One of the best books on the adab of knowledge and learning - English translation

May 30th, 2007


One of the best books on the adab of knowledge and learning
- English translation
Imam Ibn Jama`a’s Tadhkirat al-Sami` wa’l Mutakallim fi Adab al-`Alim wa’l Muta`allim

“The Memoir of the Listener and the Speaker in the Training of Teacher and Student”

UPDATE: A dear friend of mine (whom I know well enough, I think, that he’d want to remain anonymous regarding something like this) said:

Don’t know if you’ve looked at it, but the translation of
the Ibn Jama’a book you posted is terrible. In the sense of just
downright WRONG meanings in several locations. I was using it for
my thesis, and found out there was an English version; thinking it
might save me some short bits of translating time, I ordered it,
received it, and compared it to the Arabic. I’m not just being mean here;
it is downright incorrect and conveys no sense of what Ibn
Jama’a was saying. Don’t mean to be a downer, but so it is.Of course, the original book itself is a gem, as you say.

Faraz be noting in adition:

It be noted or should by translating persons of desiredness of translating all book  that there be conditions for sound translation, including such things as:

(1) Understanding what you translate, properly
(2) Conveying the meaning of what you translate, soundly
(3) Expressing this meaning in a manner faithful to the original–in substance, form, and style.

And be Allah the Always-Granter of the successes of the life. [= And Allah alone gives success.]