This article deals with a problem that is very important for everyone who studies the Muslim culture and the Islamic faith, not excluding people who are inside this culture itself. We are talking about the need to correct some patterns that have become familiar in the Russian translation of particularly significant Arabic sacred formulas, and in particular the one that often follows the name of the Prophet Muhammad in texts and in everyday life among Muslims - salla allahu ' alayhi wa-sallama (sallallahu alayhi wa-sallam). To make my explanations understandable to the widest possible range of readers, including those who do not speak Arabic, I will use the Latin transliteration 1 instead of Arabic letters, and it will be followed in parentheses, as in the example above, as close as possible to the pronounced version in practical Cyrillic transcription for those who are not used to scientific transliteration.

For the sake of brevity and at the same time persuasiveness of my arguments, I will refer to the Arabic medieval lexicologists and grammarians mainly not directly (although I have processed the relevant sections in quite a large number of their works), but in excerpts from the unsurpassed dictionary of the English Arabist Edward William Lane (1801-1876) [Lane, 1863]. Experts are well aware that there is no work of equal importance for understanding classical Arabic in the world of Oriental studies: the great English Arabist spent decades of his life bringing together the interpretations of almost all the works of medieval Arabic lexicologists and grammarians known at that time. I will also allow myself not to provide a detailed bibliographic reference in each case, with the exception of some of them, to a particular author (more detailed information can easily be found in the work of E. W. Lane, and specialists are already well aware of these sources 2). Translation-E. W. Lane's interpretation of the corresponding Arabic lexicological interpretations in English is also important for us because we are also dealing with a translation, only in Russian.

Consider the meaning of the first verb included in the formula salla allahu 'alayhi wa-sallama, i.e. salla (the traditional translation is 'he prayed'). This verb is unusual in that it does not form a grammatically justified verbal noun (masdara) tasliya (tasliya) according to the formula taf'il, but uses the well - known salat (salat - 'prayer', 'supplication'). But this verb, as is well known, should not always be translated as 'he prayed', like the case with salla allahu ' alayhi (salla-llahu

1 In this case, it shows the assimilation of l in the article al (where it occurs), and Arabic is transmitted as kh.

2 E. W. Lane is also the author of a brilliant work on the description of the customs and customs of the Egyptians, which was published in a Russian translation (Lane, 1982).

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'alayh). Here it means (and this is how most translators and representatives of the Muslim clergy correctly translate this formula):

'May God/Allah bless him; send him down (or send him down) God/Allah bless you'.

In passing, I will note that medieval theologians often used the name of the Prophet with other formulas, including, for example, with salawatu allahi 'alayhi or even without them at all.

In connection with the translation of the Arabic Allah in the passages quoted here from E. W. Lane's dictionary, it should be noted that the great English Arabist always translates it as God, i.e. 'God', which has never caused objections in the English-speaking tradition. This is directly related to the discussion that has already begun among Russian specialists about how to call the One God in Russian in relation to the Muslim tradition and, accordingly, in translations of Muslim texts: Allah or God. Proponents of using the variant 'God' can argue that in Islam (1) the word Allah actually means 'God', but precisely as 'One God' in contrast to ilah(ilah) - 'god', 'deity'; (2) this interpretation corresponds to the strict monotheism characteristic of the Islamic faith; (3) The one God is one for all monotheists - Muslims, Christians and Jews. According to this point of view, which was most explicitly expressed by its proponent, the well-known Russian Islamic scholar Tawfiq Ibragim3, the use of the word 'Allah' in the Russian-speaking Muslim tradition can cause a non-Muslim Russian-speaking to have the erroneous idea that Muslims believe in another, "their" God, which is inherently incorrect and, moreover, leads to inter-confessional alienation. The appeal of using the word 'God' in such a discourse is obvious.

Based on this logic, the formula la ilaha illa allah(la ilaha illa-lla) should be translated not as "there is no god but Allah", but as: "there is no deity but God" or: "there is no deity but One God", because this is how it is understood by a person whose native language is Arabic. We say in Russian: The Most High, and not Ta'ala (Ta'ala), and accordingly Merciful and Merciful (or All-merciful and All-merciful), and not Rahman and Rahim, etc.

