Source text:

ساوم أشعب رجلاً بقوس، فقال له: أقل ثمنها دينار

قال أشعب: والله لو أنك رميت بها طائراً في جو السماء فوقع مشويًّا بين رغيفين ما اشتريتها منك بدينار أبدًا

Translation:

Ash’ab tried to bargain for a good price when he was about to purchase a bow (to shoot arrows) from a man. The man said to him: “The lowest price I could offer you is one dinar.”

Ash’ab responded: ” I swear by God… even if you can use the bow to shoot a bird in the sky causing it to fall down readily-roasted and land directly between two loafs of bread, I would never pay one dinar just for the sake of getting the bow !”

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Translated by Syawal

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Notes:

1. Ash’ab meant its not worth the price!

This time I chose a news article on Malaysia related to business and economy (oil and gas). I think As-Sawsana is a Jordanian-based news portal. The translation attempt requires some knowledge about  specialized terms being used in the energy industry. Please inform me if you notice any mistakes in the translation.

Source text:

قطر غاز تبيع اولى شحناتها الى ماليزيا

السوسنة – أعلنت شركة “قطر غاز” هنا اليوم الاثنين عن بيعها لأولى شحنات الغاز الطبيعي المسال إلى ماليزيا ويبلغ حجمها قرابة 1ر3 ترليون وحدة حرارية من الغاز الطبيعي المسال. 0-0

Translation:

Qatargas sells its first cargo to Malaysia

As-Sawsana – Today, Qatargas announced that it has sold its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Malaysia. The size of the cargo amounts to 3.1 trillion thermal units of liquefied natural gas.

The press statement issued by the company on Tuesday mentioned that the first cargo was sold to the company named Petronas LNG Ltd and was loaded onto the tanker, Seri Begawan, in the port of Ras Laffan. The cargo will be delivered to Malaysia’ first liquefied gas receiving terminal, located in the state of Malacca.

The statement pointed out that the cargo was supplied from Qatargas 2, a joint venture project between Qatar Petroleum, Exxonmobil and Total.

Qatargas and Petronas concluded a master sales and purchase agreement to facilitate the sale of the spot cargo and future shipments.

The statement also mentioned that Qatargas is still using LNG terminals in Thailand and Singapore to supply the first liquefied natural gas cargo to the markets in these two countries.

Qatargas supplies an amount of liquefied natural gas to PTT, the state owned oil and gas company in Thailand. Also, the company studied the possibility of supplying gas to Thailand with long-term shipment beginning from 2015.

Qatargas was founded in 1984. Its LNG production capacity can reach up to 42 million tonnes annually.

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Translated by Abah

Another news piece that mentions Malaysia. Taken from LebanonNews website. Also about demonstration 🙂

Bad choice. I will have to chose another one after this that is not about demonstration or public protests. Need more variety on this blog.

Source text:

مظاهرة في ماليزيا لرفض عزل مرسي

تظاهر مئات الماليزيين اليوم أمام السفارة الأميركية وسط العاصمة كوالالمبور مطالبين واشنطن “بعدم الاعتراف بالحكومة المصرية المؤقتة”. 0-0

وقدم قادة المنظمات غير الحكومية المشاركين في المظاهرة مذكرة احتجاج للسفارة الأميركية عبروا خلالها عن “دعم الشعب الماليزي للشعب المصري في نضاله من أجل استرداد حقوقه وحماية سيادة بلاده”. 0-0

وافاد الحاج أمين الدين يحيى نائب رئيس الاتحاد الإسلامي ماليزيا ان المذكرة طالبت واشنطن بوقف الدعم السياسي والمالي الأميركي لمن وصفها بحكومة الانقلاب. 0-0

Translation:

Demonstration in Malaysia to reject the removal of Morsy

Today, hundreds of Malaysians participated in a demonstration held in front of the US embassy located in the center of the capital Kuala Lumpur. The demonstrators demanded Washington to ‘not bestow recognition to the interim government of Egypt’.

During the event, the leader of non-governmental organizations participating in the demonstration submitted a protest note to the American Embassy and expressed “the support of Malaysian people towards Egyptian people in their struggle to regain their rights and to defend the sovereignty of their own country”.

The deputy president of the Malaysian Muslim Union, Haji Aminuddin Yahya, informed that the protest note demands Washington to stop American political and financial support to those it describe as being coup government.

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Translated by Syawal

I want to translate a news article which mentions ‘Malaysia’. So I just chose one from among thousands which appear on search results when you type “ماليزيا” on Google News. The following article is from ‘Al-Iqtisodiyah’ newspaper which I believe is based in Saudi Arabia.

