1. INTRODUCTION

The Holy Quran is a sacred book that is read worldwide by Muslims and non-Muslims, alike. It was revealed to Prophet Muhammad PBUH around 1400 years ago in Arabic language. It is also mentioned in the Quran, chapter 46, and verse 12: "And this is a confirming book, in the Arabic language, to warn those who do wrong, and good news for the doers of good." (Itani, 2015, p. 530)

Some of the reciters of the Holy Quran recite it with merely the purpose of reading in their minds, while a large community is interested to comprehend its meanings and interpretations. For this purpose, many translations of the Quran have emerged. These translations and well-formed interpretations of the Holy Quran, in every nation"s mother tongue, can help to create a better understanding of this book for Muslims of all nations. Moreover, it may also provide an opportunity for non-Muslims to understand the Quran by using its exact translation which can provide them with a fair view of Islam (Tabrizi, 2013). However, the translation of Quran is not an easy task as every language has its own culture, individuality, and style. Along with its other requirements, considering the style while translating any text bears utmost importance. The current research is a small contribution to determine the relationship between translation and stylistics.

A key feature of stylistics is foregrounding which can be understood as highlighting a certain part of the text, or the opposite of background. It highlights the poetic function of a language which was introduced by Roman Jacobson. Foregrounding is the ability to deviate from the linguistic norms and create textual patterns based on parallelism and deviation (Burke, 2014). Parallelism and deviation can be achieved on multiple levels, such as lexical, morphological, semantic, grammatical, phonological, and graphological. The current research is confined to lexical parallelism in the Arabic text and its Urdu translation. Lexical parallelism is an aspect that is easily recognizable by any reader, even by someone having familiarity of meaning of words. Lexical parallelism is the repetition of lexical items in a discourse. It is an important device to indicate the connections between sentences in a discourse (Sakamoto & Okamoto, 1982). The current research was conducted from a Pakistani perspective. Therefore, the translation chosen was in the national language of the country, that is, Urdu. This research can create a meaningful impact on the relationship between stylistics and translation of religious scriptures. Additionally, it can also pave the way for further research on comparing the stylistic features of original texts and their translations.

Problem Statement

The current study investigated the relationship between stylistics and translations, focusing on the translation of Surah Ar-Rahman"s Arabic text by Salahuddin Yousuf. Although, there are widespread translations of the Quran including Urdu translations, the intricate balance between stylistics and translations remains a more challenging area. Through a meticulous analysis of both the texts, the current research examined to what extent the lexical style, especially in the form of lexical parallelism, has been maintained and how much has been compromised in the process. This study enhanced the understanding that while translations can give an essence of the original text, it can never replicate the broad spectrum of stylistic features present in the original text.

Objectives

The objectives of the current study are as follows:

1. To stylistically analyze the original Arabic text and Urdu translation of Surah Ar-Rahman on the grounds of lexical parallelism, and
2. To find out the stylistic closeness of the original text with its translation in the form of lexical parallelism.

Research Questions

1. What types of lexical parallelism of the Arabic text have been maintained in the translation?
2. What types of lexical parallelism were not considered in the translation?

Delimitation of Study

The current study was delimited to the Arabic text and Urdu translation of Surah Ar-Rahman by Hafiz Salahuddin Yousuf.

Literature Review

This section deals with some important areas. Firstly, what is translation and how Quranic text is translated. Secondly, how stylistics has been defined. Lastly, what is foregrounding and parallelism, especially lexical parallelism.

Translation

The word "translation" has been derived from the Latin word translatus, the past participle of the word transferre which means to carry or bring across (Bassnette, 2013). Translation, from a layman"s point of view, involves the linguistic transfer from whatever is written in the source language into the target language. There are no languages which are same in their syntax, sentence structure, and vocabulary, and generally there are "black holes" often left in the translation which are filled by the translator"s interpretation of the source language and reformulation of the target language (Bassnette, 2013).

Quranic Translations

The effective and sublime style of the Holy Quran is attained through the deployment of certain linguistic, stylistic, and rhetorical features. Translating these features is a difficult task for the translator, especially when it comes to translating features, such as metaphor, metonymy, polysemy, assonance, irony, simile, ellipsis, and other such devices. Ali et al. (2012) identified some of these problems by comparing different translations with the original text.

