May 9, 2020 11:06
4 yrs ago
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Arabic term

الأشلاء

Arabic to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
How would you translate the word الأشلاء in the passage below? The passage is from an Arabic short story. The story is about chess and the narrator plays against people in a cafe.

كنت أرى أيضا بعض البشر الفانين يبرعون في الدوس والدهس والفرم بغلظة فوق الأبدان كأنهم أفيال ملك الحبشة المتوجهة لهدم الكعبة في الزمن القديم فتوقفها الطيور الأبابيل وترميها بحجارة من سجيل, لكن أفيال هذا الزمان تفلت وتدوس وتدمر وتترك خلفها الخراب والأشلاء دون أن يحاسبها أو يوقفها أحد, أما القلاع والطوابي فهي إما هزيلة سهل تدميرها على رءوس حراسها أو شامخة تتأبى على جحافل الأعداء, تصدّها وترسل في أعقاب فلولها المنكسرة فرسانا يلقنونهم آخر درس كي يكفّوا عن معاودة الحصار.

Proposed translations

8 hrs
Selected

dismembered or mangled bodies

The word أشلاء is the plural of شلو, which is a dismembered or mangled part of a body that has been killed in a brutal way, as in the famous poem, "The Eagle," by Omar Abu Risha:

واطـرحي الكبرياء شلوا مدمى
تحت أقدام دهرك السكير

And later in the same poem:
وقف النسر جائعاً يتلوى
فوق شلوٍ على الرمال نثير

However, the proper translation of الأشلاء in the context of this passage depends on how you choose to translate the preceding word الخراب, because الخراب والأشلاء is one unit.

If you choose to translate الخراب to "mayhem" or "destruction," then الأشلاء should be translated "death."

وتترك خلفها الخراب والأشلاء
". . . leaving behind mayhem (or destruction) and death . . ."

This option gives more weight to the moral import of the marauding action being described than to the concrete imagery. It is not bad, but it is not very faithful to the source text.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to be faithful to the concrete imagery, then you should try something like:

وتترك خلفها الخراب والأشلاء
". . . leaving behind ruins and dismembered bodies . . ."

The language here is more concrete and more picturesque.
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12 mins

remains

.
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54 mins

Scattered bodies

Scattered bodies

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1 hr

Scattered pieces

Since the text is about a chess game I prefer to use the word piece which is actually relevant to the game itself.

Piece:
a single thing that forms part of a set:
a chess piece
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7 hrs

carnage

: great and usually bloody slaughter or injury (as in battle)
: the flesh of slain animals or humans
:the violent killing of large numbers of people, especially in war
Example sentence:

Reporters described the highway accident as a scene of carnage.

Limbs and body parts of victims were strewn throughout the area of the blast, creating a scene of indescribable carnage and horror.

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1 day 2 hrs

ruins

ما تبقى من القليل
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