The Abbasid translation movement in context : contemporary voices on translation

Over the decades, an enormous amount of scholarly work has been devoted to the historical and literary context of the Greek-Arabic translations. Without it, we would not be able to answer vital questions about dating and translators. Analysing the few remaining primary sources we have, it sometimes even allows us to reconstruct details such as addressees and the purpose of particular translations. Textual comparison plays a prominent role in contextualisation, often leading to judgements about a translation's quality and "faithfulness" or "equivalence" to a source text. But there is another aspect of a translation's context that we need to know about before we can assess a particular text: theories or concepts of translation prevalent during the Greek-Arabic translation movement

Chapter 6 The user-friendly Galen

When a text is translated into another language and leaves its previous linguistic, cultural and social context, it also leaves its old audience behind. The new audience the text now faces has its own set of requirements, which may only partly overlap with those of the original audience. The task of bridging the gap between old and new audiences and appealing to the latter falls to the translator. In the field of medieval Arabic medicine, an abundance of extant medical translations allows us to document how translators attempted to appeal to their audience and how they took the immediate practical needs of their readers into account. This chapter presents samples from this material and illustrates the insights it can provide into the relationship between the translator and his audience

Galeni In Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum I commentariorum I-III versio Arabica / Galen. Commentary on Hippocrates' Epidemics Book I

The present volume offers the first critical edition of Book 1 of the medieval Arabic translation of Galen's Commentary on the Hippocratic Epidemics, produced by the celebrated translator Hunayn ibn Ishāq (d. ca. 870). The edition is based on all extant Arabic textual witnesses, including the Arabic secondary transmission. The translation of Galen's commentary became a crucial source for the development of medicine in the Islamic world, especially in the nascent field of clinical medicine. It was frequently read and quoted in later Arabic medical literature, and several Arabic authors used it to produce a wide range of didactic writings for medical students and practising physicians. The English translation, which aims to convey some of the flavour of the Arabic translation, comes with extensive notes on the differences between the Greek original and the Arabic translation. A thorough comparison between the two versions of the commentary provides important insights into the translation style and technique of Hunayn ibn Ishāq and his circle and Arabic medical terminology at the time

Galeni in Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum I commentariorum I–III versio Arabica

The present volume offers the first critical edition of Book I of the medieval Arabic translation of Galen's Commentary on the Hippocratic Epidemics produced by Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. ca. 870). The edition is based on all extant Arabic textual witnesses, including the Arabic secondary transmission. The translation of this text became a crucial source for the development of medicine in the Islamic world, especially in the nascent field of clinical medicine; the number and extent of quotations in later Arabic medical works and the wide range of didactic writings created on the basis of this translation attest to its importance. The English translation, which aims to convey some of the favour of the Arabic translation, comes with extensive notes on the differences between the Greek original and the Arabic translation. A thorough comparison between the two versions of the commentary provided important insights into the translation style and terminology of Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his associates

Galeni in Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum II commentariorum I-III versio arabica. Vol. 1 : Commentaria I-III

The present volume offers the first critical edition of the medieval Arabic translation of Galen's Commentary on Book 2 of the Hippocratic Epidemics produced by Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. ca. 870). The edition is based on all extant Arabic textual witnesses, including the Arabic secondary transmission. The Greek original of this text is lost; the Arabic translation is therefore the only intact witness to this important work. The number and extent of quotations from this commentary in medieval Arabic medical writings, which are documented in the introduction to the volume, demonstrate that it became a crucial source for the development of medicine in the Islamic world. It also gave rise to a wide range of didactic writings which illustrate its importance for medical teaching. The English translation aims to convey some of the flavour of the Arabic text. The volume also contains comprehensive indices that map out the terminology and style of the translation

Galeni in Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum II commentariorum I-VI versio arabica. Vol. 2 : Commentaria IV-VI

The present volume offers the first critical edition of the medieval Arabic translation of Galen's Commentary on Book 2 of the Hippocratic Epidemics produced by Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. ca. 870). The edition is based on all extant Arabic textual witnesses, including the Arabic secondary transmission. The Greek original of this text is lost; the Arabic translation is therefore the only intact witness to this important work. The number and extent of quotations from this commentary in medieval Arabic medical writings, which are documented in the introduction to the volume, demonstrate that it became a crucial source for the development of medicine in the Islamic world. It also gave rise to a wide range of didactic writings which illustrate its importance for medical teaching. The English translation aims to convey some of the flavour of the Arabic text. The volume also contains comprehensive indices that map out the terminology and style of the translation

The Prior analytics in the Syriac and Arabic traditions

The reception history of Aristotle's Prior Analytics in the Islamic world began even before its ninth-century translation into Arabic. Three generations earlier, Arabic authors already absorbed echoes of the varied and extensive logical teaching tradition of Greek- and Syriac-speaking religious communities in the new Islamic state. Once translated into Arabic, the Prior Analytics inspired a rich tradition of logical studies, culminating in the creation of an independent Islamic logical tradition by Ibn Sina (d. 1037), Ibn Rušd (d. 1098) and others. This article traces the translation and commentary tradition of the Prior Analytics in Syriac and Arabic in the sixth to ninth centuries and sketches its appropriation, revision and, ultimately, transformation by Islamic philosophers between the ninth and eleventh centuries

Cultural accommodation and the idea of translation

The translations produced in the course of the Greek-Arabic translation movement of the ninth to eleventh century amply document the struggles of generations of mostly Christian translators to render an extraordinarily wide range of Greek and Syriac source texts into Arabic. When dealing with material that relied on unavailable cultural background knowledge or was, for a variety of reasons, unacceptable to the translator or his audience, translational technique alone was of little help. With a variety of examples, this paper seeks to illustrate how the translator of Aristotle's Rhetoric dealt with such situations, how his solutions influenced the reception and commentary tradition of this work and explores the implications for an understanding of translation beyond catchwords such as “literal,” “free” and “mistranslation.

Galeni In Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum II commentariorum I-VI versio Arabica. Volume I: Commentaria I-III

This two-volume monograph offers the first critical edition of the medieval Arabic translation of Galen's Commentary on Book 2 of the Hippocratic Epidemics produced by Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. ca. 870). The edition is based on all extant Arabic textual witnesses, including the Arabic secondary transmission. The Greek original of this text is lost; the Arabic translation is therefore the only witness to this important work. The number and extent of quotations from this commentary in medieval Arabic medical writings, which are documented in the introduction to the volume, demonstrate that it became a crucial source for the development of medicine in the Islamic world. It also gave rise to a wide range of didactic writings which illustrate its importance for medical teaching. The English translation that accompanies the edition aims to convey some of the flavour of the Arabic text. It also comes with comprehensive indices that map out the terminology and style of the translation