Lexical problems arise in the translation when there is no counterpart of the word used in the Arabic text in its English translation. For instance words, such as تقوی which is mostly translated as piety, کفر which is translated as disbelief, حق which is translated as truth, and many such examples, the translations of such words are not exact but proximal.

According to Tabrizi (2013), there are three different ways in which Quran is translated, ranging from literal to free translation. The first method is the "literal method" where each word of the source language is translated into its exact position in the target language. As mentioned earlier, no two languages share the same syntax and sentence structure, hence the translation produced is not communicative and the reader has to have prior knowledge of the target language in order to understand the text. This problem is solved by the translator by adding information in parenthesis or providing footnotes.

The second method is the "paraphrastic method" where the translator translates every phrase and part of the source language based on his interpretation of the text. This method is also known as the free translation. This translation is easily understood by unfamiliar readers but due to the high subjectivity of the text being produced, its level of accuracy is questionable. This may create further problems as there might be multiple interpretations of the same text.

The middle way between both of these methods is the "content-oriented method" which creates a dynamic equivalence between the source language and the target language. This method translates words to their equivalents in the target language, using local idiomatic expressions, common vernacular, and contemporary speech (Tabrizi, 2013).

Stylistics

Everyone has a unique style of expressing themselves and the linguistic features used to express this style is called stylistics. It refers to the study and analysis of the text (Burke, 2014). According to Khan (2016), "the term 'style' is used in linguistics to describe the choices which language makes available to a user, above and beyond the choices necessary for the simple expression of a meaning" (p. 2). Stylistics can also be termed as the textual interpretation in which primacy of place is given to language (Simpson, 2004).

Foregrounding

Foregrounding refers to the form of textual patterning meant for the purpose of literary-aesthetic. Foregrounding has a long history, which dates back to the time of Aristotle. These stylistic features have been passed down from the time of Aristotle to British Romantic writers to Roman Formalist and the Prague Linguistic Circle. However, it lost its significance for the recent theorists. The term foregrounding originated by Czeck theorist Jan Mukaiovsky (Miall & Kuiken, 1994). Foregrounding is a range of stylistic variation which can occur at different levels in the form of parallelism (repetition) or deviation (deviant from the norm).

Parallelism

Parallelism refers to linguistic repetition (Burke, 2014). It is considered to be stylistic as well as a rhetorical device. Parallelism is used to persuade, emphasize, strengthen, and empower the audience (Ameedi & Mukhef, 2017). Parallelism can be done at different levels and thus, has different types which are explained below:

1. Structural Parallelism: Structural parallelism occurs in neighboring sentences. These sentences share grammatical features of tenses, aspects, clause structures, or word orders to give a strong impression of being connected (Quirke, 2010).
2. Lexical Parallelism: This parallelism occurs when lexical items are repeated in a text.
3. Syntactic Parallelism: Syntactic parallelism can be conducted at four different levels. Firstly, parallelism at word level. Secondly, parallelism at phrase level. Thirdly, parallelism at clause level and lastly, parallelism at sentence level. Thus, syntactic parallelism is the repetition of words, phrases, clauses or sentences (Ameedi & Mukhef, 2017).
4. Semantic Parallelism: This parallelism refers to the repetition of synonymous or anonymous relations between words, phrases or sentences of the text (Ameedi & Mukhef, 2017).
5. Synthetic Parallelism: This is the kind of parallelism where the idea of the second line develops from the first line.
6. Antithetical Parallelism: This kind of parallelism occurs when two contrasting ideas are put together. The first line will be the antithesis of the second line (Khadim & Abdurraheem, 2018)
7. Phonological Parallelism: Phonological parallelism is the repetition of sound. This kind of parallelism includes assonance which is the repetition of vowel sound, consonance which is the repetition of consonant sound, alliteration, the repetition of the beginning sounds of words, and rhyme where words or phrases end with the same sound.
8. Binary Parallelism: This is the kind of parallelism which has two members.
9. Eclectic Parallelism: When more than one parallelism is observed in a given text, it is termed as eclectic parallelism.

