المعلومة اول المعرفة

English translation: Facts are the basis of knowledge

14:50 Sep 23, 2004
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Mathematics & Statistics / other
Arabic term or phrase: المعلومة اول المعرفة
المعلومة اول المعرفة والمعرفة بداية التنمية الحقيقية
ALI HASAN
Local time: 03:38
English translation:Facts are the basis of knowledge
Explanation:
Or you can turn it around to include the second part of the phrase:
Knowledge starts with facts/information and knowledge is the start of...
or begins
Selected response from:

Aisha Maniar
Grading comment
I prefer your suggestion " Knowledge starts/begins with information.." . I appreciate others contributions.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1Knowlege starts with a piece of information
Hanankh
5 +1knowledge starts with information
Nasrin Khill-Lyle
5Facts are the basis of knowledge
Aisha Maniar
4 +1Information is the first step to knowledge
Nesrin
3 +1The Fact is the beginning of knowledge
ArabInk
4Information is the Outset of Knowledge
Randa Farhat
4Knowledge starts with learning.
Ahmed Ali


  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
المعلومة اول المعرفة
Facts are the basis of knowledge


Explanation:
Or you can turn it around to include the second part of the phrase:
Knowledge starts with facts/information and knowledge is the start of...
or begins

Aisha Maniar
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 19
Grading comment
I prefer your suggestion " Knowledge starts/begins with information.." . I appreciate others contributions.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
المعلومة اول المعرفة
Information is the first step to knowledge


Explanation:
..

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2004-09-23 15:03:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A \"fact\" does not imply being informed about the fact - معلومة however does imply being informed, so I think \"information\" is the correct translation.

Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:38
Native speaker of: Arabic

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  ArabInk: That's an interesting point. I read it as an impersonal passive - a kind of "informed-ness" without the notion of a specific informed subject. "Unit of having-been-learned-ness"? Still, "fact" implies knowability.
2 hrs
  -> Things are getting too philosophical for my taste!!

agree  MElHelw
6 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

43 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
المعلومة اول المعرفة
Knowlege starts with a piece of information


Explanation:
Knowlege starts with a piece of information.

Hanankh
Local time: 03:38
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Arabicstart
3 days 13 hrs
  -> Thanks Zarka
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
المعلومة اول المعرفة
The Fact is the beginning of knowledge


Explanation:
That's literally; you could also say "Facts are..."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 22 mins (2004-09-23 17:13:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Couldn\'t help thinking of Donald Rumsfeld\'s infamous disquisition on knowledge: \"Reports that say that something hasn\'t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don\'t know we don\'t know\"

So a Rumsfeldian translation might run something like \"Known knowns are the first step on the way to knowing know and unknown unknowns.\" I think. :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 36 mins (2004-09-23 17:27:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, that should be \"knowing known and unknown unknowns\".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 39 mins (2004-09-23 17:30:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-1-2003-48150.asp

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs 4 mins (2004-09-24 00:55:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A more elegant formulation is \"Fact is the beginning of knowledge\". However, thanks to Nesrin, I\'m no sure \"fact\" is quite right. This is a wonderfully subtle translation problem. The author obviously wishes to distinguish between the roots عرف and علم ; since we generally don\'t have such a distinction in English, it\'s hard to say how to translate. For a fascinating take on علم , have a look at the first page of Chittick\'s book on Ibn Arabi\'s cosmology:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0791434044/ref=sib_dp_pt/102...

So one possible translation is: the Sign is the beginning of knowledge.

ArabInk
Local time: 19:38
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sami Khamou: or Datum is...
6 mins
  -> thanks

neutral  Nesrin: I would definitely go for the Rumsfeldian version! ;-)
2 hrs
  -> wheee!

neutral  Ahmed Ali: Rumsfeld did not even know what he said really meant. hhh
21 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
ַבדבזדֹ ַזב ַבד
knowledge starts with information


Explanation:
This is exactly what is intended.
The use of "information" is better than "facts". Facts are more assertive, but we're talking here more about information "معلومة" rather than facts "حقائق".
You can search the term as a whole "knowledge starts with information" on google and you will find that it is used this way.

Nasrin Khill-Lyle
United States
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in HebrewHebrew

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Steve Hewitt
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
المعلومة اول المعرفة
Information is the Outset of Knowledge


Explanation:
Information is the Outset of Knowledge

Randa Farhat
Lebanon
Local time: 03:38
Native speaker of: Arabic
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
المعلومة اول المعرفة
Knowledge starts with learning.


Explanation:
short and simple.

Ahmed Ali
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search