Renovatio: The Podcast

Zaytuna College

A multimedia, multi-faith publication about the ideas that shape the modern world from the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States, Zaytuna College.

  1. Can English Capture the Language of Revelation?

    JAN 9

    Can English Capture the Language of Revelation?

    Can English Capture the Language of Revelation? Robert Alter's Torah and Lessons for the Translation of the Qur'an  by Caner K. Dagli Can English truly capture the language of divine revelation? Robert Alter's literary approach to translating the Hebrew Bible offers profound lessons for how Muslims might translate the Qur'an—and why most English Qur'an translations fall short. KEY INSIGHTS: • Why Alter's one-man Torah translation caused a literary sensation • How respecting register, rhythm, and rhetoric preserves sacred text's power • The problem with committee translations that flatten sacred language • Three historical English Qur'an translations that achieved literary excellence Robert Alter, a comparative literature professor, challenged centuries of biblical translation by prioritizing literary style over theological smoothness. His jarring translation of Esau's crude demand—"Let me gulp down some of this red red stuff"—preserves the original's colloquial register, shocking modern readers just as it shocked ancient audiences. Scholar Caner K. Dagli explores what Muslims can learn from this approach, examining three English Qur'an translations that rise to literary merit: George Sale's 1734 version (Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an), and more recent attempts to capture the rhetorical power of Arabic revelation. While Muslims have traditionally insisted the Qur'an cannot be translated—only "interpreted"—Dagli suggests Alter's methodology offers a path forward for conveying the Qur'an's linguistic majesty in English. The essay challenges translators to honor both the uniqueness and beauty of sacred language rather than domesticating it into contemporary idiom, preserving what makes scripture unlike ordinary speech. Read the full essay: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/robert-alters-torah-and-lessons-for-the-translation-of-the-quran About the Author: Caner K. Dagli is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross and general editor of The Study Quran. Subscribe for more essays on sacred texts and translation #QuranTranslation #BiblicalStudies #RobertAlter #SacredTexts #LiteraryTranslation #IslamicStudies #HebrewBible #Renovatio #ZaytunaCollege #ComparativeReligion

    21 min
  2. Cultural Devolution by Hamza Yusuf (Audio Essay)

    11/22/2025

    Cultural Devolution by Hamza Yusuf (Audio Essay)

    Cultural Devolution:How the new victimhood culture rejects human dignity and divinityBy Hamza Yusuf Read by Michael Sugich "Cultures vary in their approaches to instilling a sense of right and wrong in children, and in determining how to encourage rights and redress wrongs. One key difference in approaches relates to the religiosity, or the lack thereof, of the specific culture. In cultures where a significant number of people remain religious, parents often introduce scripturally derived concepts of reward and punishment, promote emulation of prophetic or sagely character, and warn of God’s wrath or bad karma upon those who break moral codes or disregard divine sanctions found in such presentations as the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule. Other cultures, especially in modern secular societies, take a more humanistic approach, arguing that basic moral precepts—such as telling the truth—are simply self-evident and result when good people act appropriately. In other words, good people exhibit upright moral behavior, they tell the truth, they don’t steal, and they abide by the rule of law. Teaching young people these basic principles of behavior takes time and constant vigilance, since many youth display a rebellious spirit expressed in testing limits, getting away with things, and violating the status quo. Young people commonly question the mores of a culture, and shifts in cultural norms usually occur first among them." Hamza Yusuf is the president of Zaytuna College. He promotes classical learning in Islam and emphasizes the importance of the tools of learning so central to Muslim civilization and known in the West as the liberal arts. He serves as vice president for the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, and he has published numerous articles, essays, encyclopedia entries, and translations, including The Prayer of the Oppressed and Purification of the Heart.

    57 min
4.7
out of 5
113 Ratings

About

A multimedia, multi-faith publication about the ideas that shape the modern world from the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States, Zaytuna College.

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