Parallelism can also be referred to as a linguistic tool used by writers to influence their audiences and to provide the readers with a better understanding of the text. A study conducted by Khadim and Abdurraheem (2018) analyzed the types of parallelism that can be observed in selected verses from the Quran. For this purpose, three short chapters were chosen from the Quran and were analyzed to see whether they contained parallelism or not. The first text of Surah Az-Zilzal exhibited structural parallelism, phonological parallelism, semantic parallelism, climatic, synthetic and antithetic parallelism, and this all resulted in eclectic parallelism.

The second text chosen was Surah Al-Ikhlas which showed the same pattern of parallelism as in Surah Az-Zilzal. Surah Al-Falaq was analyzed as the third text on the grounds of parallelism. It again showed the same types of parallelism being observed in the verses but this Surah also included emphatic parallelism.

It was concluded that parallelism is an important feature of religious texts and there are many different types of texts used in three, two or even single verses. Out of all the types of parallelism, the most commonly used is synthetic parallelism, and eclectic parallelism is the one which is easily found in the verses.

Most of the researches in this field have been conducted on multiple translations of the same text, while the original text has not been analyzed. Apart from that, not much research has been conducted on Urdu translations used throughout the Urdu speaking community, especially Pakistan. The current research filled the gap in the existing literature by stylistically connecting the original Arabic text with its Urdu translation since Arabic has a strong influence on Urdu language. It can also be seen in the fact that Urdu is written in Persian-Arabic Nastaliq script and there is a great similarity between the written Urdu and Arabic text (Mukhtar et al., 2009).

Methodology

This section comprises detailed research design, population of the study, the selected text, and the data analysis technique.

Research Design

The current study employed a qualitative method to analyze the stylistic features in the Arabic text of Surah Ar-Rahman and its Urdu translation. In the first phase, the Arabic text of Surah Ar-Rahman was analyzed for lexical parallelism. In the second phase, the Urdu translation of Surah Ar-Rahman was analyzed for lexical parallelism. In the final phase, both of the analyses along findings were compared.

Selected Text

Based on qualitative research design, out of 114 Surahs of the Quran, the current study purposively used the complete text of Surah Ar-Rahman due to its eloquence and aesthetic profundity. The Urdu translation of the text was selected based on an oral survey done by the researcher on the translation widely used by learners of the Quran through Urdu translation and chose the Urdu translation by Hafiz Salahuddin Yousuf.

Description of Framework

The research procedure was divided into three phases as mentioned earlier. The selected Surah was analyzed in terms of lexical parallelism in both the Arabic text and its translation. The Surah was then divided into five groups according to the theme discussed in the verses. The similarities and differences in both texts were recorded in a tabular form followed by a description of the findings.

Data Analysis

Analysis of Verse 1 till 4

Arabic Text

الرَّحْمَنُ (الرحمن: 1) عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ (الرحمن: 2) خَلَقَ الإِنسَانَ (الرحمن: 3) عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ (الرحمن: 4)

Urdu Translation

1۔ (اللہ) رحمن نے2۔ قران سکھایا3۔ اسی نے انسان کو پیدا کیا4۔ اسے بولنا سکھایا

Table 1

Comparison of Stylistic Features

Verse 2 and 4 have lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme where the same verb, علّم, is used in both verses. Lexical parallelism can also be observed in the words, القراٰن ، الرحمٰن, as both of these nouns belong to the lexical category of "ism mubalgha", nouns that have superlative meanings. Hence, الرحمٰن is an entity on its peak of mercy (Ahmed, 2015). القراٰن, which is derived from the word ق ر و which means to collect or gather, is a book that has all the knowledge gathered in it. All the nouns used in these verses are proper nouns with the addition of ال which can be observed as follows: الرَّحْمَنُ, الْقُرْآنَ, الإِنسَانَ, الْبَيَانَ (Charthawli, 2007).

In Urdu translation, lexical parallelism has been translated well in the form of lexemes. The word عَلَّمَ has been translated as سکھایا in both the verses. However, the translator has not provided the translation of the word, الرحمٰن but has mentioned the word "Allah" in parenthesis. Moreover, the translator has also not provided the details about the word الْقُرْآنَ. The proper nouns have been translated using the same words as in the original text.