Source text:

اعتقال 14 ناشطًا مناهضًا لاتفاق تجارة حرة في شرق ماليزيا

كوالالمبور : واس

Translation:

Arrest of 14 activists opposing free trade agreement in East Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur – SPA (Saudi Press Agency)

Malaysian Police arrested fourteen activists today in eastern Malaysia during protests against free trade agreement currently undergoing negotiations between eleven countries. The protesters demand a halt to the negotiations for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) currently being held in the city of Kota Kinabalu in the state of Sabah, located 1620 kilometres east of the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The activists mentioned that the proposed agreement aims to promote and protect US interests in the Asia Pacific region and will harm Malaysian interests. Eleven countries – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam – participate in the negotiations for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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Translated by Abu Abdullah

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Notes:

1. In the source text, واس is an acronym for وكالة الأنباء السعودية i.e. Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Source text:

– قال الأصمعي: وقلت لغلامٍ حدثٍ من أولاد العرب: أَيَسُرُّك أن يكون لك مائة ألف درهم وأنك أحمقٌ؟! قال: لا والله. قلت: لِمَ؟ قال: أخاف أن يجني عليَّ حمقي جنايةً تذهب مالي، وتبقي عليَّ حمقي

Translation:

Al-Asma’i said:

I spoke to an unusual young man among the Arabs and asked him: “Will it make you happy to have a hundred thousand silver coins while being stupid?”

He said: “No… I swear by God that I will not be happy.”

I asked: “Why?”

He said: “I am afraid that my stupidity would cause me to commit something wrong which will cause… my money to leave me… but my stupidity remains with me.”

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Translated by Syawal

Source text :

انزلقت سيارة تاكسي على منحدر شديد
فصاح السائق في رعب  لا أستطيع ايقاف السيارة
فرد الراكب البخيل  أوقف العداد بسرعة

Translation :

A taxi drifted on an extremely dangerous slope. The driver screamed: “I cannot stop the car!”

The passenger responded: “Stop the meter now!”

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Translated by Pak Ngah

From the website of Lebanese newspaper “al-Akhbar”, section on Syria.

Source text:

الرياض تجنّد يمنيّين للقتال في سوريا

Translation:

Riyadh recruits Yemenis to fight in Syria

By referring to tribal sources, the Yemeni newspaper Al-Jumhoor have been revealing, since a few days, the existence of a wide operation conducted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to rally Yemenis with the aim of recruiting them to join the fight in Syria on the side of the armed opposition.

Syria

Number 2057 – Thursday, 18 July 2013

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Translated by Syawal

Another story I saw on facebook:

Source text:

Translation :

One day, a rich man gave a poor man a basket full of rotten expired food. The poor man smiled and left the rich man’s mansion carrying the basket. Then, the poor man emptied the basket of its contents. After that, he cleaned the basket and filled it with beautiful flowers that looked magnificent. The he went back to the mansion and gave the basket to the rich man.

The rich man felt strange and asked the poor man: “Why, after I gave you a basket full of rotten expired food, you returned the basket back to me filled with beautiful magnificent flowers?”

The poor man said: “Everyone gives from what is in their hearts.”

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Translated by Wai

Saw this quote while reading twitter feeds…

Source text:

الندم : هو أن تقِف أمام الساعة , وتناشد عقاربها بأن تعود للوراء !   0-0

Translation:

Definition of ‘regret’: “To stand facing the clock and plead for time to turn back.” (1)

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Translated by Syawal

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Notes:

1. This definition only describes ‘regret’ in terms of ‘how it feels like’. Muslims have a special way of believing, understanding and dealing with fate. Please consult credible scholars on this matter. This posting only demonstrates my attempt to translate the above quote.

While reading facebook feeds, I came across the following anecdote…

Source text:

Translation:

… they came to Umar bin Abdul Azeez, the Caliph, bringing with them alms collection (i.e. zakaat money)… Then, the Caliph issued his order: “Spend the money on poor people!”…

They responded: “Poor people no longer exist among the Muslims.”

The Caliph said: “Then use it to prepare and purchase equipment for the soldiers!”

They responded: “Soldiers of Islam are already currently exploring and colonizing the world.”

The Caliph said: “Then use it to help youths getting married in their expenses!”

They responded: “Whoever wants to marry has already done so.”

There are still money to be spent. So the Caliph said: “Use the remaining money to payoff the debts of those having debts.”

So they spent the money to payoff debts, but there are still extra money remaining to be spent. So the Caliph said: “Try to look into the affairs of the non-Muslims (1), in case there are people with debts among them as well, then use the money to payoff their debts!”

So they spent the money to help non-Muslims payoff their debts. But there are still extra money remaining to be spent. So the Caliph said: “Give money to scholars of knowledge!”

So they gave money to scholars of knowledge. But  there are still extra money remaining to be spent. So the Caliph said: “Use the remaining money to purchase wheat and then scatter the wheat on peak of mountains so that nobody could say ‘birds in the Muslim lands feel hungry’ !”

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Translated by Abu Abdullah

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Notes:

1. The term Ahlu dh-Dhimmah refers to non-Muslims, usually Jews and Christians, living under protection of states ruled by Muslims.