Objections to the use of the word 'God' in relation to Muslim texts may be based on: (1) the need to adhere to the established tradition of using the word 'Allah' in Russian and many other languages; (2) the desire to use this word to identify that it refers specifically to Islam; (3) the fact that the use of the word 'God' in translation may have something to do with universalism, which is unacceptable for Islamic monotheism. A more detailed discussion of the problem of translating the Arabic word Allah into Russian is not included in the task of this article. But let me express my opinion that in translations and, especially, in the author's texts of secular specialists in Russian, both options are quite acceptable (as in English-language literature), and their use may be situational (as in this article). In other words, Islamic scholars and translators of texts should be given the freedom to use both words. As for the religious Muslim community of Russia, it will probably determine for itself the most acceptable option. I hope that the opinions of Islamic scholars in this regard may be useful for this community.

3 See the discussion between Tawfiq Ibrahim and S. M. Prozorov on the website of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies www.islamica.ru and in: [Minaret, March 2006, pp. 8-15].

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Returning to the above-mentioned formula, I will turn to the second verb included in it, i.e. sallama( sallam), the traditional translation of which is 'he greeted'. Words derived from the root s-l-m in Arabic are associated with the most important concepts. I will start with the key verb for mastering these concepts salama-yaslamu( salama-yaslamu), the verbal noun from which is salamat salam(salam), or salam(salam), or salm(salm), or silm(silm). The meaning of this verb is 'to be or become unharmed', 'to be saved', ' to be safe '(so given in the medieval Arabic dictionary Taj al - ' Arus), also 'to be delivered from [evils' - (as-Sihah, al-Mujmal Ibn Faris 4), or 'al-afat(al-afa) - 'evil' (al-Qamus),'al-bala'(al-bala) - ' trials '(al-Asas al-Zamakhshari and Taj al-'Arus), etc.]. the following examples are given: salima min al - ' ayb(salima min al-ayb) 'he became free' or 'freed from sins, shortcomings, vices', a synonym for (al-Misbah al-Fayumi on the word ban'); la bi-zi taslamu ma kana kaza wa-kaza (la bi-zi taslam ma kyana Kyaza wa-kyaza) 'No, [I swear] His [name], the One who gives you security, so-and-so, and so-and-so was not ' (Ibn as-Sikkit; al-Sihah; al-Qamus);la af'alu zalika bi-zi taslamu(la af'alu zalika bi-zi taslamu), which means bi-zi salamatika(bi-zi salamatik) 'I will not do this, [by] the Lord of my safety '(Sibawayh; al-Muhkam).

All other examples also confirm this meaning of this verb. For comparison, al-hamdu li-llahi 'ala as-salamati(al-hamdu li-llahi ala-s-salamati) is a phrase that is still widely used in Arabic today, and which, in particular, is used to greet a person who has appeared after the end of a journey: which means: 'thank God for the fact that that you were left unharmed', which situationally corresponds to our 'happy arrival'. This meaning is also contained in the form of gratitude adopted in colloquial etiquette: tislam(tislam), this is a wish for well-being.

From the verb sallama, the verb sallamahu(sallyah)is formed 'he made him unharmed, safe, free'; 'saved', 'delivered' (al-Muhkam; al-Misbah al-Fayumi; Taj al-'Arus)min al-afa(min al-afa)' from [any] evil ' (al-Qamus) or 'from the cause '(al-Muhkam) with Masdar taslim (taslim). At-taslim is also a synonym for as (as-Sihah; al-Qamus; Taj al-'Arus), meaning:' greeting someone with a prayer for him to be unharmed', 'to remain safe', ' to be free from any evil, harm to his religion or his life' (Taj al - ' Arus). When God is spoken of here, it means the same thing as sallamahu(sallyahu alayhi wa-sallam)salla allahu 'alayhi wa-sallama 'May God bless and save him'; and at-tastimat(at-taslima) means 'the greeting that is said after the completion of every two rak'ahs in prayer (Maqamat al-Hariri), as well as after the completion of the last rak'ah in each prayer' [Lane, vol. 1, 1863, p. 1412]. By the way, in Sufi technical terminology, taslim means 'giving oneself to God'.