Analysis of Verse 5 till 25

These verses come under the theme of the creations of Allah. For the analysis of these verses, they have been divided into sub categories.

• Category 1: Description of the Objects in the Skies. Verse 5 and 6
• Category 2: The Uplifting of the Skies and Setting of Balances Verse 7, 8 and 9
• Category 3: The Laying Down of the Earth and its Bounties. Verse 10 till 13
• Category 4: The Creation of Human and Jinn. Verse 14, 15 and 16
• Category 5: The Two Easts and the Two Wests. Verse 17 and 18
• Category 6: The Seas and their Bounties. Verse 19 till 25

Analysis of Category 1: Description of the Objects in the Skies

Arabic Text

الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ (الرحمن: 5) وَالنَّجْمُ وَالشَّجَرُ يَسْجُدَانِ (الرحمن: 6)

Urdu Translation

5۔ سورج اور چاند ایک حساب سے (چلتے) ہیں6۔ اور بیلیں اور درخت سجدہ کرتے ہیں

Table 2

Comparison of Stylistic Features

These verses exhibit lexical parallelism in the form of lexical category where both of the sentences start with two nouns and both nouns are the subjects of the sentence. The nouns used are three lettered nouns which have been made proper nouns with the addition of ال in the beginning of each noun.

In Urdu translation, the nouns have been translated as their alternate words in the language and thus, the lexical parallelism has been maintained.

Analysis of Category 2: The Uplifting of the Skies and Setting of Balances

Arabic Text

وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ (الرحمن: 7) أَلاَّ تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ (الرحمن: 8)
وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ (الرحمن: 9)

Urdu Translation

7۔ اور آسمان کو اسی (رحمن) نے بلند کیا اور اسی نے ترا‌زو رکھی 8۔ تاکہ تم ترازو میں حد سے تجاوز نہ کرو

9۔ اور تم انصاف سے وزن کو درست رکھو اور تول میں کمی نہ کرو

Table 3

Comparison of Stylistic Features

The beginning of verse 7 presents lexical parallelism in the form of lexical category with verses 5 and 6, as all of these verses start with a common noun which has been made proper by using the word "ال". . The verbs used in verse 7 have lexical parallelism in the lexical category of verbs. Two verbs have been used in this verse. Both are three-lettered verbs in the past tense and active form. All three verses have lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme as all of them end on the same word, الْمِيزَانَ.

In verse 8 and second part of verse 9, وَلاَ تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ, the word, تَطْغَوْا, has been derived from the root word, ط غ و, which means to exceed, while the word, تُخْسِرُوا, has been derived from the root word, خ س ر, which means to lessen. These phrases have lexical parallelism in the lexical category where both of them have verbs proceeded by the word, لا known asthe prohibitive لا الناهية – لا لا (Charthawli, 2007). It is used to stop someone from doing something. Thus, it indicates forbiddance and demand. It comes before the present tense only and makes the harakah of the last letter of the present tense omitted.

In Urdu translation, the lexical parallelism in verse 7, in relation to verses 5 and 6 has been maintained. All three verses start with nouns. The lexical parallelism in verse 7 has been maintained to some extent as the verbs are translated in the past form. However, they have lost their cadence as they are not three lettered and more than one words are used to give the complete meanings of the verbs. There is an absence of lexical parallelism in all these three verses. The word الْمِيزَان has been translated to ترازو in verses 7 and 8, however, it has been translated to تول in verse 9. The lexical parallelism present in the form of prohibitive لا has also been effectively translated using the words, نہ کرو.

Analysis of Category 3: The Laying Down of the Earth and its Bounties

Arabic Text

وَالأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلأَنَامِ (الرحمن: 10) فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأَكْمَامِ (الرحمن: 11)
وَالْحَبُّ ذُو الْعَصْفِ وَالرَّيْحَان (الرحمن: 12)

Urdu Translation

10۔ اور اسی نے زمین کو مخلو‍‍ق کے لیے بچھایا11۔ اس میں لذیذ پھل اور کھجور کے درخت ہیں جن کے شگوفے ‏غلافوں میں لپٹے ہوتے ہیں12۔ اور بھوسے والے دانے (اناج) اور خوشبودار پھول ہیں

Table 4

Comparison of Stylistic Features

There is repetition in these verses by the repeated use of lexeme, و which causes lexical parallelism. The letter و is a conjunction known as و عطف, which means that it carries the previous meaning to the word that it is being attached to. The letter و is used thrice, taking along the meaning of فِيهَا wherever it is used. An elaborate meaning of these verses would be, "In the earth, there are fruits and in the earth, there are palm trees with dates stalked and in the earth, there is grain with husks and in the earth, there are aromatic plants."

