Cultural Shock!
A conversation with a friend led me down memory lane.
As an Egyptian teenager who had just moved to live with his father in New York, I didn’t go through the usual culture shock. I belonged to one of the most ancient metropolitan cities of all, Giza.
My shock came from racism, all different kinds of racism. The biggest shock of all happened due to my interactions with other Arabs and Muslims. I was introduced to varied brands of Arab nationalism and Islamism; all were different from the ones I knew in my youth.
Lost in Translation!
I was seventeen when I decided to embrace my full identity. I appreciated my Egyptian side and all its cultural and historical riches, I was excited to learn and adapt my lost and found American side, and I loved my bilingual capacity, which gave me access to a world of information.
As most friends do, I invested time reading translations others were exposed to. I wanted to understand the source of information shared; they were so foreign and strange. They didn’t align with anything I knew about the brands of Arab nationalism or Islam.
I was surrounded by peers who read the Quran’s translation in English, which includes interpretations. I was surrounded by peers who held on to outdated national brands.
I kept on reading and studying.
Lost in Meaning
For the national narratives, it was easy to identify the reasons. Many immigrants hold on to older narratives of their homelands, and they pass those outdated narratives to their offspring who pass the torch to others.
As for the religious narratives, it wasn’t as easy to identify. It took decades of life experiences, education, and reading to understand the precision of the Quran in Arabic, which is not found in English or any other language.
Human vs Human being
The Quran in Arabic mentions the words, Bashar (بشر) and Nas (ناس). Most translations treat the two words as synonyms. While we are all Bashar, we are not all Nas.
It is part of our evolution as a race or species. We were once Bashar, humans, who roamed the planet without cognitive abilities, and we became human beings.
The failure to recognize the difference between the two in translations reflected a much deeper level of ignorance, which plagued the interpreters and translators.
A Quick Fix
I like to use digital versions, which show all available translations. As you read different translations, do recognize the differences, and ask questions. It will lead to intriguing questions.
