur’anic Idioms in the Form of Jumlah Fi‘liyyah: A Newmark and Nida-Taber Study of Three Indonesian Translations

Abstract

Idiomatic expressions in the Qur'an pose distinctive challenges for translators, since their meaning cannot be derived from the literal sum of their lexical components. This study examines the translation of three Qur'anic idioms constructed in the jumlah fi'liyyah (verbal sentence) pattern: yuqallibu kaffayhi (QS Al-Kahf: 42, expressing regret), la taj'al yadaka maghlulatan ila 'unuqik (QS Al-Isra: 29, prohibiting stinginess), and qad afda ba'dukum ila ba'din (QS An-Nisa: 21, a euphemism for marital consummation). Each idiom's rhetorical status is first established through seven classical and contemporary tafsir works (Ibn Kathir, Al-Kasysyaf, Jalalayn, At-Tahrir wa At-Tanwir, Al-Munir, Safwah At-Tafasir, and Al-Bahr Al-Muhit), before its rendering is compared across three Indonesian translations representing institutional, contemporary-academic, and interpretive translation philosophies (Kemenag RI, M. Quraish Shihab, and Muhammad Thalib respectively). Employing a qualitative descriptive method with content analysis, each rendering is classified according to Newmark's (1988) translation procedures and evaluated for its degree of equivalence following Nida and Taber's (1969) formal-dynamic framework. The tafsir synthesis reveals that the three idioms occupy distinct rhetorical categories, kinayah (metonymy) for the regret idiom, isti'arah tamthiliyyah (representational metaphor) for the stinginess idiom, and an unlabeled lexical euphemism for the marital idiom, a distinction that correlates closely with the translation procedures each idiom subsequently receives. This case-based study offers a methodological model for grounding idiom translation analysis in classical tafsir and its implications for Arabic-Indonesian translation pedagogy.