A Stylistic-Cultural Reading of Enani’s English Translation of Taha Hussein’s Marginalia on the Prophet’s Biography

Abstract

An English translation of Taha Hussein’s ‘Ala Hamish Al Sira [Marginalia of the Prophet’s Biography] (2021) by Muhammad Enani appeared in the “Arabic Literature and Thought” series. Enani introduced readers of English to Hussein’s literary version of the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) biography in a translation in which he attempted to reveal aspects of Hussein’s modernity in both style and handling of religious subject matter. The present paper explores Hussein’s progressive thought and how Enani translated his work to foreground Hussein’s avant-garde approach to dealing with the Prophet’s biography. The paper focuses on Enani’s effort to complement earlier Orientalist approaches in the field in a revisionist reading of whatever blemished their works. Enani’s contribution is highly valued as it is exerted by a well-established professor of translation studies and a practising translator. Furthermore, Enani’s Arabo-Islamic identity and his profound knowledge of both Arabic and English enabled him to produce an equivalent translation of the original text.