Dynamic Equivalence in Four Old and New Translations of Rumi’s Mathnavi

The present paper reports a research which aimed at investigating the level of dynamic equivalence (D-E) in four translations of forty five didactic couplets chosen from the First Book of Rumi’s Mathnavi. In order to do so, a parallel corpus-based study was carried out based on Nida’s concept of dynamic equivalence. The subjects participating in the study were educated native English speakers who were asked as target readers to rate the translations in terms of being dynamic. The results showed that Nicholson’s translation is more dynamic and capable of communicating the ST message to its audience than the two translations that were published in the 21st century and the marked shift of emphasis from the formal to the dynamic dimension in translating literary texts that Nida (1964, p. 160) mentioned does not still hold regarding the translations of the Mathnavi.