Khalid Al Joubaily: ‘I thought of nothing but being a translator’

From writing George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' in Arabic on a typewriter at university, to making a career out of the 'nearly impossible task' of translation.

Barry Falls

Syrian translator Khalid Al Joubaily

Khalid Al Joubaily: ‘I thought of nothing but being a translator’

Salah Awwad

last update on 05 Nov 2023

New York: Syrian translator Khalid Al Joubaily grew up watching his father bloom in a garden full of language, from Arabic to English and French. Reading, translating, and teaching – his father became his first linguistic muse.

Now, Al Joubaily boasts a long career as a renowned translator himself, involving dozens of literary translations, most of which are novels.

Al Majalla chats with Al Joubaily about how George Orwell’s Animal Farm transformed his life as he knew it – and why he hasn’t written an original novel himself.

When were you born, and what were your beginnings with literature?

I was born in the city of Aleppo, Syria, in 1954. My father was proficient in several languages and a passionate reader. It seems that this was contagious because I caught the bug. He worked as a translator and a teacher of both English and French in Aleppo, and I always watched him with great admiration as he translated.

I was also fascinated by his handwriting, whether in Arabic or English. Perhaps my love for learning languages began when I was young, as my father started teaching me the French language.

When I started prep school, I was randomly assigned to study English. My passion for the English language was huge. Later, I enrolled in the Department of English Language and Literature at Aleppo University.

Have you made any attempts at writing a novel yourself?

I thought of nothing but becoming a translator. I really liked literature and read a lot of literary works, and I made several attempts to write a story, but I never completed them. Translation was my true calling; it helped me compensate for my lack of original writing.

What does it mean to have a second language?

Having a second or third language means that I can navigate through other worlds that were once mysterious and inaccessible to me. I began to realise that the purpose of looking into the cultures of other nations and reading their literature is to expand one’s horizons, allowing him to live in worlds and ideas he was previously unaware of. It takes him out of his own cultural circle and opens up limitless possibilities for him.

Having a second or third language means that I can navigate through other worlds that were once mysterious and inaccessible to me. I began to realise that the purpose of looking into the cultures of other nations and reading their literature is to expand one's horizons

What were your early experiences with translation? Did they constitute an introduction to English and world literature for you?

My first experience with translation was during my second year of university when I read George Orwell's Animal Farm, which I found in my father's library. At that time, I felt a strong urge to translate it.

I always wondered what it would be like when I read my own Arabic translation of it – and whether I would be able to convey the original meaning. For me, it was a challenge.

So, I translated it myself and typed it on a typewriter. It was the first novel I translated, and many Arabic language professors at the time expressed their admiration for its language and fluency. That novel served as a gateway, which encouraged me to continue translating other works, and from then on, I decided to dedicate myself solely to translating.

How did you find the relationship between your mother tongue and the language from which you were translating?

My first literary translation was quite a challenge for me. I found a beautiful albeit difficult relationship in the process of transferring ideas from the language of the original text. It's completely different from Arabic in terms of grammar, sentence structure, narrative devices, and so on. For me, it was enjoyable but tricky. It demanded an intensive reading of Arabic literature to acquire the necessary linguistic tools.

Did you have a role model in translation that you considered as a guide, inspiration and influence in your own career?

My father was my first encouragement and inspiration to become a translator. As for literary translation, I can say that the great writer and translator, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, had a significant influence on my journey as a literary translator.

What did your work as an editorial translator at the United Nations add to your career?

Working in the Arabic translation department at the United Nations and before that at the International Centre for Agricultural Research, taught me perseverance, precision, and the pursuit of perfection.

It also helped me expand my knowledge by translating countless topics that no translator outside of this organisation could ever encounter or translate. As for creative literary translation – any overlap between these two fields was limited because the nature of work is very different.

In some works, you've used English as an intermediary language to translate text from other languages, such as German, Spanish, and Japanese. Do you feel this betrays the meaning of the original text, due to linguistic differences?

What drove me to translate some literary works, using English as an intermediary language, was my admiration for that work and its importance, as well as the fact that no other translator had translated them into Arabic.

I don't consider it a betrayal of the original text. Rather, it is a valuable contribution to Arabic readers, as it introduces them to a text that had not been previously available to them.

What drove me to translate some literary works, using English as an intermediary language, was my admiration for that work and its importance, as well as the fact that no other translator had translated them into Arabic. I don't consider it a betrayal of the original text.

I have two major examples. The renowned German writer of Syrian descent, Rafik Schami, asked me to translate his extensive and important novel, The Dark Side of Love, originally written in German. He also asked me to translate his novels Sophia: Or the Beginning of All Stories and The Calligrapher's Buried Secret from English.

He was very pleased with the translations, so you could say these works were translated with the author's approval and blessing.

Similarly, my friend and literary figure Samuel Shimon – the founder of Kika publications and Banipal magazine –asked me to translate the novel The Good Stalin by the Russian author Viktor Erofeev, who had originally written it in Russian. Since Erofeev is proficient in English, he reviewed the English translation and agreed that I would translate his novel from English to Arabic.

How do you view translation after a long career and journey yourself, which spans more than 75 literary works? Do you consider it "travelling within the expanses of humanity," as the Tunisian philosopher Fathi al Meskini says?

I've had an extensive career translating across various fields and topics, but I believe that literary translation is the most challenging – and enjoyable. It's characterised by linguistic and intellectual creativity.

Taking a text out of its linguistic system and moving it into a completely different system is like killing the original text and then resurrecting it into an entirely different culture. The translator becomes like a second author. It's a demanding task that sometimes borders on impossible.

If a translator can produce a translation that faithfully replicates the meaning, style, and structure of the original text while conveying the ideas expressed by the original author, they have accomplished something remarkable.

The majority of your translations have focused on novels. Why not, for example, literary criticism, poetry, or other literary genres?

I see myself in the novel, which I have long considered a recreational escape from my long work in professional and artistic translation. I have translated some poetic works related to Sufi literature, including The Hidden Music, The Soul Never Tires of Lovers, and Divine Love. But I don't have any interest in translating other literary genres, like literary criticism.

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