The repetition of the letter و has been translated as conjunction and the detailed translation has not been done.

Analysis of Category 4: The Creation of Human and Jinn

Arabic Text

خَلَقَ الإِنسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ (الرحمن: 14) وَخَلَقَ الْجَانَّ مِنْ مَارِجٍ مِنْ نَارٍ (الرحمن: 15)

Urdu Translation

14۔ اسی نے انسان کو ٹھیکرے جیسی کھنکتی مٹی سے پیدا کیا15۔ اور اس نے جن کو آگ کے شعلے سے پیدا کیا

Table 5

Comparison of Stylistic Features

There is lexical parallelism in these two verses in the form of lexeme. Both of the verses start with the same verb, خَلَقَ. The verb خَلَقَ has been derived from the root word, خ ل ق, which has two slightly different meanings (Asfahani, n.d.). It stands for creating things by using a sample, such as making an airplane model by looking at its picture. Secondly, it also means to create from scratch, without any sample like it is said in the Quran, خلق السمٰوٰت و الارض, that Allah created the heavens and the earth (from scratch and without any sample). In these verses, the second meaning seems more befitting. The verb خَلَقَ is a transitive verb in its past form used for singular male. خَلَقَ.

These translated lines have lexical parallelism as the word خَلَقَ, has been translated to پیدا کیا in both the verses.

Analysis of Category 5: The Two Easts and the Two Wests

Arabic Text

رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ (الرحمن: 17).

Urdu Translation

17۔ (وہی) دونوں مشرقوں اور دونوں مغربوں کا رب ہے

Table 6

Comparison of Stylistic Features

In verse 17, the word, رَبُّ is used twice in the same line and occurs with only one word apart. Thus, lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme has been done. Furthermore, in this verse, الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ and الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ are doubles, meaning two easts and two wests. These words have lexical parallelism as both of them are nouns which are starting with the letters, الْ.

The translation of the lexeme has not been done, the word رَبُّ has been translated once and not twice like in the original text. In the case of translation of الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ and الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ, the translator has translated the double meaning that is present by using the word دونوں and maintained the lexical parallelism.

Analysis of Category 6: The Seas and their Bounties

Arabic Text

مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ (الرحمن: 19) بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لاَ يَبْغِيَانِ (الرحمن: 20)

Urdu Translation

19۔ رحمن نے دو سمندر جاری کیے جو باہم ملتے ہیں20۔ ان دونوں کے درمیان ایک پردہ ہے ، وہ دونوں (اس سے) تجاوز نہیں کرتے

Table 7

Comparison of Stylistic Features

The above two verses have lexical parallelism in the form of a lexical category. Both of the verses are ending with the verbs, يَلْتَقِيَانِand يَبْغِيَانِ. These verbs are in active form, in present tense, and are used for two males (Charthawli, 2007). This parallelism can also be observed in the translation as the translator has translated them in the same pattern as that of the original text.

Analysis of Verse 26 till 45

Arabic Text

يَامَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ إِنْ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَنْ تَنفُذُوا مِنْ أَقْطَارِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ فَانفُذُوا لاَ تَنفُذُونَ إِلاَّ بِسُلْطَانٍ (الرحمن: 33)
فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لاَ يُسْأَلُ عَنْ ذَنْبِهِ إِنسٌ وَلاَ جَانٌّ (الرحمن: 39)
يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالأَقْدَامِ (الرحمن: 41)
يَطُوفُونَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ حَمِيمٍ آنٍ (الرحمن: 44)

Urdu Translation

33۔ اے گروہ جن و انس! اگر تم آسمانوں اور زمین کے کناروں سے نکل جانے کی طاقت رکھتے ہو تو نکل جاؤ، قوت اور غلبے کے بغیر تو تم نکل ہی نہیں سکتے (اور وہ قوت تم میں کہاں!)

