Quote:
{2:108} Or do you intend to ask your Messenger as Moses was asked before? And whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.
I'd say the first sentence should simply say, "Or do you
want to ask ..." It's a more direct translation.
Quote:
{2:109} Many of the People of the Scripture wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you have believed, out of envy from themselves [even] after the truth has become clear to them. So pardon and overlook until God delivers His command. Indeed, God is over all things competent.
"Competent" does not translate
قدير and I think we pointed that in an earlier post. I suggest the straightforward translation "powerful."
Quote:
{2:110} And establish prayer and give zakah, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves - you will find it with God. Indeed, God of what you do, is Seeing.
We talked about translating "Zakah" several times before and I always suggested "alms." The last sentence is grammatically correct and is faithful to the Arabic source but it just comes across strange. I think that fidelity to the Arabic word order here cannot be made without producing an awkward translation. Most other translations must have felt the same way because they used a verbal sentence instead of a nominal one. Unless there is a better suggestion, I think so too, i.e., "Verily, God [clearly] sees your work."
I suggested "work" instead of "do" because "do" translates
تفعلون while "work" translates better
تعملون. In Arabic, the difference between the two is defined by this rule:
القول عمل اللسان والفعل عمل الجوارح
Meaning: Utterance is the work of the tongue and action (doing) is the work of the limbs. Thus the above verse refers to the comprehensive meaning of the word
عمل which includes what we say too!