Semantic and Communicative Losses in the English Translations of Surah Kawthar: A Comparative Study

Surah Al-Kawthar is the 108th and shortest chapter of the Holy Quran. It is necessary to understand the message of the Holy Qur’an, revealed in Arabic. Scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have put their efforts to translate the word of Allah Almighty into various languages. These translations may have resulted into various forms of losses. Arguably, these losses hinder the complete understanding of the true message of the Holy Qur’an invested there in. This research aims to conducting an in-depth comparative analysis of three English translations of Surah Kawthar. This is particularly crucial for a text that, in its original form, is considered a divine Speech (Kalam) or word of Allah Almighty. The study employs comparative and pragmalinguistic analysis techniques in this regard. Finally the study highlights some significant aspects of semantic and communicative losses.