39۔ پھر اس دن کسی انسان اور کسی جن سے اس کے گناہ کی بابت نہیں پوچھا جاۓ گا

41۔ مجرم اپنے چہرے کی علامت ہی سے پہچان لیے جائیں گے پھر وہ پیشانی کے بالوں اور قدموں سے پکڑے (اور گھسیٹ کر جہنم میں ڈالے) جائیں گے

44۔ وہ جہنم کے درمیان اور سخت گرم کھولتے پانی کے درمیان چکر لگائیں گے

Table 8

Comparison of Stylistic Features

Verse 33 has lexical parallelism in the lexical category. This single verse has 7 harf or particles which occur after two or three words. The verse starts with the particle يَا which is used for calling out, the next particle is إِنْ which is used to make the clause conditional. After that, the particle أَنْ is used which means "to". Next, the harf jar مِنْ occurs followed by the particle فَ which is a conjunction. Afterwards, لاَ negation comes and lastly, the particle إِلاَّ comes which is used to show exclusion.

Verse 39 also, has lexical parallelism in the form of a lexical category. The words إِنسٌ and جَانٌّ are both singular and are common nouns referring to any human and any jinn. There is lexical parallelism in the lexical category of the words النَّوَاصِي and الأَقْدَامِ in verse 41. Both of these words are nouns with the definite article, the, and are plurals as well. They both also refer to body parts. الأَقْدَامِ means feet, while النَّوَاصِي means forehead or the hair of the forehead (Asfahani, n.d.)

There is lexical parallelism in the form of lexemes in verse 44. The word بین is used twice in the sentence, firstly with an attached pronoun, ھا and secondly, it occurs alone followed by two nouns.

In Urdu translation, the lexical parallelism observed throughout these verses has been translated well following the original text.

Analysis of Verse 46 till 61

Arabic Text

. فِيهِمَا مِنْ كُلِّ فَاكِهَةٍ زَوْجَانِ (الرحمن: 52).
فِيهِنَّ قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ لَمْ يَطْمِثْهُنَّ إِنْسٌ قَبْلَهُمْ وَلاَ جَانٌّ (الرحمن: 56).
كَأَنَّهُنَّ الْيَاقُوتُ وَالْمَرْجَانُ (الرحمن: 58).
هَلْ جَزَاءُ الإِحْسَانِ إِلاَّ الإِحْسَانُ (الرحمن: 60).

Urdu Translation

52۔ ان دونوں (باغوں) میں ہر پھل کی دو دو قسمیں ہوں گی

56۔ ان میں جھکی نظروں والی (شرمیلی اورباحیا حوریں) ہوں گی ان سے پہلے انہیں کسی انسان اور کسی جن کے ہاتھ نہیں لگایا ہوگا

58۔ گویا وہ ہیرے اور موتی (مونگے) ہیں

60۔ احسان کی جزا تو احسان ہی ہے

Table 9

Comparison of Stylistic Features

Verse 50 and 52 also have lexical parallelism, in the form of lexeme, where both of the verses start from the word, فِيهِمَا where فِي is a preposition followed by the attached pronoun used for doubles, هِمَا.

Verse 56 has lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme as well. The attached pronoun, هِنَّ is used at the beginning of the sentence and then is used again further ahead in the sentence with a slight change in its harakat, as هُنَّ which is a pronoun used for the third person plural female. There is another lexical parallelism in this verse in the form of lexical category. The words إِنْسٌ and جَانٌّ are both common nouns that are singular and both act as the subjects of the verb لَمْ يَطْمِثْهُنَّ.

There is lexical parallelism, in the lexical category, in verse 58 as well. The words, الْيَاقُوتُ, and الْمَرْجَانُ are both plural nouns which have been made proper nouns with the use of ال in the beginning and both refer to valuable stones, corals, and rubies. Verse 60 has lexical parallelism where the lexeme, الإِحْسَانِ is repeated twice in the same verse.