Let's turn to the medieval Arabic dictionary Lisan al - ' Arab ("Lisan al-'Arab"). Its author, Ibn Manzur, explains: "as-salam wa-s-salamat-al-bara'at; wa-ta-sallama minh-tabarra'a "(as-salam wa-s - salama-al-bara'a; wa-tasallama minh-tabarra'a) [Lisan al -'Arab, 1993, p. 342]. It follows that the words salam and salama mean: sinlessness.

The author of the dictionary reports: "As Abu as-salam and at-tahiyyat have the same meaning-freedom [liberation]as-salama) from all shortcomings."

4 The names of Arabic authors are given here only in practical transcription.

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And then in the same text follows a particularly important explanation: "At-taslim (at-taslim) is derived from as-Salam (as-Salam), one of the names of the Most High Allah, which is given to him because of His freedom [liberation] (li-salamatihi / li-salamamih /) from any a flaw or flaw. It says: The meaning of this is that Allah is watching over you, so be careful. And it says: the meaning of this is that you will be called as-Salam (ism as-Salami 'alayka /ism as-Salam alayk /)" [Lisan al - ' Arab, 1993, p. 343].

The mere fact that the name as-Salam is included among the names of the Most High indicates the above meaning (after all, Allah is not called 'Peace', and the common Muslim name 'Abd as-Salam / Abdussalam is not 'slave of the World', but ' slave of the All-free from all the term 'imperfection', which is largely synonymous with perfection). Let us recall in this context the concept of the Perfect Man (al-Insan al-Kamil) Muslim mystics have 5.

Therefore, when people greet each other by saying asalaykum ( originally: alaykum), they wish each other not so much peace, i.e. freedom from war (this meaning was only later included in this formula),but rather peace. but, above all, getting rid of flaws, shortcomings and sins, gaining Divine grace and even calling on the person who is being greeted, the name of God.

Thus, the meaning of the second part of the sacred formula salla aliah and 'alayhi wa-sallama has nothing to do with both greeting (there is no need to prove the absolute unacceptability of the defiantly anthropomorphic translation of 'may God/Allah greet him') and peace - a concept that does not directly relate to this case, if we proceed from the true meaning arabic words. And it is unlikely that such a mundane concept as peace as the antithesis of war could enter into such a high sacred formula. It should be translated into Russian according to its true meaning in Arabic as: 'May the blessings and blessings of Allaah be upon him (i.e. the Prophet)' or 'may Allaah bless and protect him'. its Allah.'

When I started working on the translation of The Resurrection of the Sciences of Faith by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali back in the second half of the 1960s, as a student at Cairo University, I chose the first option. Having discovered that many respected masters of Russian Arabic studies translated this formula incorrectly, which I could not have guessed before (now I understand that sometimes even great scientists in some cases prefer to follow the established tradition), I began to seek advice from leading Egyptian professors and, to my surprise, found that many of them were not able to understand this formula correctly. they just never thought about the meaning of this phrase, but their answers confirmed the correctness of my understanding.

My version of the translation was included in the publication "Resurrection of the Sciences of Faith" [see: Al-Ghazali, 1980]. Many years have passed since then, but, unfortunately, in our country, both secular Islamic scholars and religious figures (without wanting to offend anyone, I will not give examples) continue to follow the ingrained tradition in translation.

Accordingly, it is possible to take a new approach to translating the formula ' alayhi as-salam (alayhi-s-salam) (for example, Isa 'alayhi as-salam / Isa alayhi-s-salam /), traditionally

5 See about it, in particular: [al-Ghazali, 1980]. Among the Sufis, the saints who are ' close to Allah '(awliya) are only capable of' good deeds '(karamat), but not of' miracles ' (mu'jizat), which can only be performed by the prophets.

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passed as 'peace be upon him'. In the light of all this, it would be more accurate to translate it as:

'may the grace of God come upon him' or:

'may God deliver him from all evil', or:

(according to E. W. Lane) 'yes will save (will protect) his God.'

In the context of this topic, the question of the etymology of the word islam (Islam), which is grammatically a masdar of the verb aslama (aslam), should also be raised. I will first touch on the primary, original meaning of this verb in Arabic. Here is what the author of the dictionary Lisan al-'Arab says about it:" Yuqalu: kuntu ra'iya iblin fa-aslamtu 'anha ay taraktuha" - " They say: I was a camel shepherd, then aslyamt / left it, i.e. stopped doing it."

