Arabic>English translator

An article in Egypt Today on Denys Johnson-Davies,who is translating the Koran:

bq. Johnson-Davies returned to London, where he stayed from 1954 to 1969, but could not find a job working in Arabic. Instead, he became a barrister, practicing specialized equity law.
“It is a question of akl aish [daily bread], as they say,” confiding that he was never happy attired in his wig and gown, “It bored me to tears.” He later gave up law and set up an office specializing in Arabic translation. Clients hired him to translate in negotiations for contracts, especially in Saudi Arabia.

One thought on “Arabic>English translator

  1. Translation is a ‘very badly paid profession’. As he was into Arabic contract negotiations, then Denys – I’ve never seen the name spelt this (Welsh?) way – could have persevered on the non-literary front. The Arab legal translators and court interpreters I’ve known in London have all been swamped with well-paid work, from the 1973/74 Oil Crisis and onwards. Even a Barrister in a hurry would know this.

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