As observed previously, the lexical parallelism observed in the original text has been translated well in the translation too.

Analysis of Verse 62 till 78

Arabic Text

وَمِنْ دُونِهِمَا جَنَّتَانِ (الرحمن: 62).
فِيهِمَا عَيْنَانِ نَضَّاخَتَانِ (الرحمن: 66).
فِيهِمَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَنَخْلٌ وَرُمَّانٌ (الرحمن: 68).
فِيهِنَّ خَيْرَاتٌ حِسَانٌ (الرحمن: 70).
مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَى رَفْرَفٍ خُضْرٍ وَعَبْقَرِيٍّ حِسَانٍ (الرحمن: 76).

Urdu Translation

(62) ۔ دو باغوں کے علاوہ دو باغ (اور) ہیں

(66) ۔ ان میں جوش مارتے دو چشمے ہیں

(68) ۔ ان دونوں میں لذیذ پھل ہوں گے اور کھجوریں اور اناربھی

(70) ۔ ان (سب باغوں) میں خوب سیرت (اور) خوب صورت عورتیں ہیں

(76) ۔ سبز اور نہایت نفیس و نادر قالینوں پر تکیے لگاۓ (بیٹھے) ہوں گے

Table 10

Comparison of Stylistic Features

The analysis of these verses has been done in comparison with verses of the previous theme to determine the similarities and differences between verses as they are following the same pattern and thus, to observe the concept of upgradation that has been implied. In this regard, verse 46 and 62 are parallel to each other. Both of the verses have lexical parallelism, in the form of the lexeme, as they both end with the جَنَّتَانِ, meaning two gardens. Moreover, both of them have lexical parallelism in the form of a lexical category at the beginning of the verse. Both verses start with a conjunction followed by a preposition (harf jar) which is لِ in verse 46, while it is مِنْ in verse 62.

Verses 50 and 66 are parallel to each other. They have lexical parallelism in the form of lexemes as both of them are starting from the same phrase, فِيهِمَا followed by the noun, عَيْنَانِ. Verses 68 and 52 are also parallels. Both verses have lexical parallelism as they start with the same lexeme, فِيهِمَا. Verses 56 and 70 have lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme as they are starting from the same word فِيهِنَّ.

Verse 74 has lexical parallelism in the form of a lexical category. The words إِنْسٌ and جَانٌّ are both common nouns that are singular and both act as the subjects of the verb لَمْ يَطْمِثْهُنَّ. The furnishing in heaven is mentioned in verses 54 and 76. They both have lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme, as they have the same beginning phrase, مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَى

In Urdu translation, the lexical parallelism in the form of lexeme in verses 46 and 62 has been maintained. However, the lexical parallelism in the form of lexical category was not maintained. The translation of فِيهِمَا in verse 50 has been done as, ان دونوں (باغوں) میں while the same word in verse 66 has been translated as ان میں, which negates the lexical parallelism found in the words.

The translation of verse 68 also has lexical parallelism but in the translation of verse 70, the lexical parallelism is not maintained as the translation of فِيهِنَّ in verse 70 has some extra information given in parenthesis, ان (سب باغوں) میں while the translation of the same word in verse 56 is simply ان میں.

The lexical parallelism in the lexical category of nouns is also observed in the translation in verse 74. The lexemes in verse 76, which have caused lexical parallelism, مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَى have been translated using the same words in both verses, that is, 54 and 76.

Conclusion

The current research aimed to conduct a lexical stylistic analysis of Surah Ar-Rahman and its Urdu translation by Hafiz Salahuddin Yousuf. The findings suggest that the lexical parallelism features present in the original text were predominantly retained by the translator in Urdu translation. The preservation of lexical category remains consistent across the translated text. However, there are occasional instances where the translator has omitted a lexeme in translation due to its repetition in the original text.

The study determined that lexical parallelism stands as a significant stylistic feature, heavily present in the original text of the Holy Quran, and has been largely maintained in the translation. This suggests that the original text's stylistic essence, particularly the lexical stylistics has been well-preserved in Urdu translation.

Conflict of Interest

The author of the manuscript has no financial or non-financial conflict of interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

The data associated with this study will be provided by the corresponding author upon request.