"Wa-aslama ilayhi ash-shay'a: dafa'ahu. Wa-aslama ar-rajula: khazalahu " - 'He handed/aslama the thing to him: [i.e.] gave it away. And: he left / aslam a man: [i.e.] abandoned him' [Lisan al-'Arab, 1993, p. 343 - 344].

And further on the meaning of the word in which it came to denote religion: "Wa alislamu wa-l-jstislamu: al-inqiyadu. Wa-l-islamu min ash-shari'at 6: izharu al-khudu'i wa-izharu ash-shari'ati wa-ltizamu ma ata bihi an-nabiyyu... Yuqalu: fulanun muslimun wa-fihi qawlani: ahaduhuma huwa al-mustaslimu li-amri Allahi, wa-ttani - huwa al-mukhlisu li-llahi al - 'ibadata" - " Al-islyam and al-istislyam: [i.e.] obedience. And Islam in relation to the God-given Law (sharia): [i.e.] demonstration of submission, demonstration of the Law and following what the Prophet came with... When they say, " So-and-so is a Muslim," they mean two things: "he obeyed the will of Allah (surrendered himself to the will of Allah)" and "he is loyal to Allah in worship."

"Wa-rawiya' an an-nabiyyi salla allahu 'alayhi wa-sallama annahu qala: al-muslimu man salima al-muslimflna min lisanihi wa-yadihi; qula al-Azhari: fa-ma'nahu annahu dakhala min babi as-salamati Hatta yaslama al-mu'minuna min bawa'iqihi" - "It is related of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) that he said: 'A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims have escaped unharmed'; and al-Azhari said: "The meaning of this is that he entered through the door of deliverance, so that the Muslims were saved from all misfortunes" [Lisan al - ' Arab, 1993, p. 345].

Note that this explanation also emphasizes as-salamat, i.e. 'freedom (liberation ?), getting rid of evils, troubles, sins, etc.'7.

All of this does not in any way contradict the well-established belief, based on one of the meanings of words derived from the root s-l-m, that Islam is a religion of peace. This is true, and there is a lot of evidence for it. 8 But it is equally important to consider it, and first of all, in accordance with the true meaning laid down in the sacred concepts that are key to the Islamic faith, as a religion that gives a person divine grace, prosperity, freedom (liberation) from sins and evils.

6 The primary meaning of the word ash-shari'atis 'a watering hole', 'a place where you can get drunk (for humans and animals) and get water', and 'a path to a water source'. Probably later this word acquired the meaning of 'faith', ' religion '(see al-Baydawi and Misbah al-Fayumi), since it was thought of as 'the path to eternal life' (according to al-Baydawi) or as 'manifestation', 'revelation' (according to al-Fayumi). And another meaning that has become the main, if not the only one today: 'the religious law of God / Allah...'[Lane, vol. 2, p. 1535].

7 To continue the discourse contained in this essay, it is useful to draw Semitic parallels (recall the Hebrew shalom aleyhem).

8 From the beginning of his sermons, the Prophet brought peace to the previously constantly hostile Arabian tribes, eliminating tribal 'asabiyya and replacing it with loyalty to the common Muslim Ummah.

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I do not insist that the translation options I have proposed are the only possible ones, and I assume that my colleagues can offer others as well. A discussion would probably be useful here. But the acceptability of any translation option should be determined by the completeness of its correspondence to the true meaning, especially when it comes to the innermost essence of religious teaching.

list of literature

Al-Ghazali Abu Hamid. Resurrection of the Faith Sciences / Introduction, translated from Arabic. and comments by V. V. Naumkin, Moscow: GRVL, 1980.

Lane E. U. Morals and customs of the Egyptians of the first half of the XIX century. V. V. Naumkin, Moscow: GRVL, 1982.

The minaret. 2006. March. N 1 (008) (www.islamica.ru)

Lane E.W. Madd al-Qamus. An Arabic-Englisch Lexicon. Derived from the Best and the Most Copious Eastern Sources. Vol. 1 - 2. London-Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate, 1863.

Lisan al-'Arab, li-1-imam al-'allama Ibn Manzur. Vol. 6. Beyrut, 1993.

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